Bao Qingtian

Name: Bao Qingtian
ISBN: 9787516201985

Wu WeiChina Democracy and Legal System Publishing House · ChinaJan 2026

3.8

Word count: 259K words
Chapters: 15
ISBN: 9787516201985

Report an error Find this book

Summary

In the first year of the Jingde era under Song Emperor Zhenzong, the rising Western Xia kept expanding, leaving the Song court in crisis. Two years later, the Suiyang school in Songzhou was granted the name "Yingtian Academy" and rose to great fame. On the day of the Qianyuan Festival in the Northern Song, Yan Shu, the prefect of Yingtian, held a grand banquet, inviting leading officials and eminent figures from all sides as well as the academy's finest students, the young talents Bao Zheng and Wen Yanbo. But after the feast, the wealthy tea merchant Cui Liang is unexpectedly murdered, Cao Feng, son of the rich merchant Cao Cheng, mysteriously disappears, the authenticity of the trade notes used to buy tea becomes impossible to determine, and the long-lost Art of War of Lord Zhang appears to have resurfaced. With hearts full of righteousness, young Bao Zheng and his fellow students brave every danger and judge cases with fairness, finally uncovering a shocking secret. The ways of the world are tangled, but justice lives in the hearts of people.

Editor's review

This book places the young Bao Zheng in the setting of Yingtianfu Academy, using a murder and a disappearance after a banquet as the entry point to draw out clues such as the authenticity of jiao-yin certificates and the reappearance of The Lord Zhang's Art of War, naturally linking the investigative process with Northern Song fiscal policy, border troubles, and scholarly customs. The author does not portray Bao Zheng as a born master detective; instead, he observes, deduces, and learns through trial and error among classmates, teachers, and local officials, conveying the growth of a young student committed to fairness and truth. The novel combines social portraiture with suspenseful plotting, interweaving the relationships among tea merchants, wealthy traders, the academy, and government offices, offering both marketplace vitality and courtroom integrity. It suits readers who enjoy ancient detective stories and are interested in Northern Song social life, as well as those who want to see youthful ensembles and moral choices in genre fiction.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Readers who enjoy stories about the young Bao Zheng and ancient Chinese legal/detective cases
Genre-fiction readers interested in Northern Song academy life and scholarly customs
Suspense fans who enjoy ensemble investigations and interwoven factions
Those looking for a briskly paced ancient-setting novel with social detail

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting the mature Bao Qingtian figure and courtroom trial scenes only
Those with no interest in Song-era economic institutions such as jiao-yin certificates and tea laws
Readers who prefer pure romance or pure wuxia and dislike ensemble detective stories

Reading tips

First keep track of the relationships among young characters such as Bao Zheng and Wen Yanbo at Yingtianfu Academy, then follow the case clues.
Do not pause over economic details such as jiao-yin and tea merchants; grasp the characters' motives and interests first.
Mark the three threads—the murder, the disappearance, and The Lord Zhang's Art of War—separately, then see how they converge after finishing.
Compare it with similar youthful detective stories and note how this book depicts Bao Zheng's growth rather than innate brilliance.

About the publisher

China Democracy and Legal System Publishing House China · Founded in 1989

China Democracy and Legal System Publishing House focuses on professional legal publishing. Its output covers working materials for state organs of power, compilations of laws and regulations, legal popularization readers for the public, law textbooks and documentation on people's congress work, with law, politics and social sciences as common categories. Representative titles in the catalog include the Civil Code of the People's Republic of China, the Constitution of the People's Republic of China and the Ecological Environment Code of the People's Republic of China, alongside practice- and research-oriented works such as Legislators Explaining the Law: Li Yuan's Reports on Legal Interpretation and On Record Review and Constitutional Review. Its authors include Li Yuan, Qin Qianhong, the General Office of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress and editorial teams. The press emphasizes accuracy in legal texts and the organization of practical people's congress materials, while also serving public legal education.

版权信息
内容简介
引子
第一章东风昨夜
第二章梁台古意
第三章物物遂生
第四章不辨风尘
第五章一缕深心
第六章远钟惊梦
第七章去似朝云
第八章且共从容
第九章无欲则刚
第十章沧浪濯缨
尾声
后记

FAQ

Does this book feature the adult Bao Zheng solving cases?

No. The story is set during Bao Zheng's youth as a student. At Yingtianfu Academy, he and his classmates confront a murder and a disappearance after a banquet, showing young students taking their first steps in investigation and upholding justice.

Are the jiao-yin and tea-merchant elements hard to understand?

Jiao-yin were certificates related to Song dynasty monopolies on tea and salt; the book uses cases to introduce authenticity checks and disputes of interest. Readers need no prior knowledge of the system—simply following the characters as they verify clues is enough to grasp the general relationships.

Is it suitable as a history book for children?

This is a genre novel set against a historical backdrop, with murder, disappearance, and power-struggle plotlines; it is not a history textbook. Older children interested in ancient detective stories may read it with parental or teacher guidance, bearing in mind the distinction between fiction and historical fact.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Wu Wei Author · Chinese

Wu Wei is a contemporary Chinese writer. A woman whose ancestral home is Hubei, she graduated from Beijing Institute of Technology and once worked in the IT industry before turning to writing. Fond of literature and history, she describes herself as "making a living among old papers," and her works are largely drawn from ancient Chinese history and celebrated legal cases, spanning documentary literature, biography, historical reading, and social fiction; 33 of her works are held in the collection. She has created series such as "Explorations of Great Cases in Ancient China" and "Great Histories of the Han, Tang, Song, and Ming," with representative works including An Cang Sha Ji, Snow Fills the Bow (Parts 1 and 2), Xuanji Tu, Yuchang Sword, The Ganlu Incident (Parts 1 and 2), and Bao Qingtian. She has also participated in the screenwriting of several television dramas. Her writing emphasizes the organization of historical sources and the development of plot, blending suspense and detective elements into popular historical narrative. Because public information is limited, details of her life remain unclear.