Bao Shichen

Bao Shichen (; 1775–1855) was a calligrapher and reformist scholar in the early nineteenth century. Under the Qing administration, Bao made numerous important suggestions regarding the areas of military affairs, laws and politics, the grain tribute system, the salt monopoly, and the improvement of agricultural practice.

Life Bao Shichen grew up in a low-class intellectual family, and had fair education. He was son of a low-ranking Green Standard Army officer, and helped his father to suppress the Lin Shuangwen rebellion. When his father was ill, he brought his father home in Anhui province.

He died in 1855, on the road that flee from Taiping Rebellion.

Major works and reputation Bao Shichen was a leading figure in jinshi--"statecraft" scholarship, an informal movement of Confucians that published tracts on real problems facing 19th century China. His writings owed much to the scholarship of Hong Liangji who had campaigned against the widespread corruption under the Qianlong Emperor. In 1801, Bao wrote an essay Shuochu (说储, On Wealth) to list his ambitious thoughts on the reforms that could help Qing empire to regain its political power and became prosperous again. He believed in the theory of "agriculture first", that agriculture is paramount for achieving prosperity in the country, and he also put down his ideas on agrarian policy in an essay Random notes from the year 1820 (Gengchen zazhu).

However, Bao's reputation is earned mostly for being a calligrapher and historian of calligraphy. He wrote a book Yizhou Shuangji (艺舟双楫, Two Oars for the Boat of Art) in 1844 on Wei style character formation.

In his late years, Bao collected and compiled all his written works into one book titles Anwu Sizhong (安吴四种, Four Categories of Anwu).

Criticizing Opium Trade Bao believed that there were three wastages: tobacco, wine, and opium.