Corrupted Chinese Official He Shen

Again, I am relieved to know that I haven't been watching too many Chinese drama serial, in particular the Ji Xiaolan series (铁齿铜牙纪晓岚). It is good to know that Qing official He Shen (和珅), one of the main protagonists in the show, really existed in history.

In the drama, Ji Xiaolan and He Shen were constantly at loggerheads with one another, the proverbial good against evil, and the upright versus the corrupted. They waged their battle mainly through political maneuverings, as well as words and poems, and petitions to the emperor.

Anyway, according to Kenneth Lieberthal, He Shen (1750-99) served as aide to Qianlong emperor from 1776 to 1796, and was put in charge of revenues and personnel. Even though He Shen was supposed to suppress the White Lotus Rebellion in central and western China, he and his friends "siphoned off so much money and so corrupted the bureaucracy that the rebellion continued until after Qianlong's death and He Shen's removal," (Kenneth Lieberthal, Governing China From Revolution Through Reform).

After Qianlong died, his successor Jiaqing forced He Shen to commit suicide, and He's estate and assets were reportedly confiscated. It was estimated that He embezzled a total of over $1.5 billion dollars, "in modern money", or the equivalent of that amount in the year 2004.

Of course I have no idea how much money that is. Except that I will never ever possess even an itsy-bitsy fraction of it.

Having said that, Wang Gang (王刚), the actor who played He Shen was truly excellent. He portrayed evil, deception and treachery so dreadfully well that he made me want to pick up my kitchen knife and throw it at him.