12 Guan Zhong & Bao Shuya

Set a Shining Example on Honest & Faithful Friendship

Guan Zhong (?-645 BC) and Bao Shuya lived in early Spring & Autumn Period. Guan Zhong was the most important politician and strategist at that time. During the time, the authority of central government had weakened, and the strongest sub-state would stand out to be a supremacist. Guan Zhong had helped the Emperor Huangong of Qi State (in Shandong Province) become a supremacy overlord. He also commanded Qi troops to defeat northern ethnic minority invasion, so Confucius (two hundred years later) once spoke highly of Guan’s deeds: “If there was no Guan Zhong, we now must dress up like the people of uncivilized minorities!” (be conquered people)

Another touching story about Guan was the faithful friendship between Guan Zhong and Bao shuya. Guan and Bao made friends when they were young and poor. At first, they pooled to do a trade, but Guan once took double of his share, which aroused complaints from Bao’s assistants. But Bao said: “Guan is not a greedy man, he needs money for now.” Years later, the two joined the military and went to the frontier. When the army was set to the battlefield, Guan always stepped back on the rear, and when they withdrew from the field, Guan always ran at the front. Everybody laughed at him, but Bao explained: “He wasn’t a coward, he had an old mother at home.” Guan was deeply moved at the hearing of Bao’s words, saying: “It’s my parents who gave birth to me, but it’s Bao who knew me.”

During the time, the two princes of Qi State were struggling for power. Bao Shuya assisted the younger brother Huangong to win the throne, and was appointed premier. While Guan Zhong, due to standing at the opposite side, was deserved to be executed. At the crucial moment, Bao recommended Guan’s talent to Huangong for several times, and even yielded his premier post to Guan. So, “The honest and faithful Friendship between Guan and Bao” became a shining model among Chinese people through thousands of years.