Hai Rui Dismissed From Office
Hairui is a famous Ming Dynasty official that is highly praised by the local people for being an honest and upright official during a time when the Ming Dynasty was facing severe corruption within the government officials. He was born in Qiongshan County, and during his time in office, he performed his duties with integrity enforcing the law, and he was referred to as the "Southern Bao Gong". (Bao Gong is another famous upright minister during the Northern Song Dynasty 999 - 1062 AD). He died at the age of 74, and was buried in Hainan.
During ancient times in Chinese history, it was not easy being an honest and upright government official where corruption ran rampant. Because of this, Hairui was dismissed from office. During the reign of Emperor Longqing (1567 - 1572), Xu Ying the son of a former minister Xu Jie, seized the land of a peasant named Zhao Yushan, and abducted his granddaughter. Hong Alan who was the peasants daughter-in-law, sued Xu Ying at the court of Huating County. Xu Jie bribed the magistrate to cover up his criminal misdeeds. Having accepted the bribe, the magistrate tortured Zhao Yushan to death, and threw Hong Alan out of the courtroom.
Hai Rui was the governor with jurisdiction of a large area south of the Yangtze River, and he came to Huating County to try the case. He cited the crimes of Xu Ying and sentenced him to death, and punished the corrupt officials who accepted bribes. Xu Jie, the father of Xu Ying was retired, but he was still a powerful minister. He sent bribes to influential eunuchs at the capital city, and had Hai Rui dismissed from office.
During his time in office, Hairui also sent a letter to the emperor criticizing the emperor's poor handling of state affairs. The emperor was furious and sentenced Hai Rui to death; however, the emperor fell ill and died, and the new emperor granted Hai Rui a reprieve.
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HAINAN PROVINCE 
