Ministers › Statesman / Official
Bao Shuya
Qi official of the Spring and Autumn period who served Duke Huan before his accession and persuaded him to make Guan Zhong, his rival's adviser, chief minister
In the courtyard of a district government hall, a line of petitioners waits before a raised bench with a long table and document boxes; a blue umbrella stands beside it, a large drum stands at the gate where a few people wait, and a lake with sailboats lies beyond.
Also known as Bao Shu
- Roles
- Statesman / Official
Bao Shuya, also called Bao Shu, was an official of the state of Qi in the Spring and Autumn period. According to the Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji), he befriended Guan Zhong as a young man, and when they traded together and Guan took the larger share, Bao did not call him greedy, knowing he was poor. In the struggle for the Qi throne Bao served Prince Xiaobai while Guan served Prince Jiu; when Xiaobai became Duke Huan, Jiu was killed and Guan imprisoned, and Bao recommended Guan and accepted a lower rank himself. With Guan in charge Qi became the leading state, and Guan said his parents had given him life but Bao had understood him. The Zhuangzi relates that as Guan lay dying the duke asked whether Bao could succeed him, and Guan said Bao was honest but never forgot a fault, and so unfit to govern. Sima Qian remarked that the world praised Bao Shuya's eye for men more than Guan Zhong's talent.
Life and times
Dates Dates unknown; Qi, early Spring and Autumn period