Bao Hui

Life

In the thirteenth year of the Jiading era (1220), he passed the jinshi examination and was appointed registrar of Jinxi. He later served as registrar of Guangze, professor at the Jianning Prefectural School, staff officer of the Along-the-River Military Commission, assistant prefect of Taizhou and Lin'an, prefect of Taizhou, judicial commissioner of Fujian concurrently prefect of Jianning, transport judge of Guangdong, judicial commissioner of Western Zhejiang, prefect of Longxing concurrently transport commissioner of Jiangxi, and transport commissioner of Hunan. He served in prefectural and county offices and as a circuit inspector. Wherever he served, he curbed local bullies and eliminated illicit profiteering; his reputation for governance was conspicuous.

Early in the Jingding era, he was appointed da li qing (大理卿) and director of the Privy Council Secretariat (樞密都承旨), served as acting vice minister of rites (權禮部侍郎), then became a drafter in the Central Secretariat (中書舍人) and acting vice minister of justice (權刑部侍郎), before being sent out as prefect of Pingjiang and Shaoxing. In the fourth year of Jingding (1263), he became prefect of Pingjiang concurrently with transport commissioner. When Duzong came to the throne, he was summoned as Minister of Justice. In the second year of Xianchun (1266), he became a signing member of the Privy Council; in the third year he retired as Grand Academician of the Palace of Universal Governance (資政殿學士). He died in the fourth year, aged eighty-seven, and received Wensu (文肅) as his posthumous name.

Learning and literary associations

As a young man, Bao Hui was a disciple of his paternal uncles Bao Yue and Bao Xun; those uncles had studied under Zhu Xi and Lu Jiuyuan. He wrote prefaces for works by Lu Jiuyuan and Yuan Xie, and epitaphs for Li Pu, Wu Ju, Wu Yan, Chen Yongzhi, and Feng Tingjian. He also composed sacrificial texts for Wang Sui, Zhao Yifu, and Zhao Chongbo, wrote a farewell piece for Wu Ju, and composed a portrait eulogy for Lu Jiuyuan. He inscribed, commemorated, or named buildings for Wu Yankui and Lei Yizhong, and wrote shrine records for Zhou Dunyi, Bao Zheng, Lu Jiushao, Lu Jiuling, and Fu Mengquan. His literary associations also included postscripts written by Liu Kezhuang and Ouyang Shoudao, Fang Hui’s criticism of his writings, and letters sent to him by Fang Fengchen, Wen Tianxiang, and Ouyang Shoudao.

Works

Bao Hui’s Baizhou ji (《敝帚集》) was lost. In the Qing, the Four Treasuries editors compiled the eight-volume Baizhou gaolüe (《敝帚稿略》) from the Yongle dadian (《永樂大典》).