Judge Bao and the Rule of Law: Eight Ballad-Stories from the Period 1250-1450

by Wilt L. Idema

Pure, orthodox and incorruptible, Judge Bao has been serving as the preeminent embodiment of justice in China for almost a thousand years, so much so his court cases have been adapted as stories, novels and plays over the centuries. Now, for the very first time a series of eight ballad-stories on Judge Bao, dating from the period 1250-1450, are offered in a complete and annotated translation. These texts will provide the reader a reflection of the legend of Judge Bao in its earliest phase of development, with an extended introduction placing the ballad-stories in context with the development of the Judge Bao legend. These ballad-stories, in contrast to past plays dating from the same period, present abuse of power and corruption as endemic in the courts and bureaucratic service, and show Judge Bao imposing the rule of law even on the emperor.

Genres: China

456 pages, Paperback

First published February 11, 2009

About the author

Wilt L. Idema obtained his BA and MA from Leiden University. Following continued study in Sapporo (at Hokkaido University) and in Kyoto (at Kyoto University), and research in Hong Kong (at the Universities Service Center), he returned to Leiden, where he taught in the Department of Chinese Language and Culture. He obtained his doctorate in 1974, and was promoted to Professor of Chinese Literature and Linguistics in 1976. Since 2000, he has been teaching at Harvard as Professor of Chinese Literature. Wilt Idema's research initially was focused on the early development of Chinese vernacular fiction (Chinese Vernacular Fiction: The Formative Period, 1974), but later shifted more towards early Chinese drama (Chinese Theater 1100-1450, A Source Book, with Stephen West; 1982; The Dramatic Oeuvre of Chu Yu-tun (1379-1439), 1985; Wang Shifu, The Moon and the Zither: The Story of the Western Wing, with Stephen H. West, 1992). In recent years he also has published on Chinese women's literature of the premodern period (The Red Brush: Writing Women of Imperial China, with Beata Grant, 2004). His current research is focused on China's rich tradition of popular narrative ballads. He is also the author, with Lloyd Haft, of A Guide to Chinese Literature (1997). For his voluminous Dutch-language translations, especially of classical Chinese poetry, he received the Martinus Nijhof Award for 1991, the highest distinction for literary translations in the Netherlands.

Reviews

[Krayfish1 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'd heard of Judge Bao before but never read any of the stories about him. This book is a good introduction. It's a translation of a book from the 1400's that has stories meant to be mostly sung with some speaking parts. The spoken parts and the sung parts repeat each other, and there is a lot of repetition of the story, like xyz happens, and then character A tells character B, "please listen to me, xyz happened" and then character A tells character C, "please listen to me, xyz happened" and then character C tells character D "xyz happened and therefore I did [whatever]". I'd be curious what it is like to listen to this story in a proper ballad performance where the repetition would work better especially if the melody repeats?

I'm glad I'd read "Treason by the Book" by Spence before reading this, because that gave me an idea what justice in China in the 1700's looked like (torture people until they confess, and also go after whole families), so I wasn't quite as appalled by the "pure, upright" Judge Bao torturing people right and left. He must have gotten the "pure, upright" titles by being willing to go after the emperor's relatives.

[Lulu]

Judge Bao Solves the Case of Imperial Clansman Cao

[Powerhouse69 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I need a complete therapy session after reading this book! I have never started over so many chapters in all my years of reading books. I’ve never been more intrigued by a book that I wanted to hate but could not be satisfied with leaving it unread. Alas, the struggle to keep up with who was human, a haint, a walking piece of street-art or who was a song in human form was REAL! 😂🤣

This book should be made in to a movie…. The visuals and the audio would bring it life it deserves!!! Imagine all those lyrics to songs being put to life… the jazz, the grit of the blues! Imagine the street art blooming to vivid colorful life on screen and the unique beauty of New Orleans as the back drop!

Perilous Graves, his sister Brendy and best friend, ah hem, Peaches took me on a fantastical ride through New Orleans…. Both the city itself and the ghostly city created by haints and ghostly music! In fact, the author pens the most beautiful tribute to the city of New Orleans, its culture and its music!

I am on the fence about giving a 3star rating to a book I couldn’t get out of my mind for four weeks. But I have never been more frustrated with a book. Idk if that’s a good thing or not!🙃😉