The Magnanimous Act of Mr. Guan Zhong and Mr. Bao Shu Ya

Guan Zhong (725-645 B.C.) and Bao Shu Ya (?-644 B.C.) were both politicians during the Spring and Autumn Period (ca. 800-500 B.C.). They were famous officials in Chinese history, as well as contemporaries and close friends, and their stories are told from generation to generation.

Bao Shu Ya is a high-ranking officer in the State of Qi. As an official, he is renowned for his able decisions. In Chinese culture, he is known primarily for his loyalty to his friend, as well as for his open-mindedness and tolerance. Although it is well known that that Guan Zhong is his best friend, Bao Shu Yu manages to persuade the Duke of Qi to put aside personal enmity, elevating Guan Zhong to an appropriate post based on his talent, rather than their relationship. Recommended by Bao Shu Ya, Guan Zhong is appointed Prime Minister by the Duke of Qi in 685 B.C.

Guan Zhong modernizes the State of Qi through numerous political and economic reforms. Under Guan Zhong, Qi shifts administrative responsibility from hereditary aristocrats to professional bureaucrats, and the Duke of Qi gains hegemony among the states. He also contributes to historical texts, and is listed as the author of the Guanzi Encyclopedia.

Both Bao Shu Ya and Guan Zhong are from Yingshang, in today's Anhui Province. The two had been good friends since childhood, and before taking up political careers, engaged in business ventures together. Bao Shu Ya's family was relatively wealthy, so he gave more of the business profits to Guan Zhong. They sold wine in a prosperous city and, as time passed, they made a fairly good living.

On one of these earlier days, they are bemoaning the fact that they are wasting their time with such a small business, and wonder how they might find a way to do something more important in life. An elderly man who happens to be passing advises them to add water to their wines, increasing their profits and making them rich in no time. They refuse in no uncertain terms, but the man is not dissuaded, and gives them additional suggestions. They become angry and ask him to leave. Before he goes, the old man takes out a gold bar and says to them, 'You are both important assets to the nation. Please do not waste your time and ruin your future, just because you are currently living in poverty.' The two friends realize that they have met a sage living in seclusion. Although grateful, they feel that the gold has come to them from nowhere, and refuse to keep anything they have attained without effort. They decide to donate the gold to the poor in two nearby villages, and give it away at once.

To commemorate their generosity, the villagers build the Pavilion of Gold. During the Ming Dynasty (A.D. 1368-1644) another pavilion is built, and the town where they donated the gold is renamed Guan Zhen, which means 'Township of Guan'. The pavilion was destroyed by the Red Guard in 1959, during the Cultural Revolution, but works of art in various media, including Cantonese opera, have taken their inspiration from themes in this story.