Overview

The Seventh Justice, is a 1879 Chinese Classic novel based on storyteller Shi Yukun's oral performances. Set in 11th-century Song dynasty, the story detailed the rise of legendary Judge Bao to high office, and how a group of rangers each with exceptional martial art skill and selfless heroism-helped the Judge to fight crimes, oppression, corruption and rebellion. It was one of the first novels to merge the court-case fiction and the Martial Art genres. Praised for its humorous narration and vivid characterizations, the novel has enjoyed huge readership: it spawned two dozen sequels by 1924 and served as the thematic model of allegedly over 100 novels in the late Qing dynasty. Even in the modern era, the tales have been continuously reenacted in popular cultural mediums, including oral storytelling, operas, films and TV dramas.