Bao Shen 鮑申

Bao Shen 鮑申, also called Bao Shen 保申 "Guardian Shen" or 葆申, was senior minister (lingyin 令尹) in the state of Chu 楚 during the Spring and Autumn period 春秋 (770-5th cent. BCE). His family name is not known. Bao 鮑 is a substitute word for the functional position of bao 保 "guardian".

Bao Shen served King Wen of Chu 楚文王 (r. 690-677) as a loyal and critical minister. In the early years of his reign King Wen did not care for political matters but preferred going out for hunt or enjoying the company of his concubines in prodigious banquets. Bao Shen thereupon decided submiting a remonstrating memorial to the king in which he argued that such a bad ruler should actually be chastised. These drastical words helped King Wen to commit his errors and to initiate a responsible government.