Hai Rui

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Hai Rui (Wade-Giles Hai Jui)(海瑞)(1514-1587) was a famous Chinese official of the Ming dynasty. His name has come down in history as a model of honesty and integrity in office.

Hai Rui was born in Hainan where he was raised by his mother. Unsuccessful in the official examinations, his official career only started in 1553, when he was aged 39, with a humble position as clerk of education in Fujian province. He built his reputation on uncompromising adherence to an upright morality, scrupulous honesty, poverty, and fairness. This won him widespread popular support but made him many enemies in the bureaucracy. Eventually he submitted a memorial impeaching the Jiajing Emperor himself in 1565 and was sentenced to death in 1566. He was released after the Emperor died in early 1567.

Hai Rui was reappointed under the Longqing Emperor but soon forced to resign in 1570 after complaints were made over his overzealous handling of land-tenure issues. He then spent 15 years in retirement in Hainan before being finally brought back in 1585 under the Wanli Emperor. Hai Rui died in office two years later.

Hai Rui's fame lives on in modern times. An article entitled "Hai Rui Dismissed from Office", written by Communist Party official Wu Han in 1959 and later made into a Peking Opera play, was interpreted by Mao Zedong as an attack on his reputation and is remembered as the spark that ignited the Cultural Revolution.