Who is Hai Rui, and why should we care?

He was that rarest of mortal beings... an INCORRUPTIBLE public servant!

He spoke without fear or favour... even to the omnipotent emperors!

He was an intellectual who solved complex problems to the benefit of all!

This image shows Hai Rui was very worried about the people because there was a flood in two rivers... Wu Song Jiang and Bai Mao He. They had no place to live and were evacuated to other Provinces and villages.

Hai Rui () (23 January 1514 - 13 November 1587), was a famous Chinese official during of the Ming Dynasty. His name has come down in history as a model of honesty and integrity in office and he re-emerged as an important historical character during the Cultural Revolution.

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Hai Rui (1514 to 1587 CE), who called himself Gang Feng, was from the Qiongshan district of Haikou. He was commissioned by an official from Nanping and undertook the position of county magistrate of Chun'an and Xing Guo counties. Hai Rui undertook land surveys meticulously and accurately as well as making the burden of taxation more equitable.

Hai Rui carefully considered all the issues he was confronted with, and resolved many doubtful cases. On the appointment of Administrator of National Taxation Revenue of Yunnan, Hai Rui wrote "A memorial to state outright the first important thing" to Emperor Shizong, commenting on his Taoist superstitions and ignoring politics. He was imprisoned for this letter. When he was the governor of the province, he published the "One Scourge" policy of state revenue, ordering officials to return agricultural land. Instead, he was dismissed from office and lived at home with no political affairs to handle for the next 16 years.

On turning 71, Hai Rui was reappointed by the Court, and he did his best to punish corruption. He died of illness while still in office.

Hai Rui was honest, upright and outspoken. He conducted himself in a clean and fair manner and was the epitome of an "honest and upright official" from all of Chinese history.

Criticism of Emperor's Religion - Despite his personal Moslem faith, Hai Rui sent a letter of impeachment to Emperor Jiajing, criticising his excessive devotion to Taoism and neglect of state affairs. He was sentenced to death for this act of temerity, but escaped this punishment and was later reinstated by Emperor Longqing.

Flaying of Corrupt Officials - Hai Ruyi was said to have suggested to his emperor that corrupt officials should be flayed, because he was so determined to stamp out the misuse of official power.

Ha Rui Dismissed from Office - In 1962 CE Wu Han, deputy mayor of Beijing, wrote a play about Hai Rui's dismissal that was later staged as a play. It was eventually demonised in the National newspapers as being an allegory for real-life events from 1959, where the Minister of National Defence (Peng Da Huai) was dismissed from his post by Chairman Mao Zedong. The resulting outrage of this inferred criticism of the national leadership helped establish the preconditions for the resulting Cultural Revolution!