A heroic past

In the magistrate's building, visitors can see the list of 182 magistrates working in Zhaohua from 285 BC to 1956. They would be impressed with the story of He Yiyu, a magistrate of the Tang Dynasty (618-907). He is the only magistrate recorded in the Twenty-Four Histories, official records covering the long period of time since around 3000 BC to the Ming Dynasty.

He cared for common people in Zhaohua and was held in high esteem. When he tried cases, he would educate or punish the guilty in the magistrate's building instead of jailing them.

During his three-year term in Zhaohua, there was not a single prisoner in the jail, because he believed that the guilty would become worse in the jail under the influence of other inmates, and their relatives might bribe people in charge of the jail if they wanted to meet their jailed loved ones, corrupting the social atmosphere, guides in the Zhaohua ancient town say.