Traditional Chinese legend, retold in simple Mandarin
Judge Bao and the Swapped Prince
狸猫换太子
Judge Bao and the Swapped Prince (狸猫换太子, Lí māo huàn tàizǐ) is a Chinese legend, retold in simple Mandarin as a 6-chapter story with audio for learners at about HSK 3 (Intermediate).
Retold from the Judge Bao legends of The Seven Heroes and Five Gallants: a jealous consort swaps a newborn prince for a civet cat, and twenty years later Judge Bao finds his mother in a broken kiln.
Meet the voices
- Narrator · 旁白 — A warm storyteller who sets the scene.
- Judge Bao · 包大人 — The famous fair judge with a black face and a white crescent moon.
- Consort Li · 李娘娘 — A kind young consort who only wants a healthy child.
- Consort Liu · 刘娘娘 — A jealous consort who will do anything to become empress.
- Guo Huai · 郭槐 — Consort Liu's oily eunuch servant.
- Kou Zhu · 寇珠 — Consort Li's brave and loyal maid.
- Chen Lin · 陈琳 — A thin, kind eunuch who dares to save a baby.
- Palace Guard · 守卫 — A gruff gate guard who loves hot buns.
- Prince Ba · 八王爷 — A calm, kind prince who raises the baby.
- Old Lady Li · 李娘娘 — The consort twenty years later: poor, blind and still hoping.
- Old Chen Lin · 陈琳 — Chen Lin twenty years later, white-haired and still loyal.
- Emperor Renzong · 仁宗 — The young emperor who never knew his true mother.
- Empress Dowager Liu · 刘太后 — The powerful empress dowager with a secret.
- Court Clerk · 衙役 — A court runner who obeys Judge Bao and is scared of ghosts.
6 chapters, one journey
Chapter 1: A Plot in the Palace
宫里的秘密
Two consorts wait for a baby, and only one of them is kind. On the night the prince is born, a terrible swap is planned, and a loyal maid stands in its way.
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Chapter 2: The Food Box
小小食盒
Kou Zhu has a baby prince in her arms and no way out of the palace. With a food box, a plate of hot buns and a very brave friend, she tries a clever escape.
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Chapter 3: The Broken Kiln
破窑里的老人
Twenty years later, a storm drives Judge Bao into a broken kiln. There he finds a blind old woman who says she was once a consort, and that her son is alive.
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Chapter 4: Two Rooms, One Answer
两个房间
Judge Bao does not believe or doubt; he tests. He asks the same three questions in two different rooms, and the old woman and an old eunuch give the same answers.
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Chapter 5: The Jade Lock
皇上的玉锁
At midnight in the palace, Judge Bao asks the young emperor one small question about a jade lock. Then a sharp voice at the door says one word too many.
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Chapter 6: Mother and Son
母子相见
In the quiet before dawn, an emperor kneels before an old woman who cannot see him. A little jade lock, a tiny bite mark and twenty years of tears say the rest.
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Key words in Judge Bao and the Swapped Prince
Behind the story
The story of the swapped prince (狸猫换太子) comes from Chinese folk opera and the nineteenth-century novel The Seven Heroes and Five Gallants (三侠五义). It is set in the Northern Song dynasty, when Emperor Renzong ruled, and tells how a wronged consort was finally helped by the famous judge Bao Zheng.
Judge Bao is a real historical official, remembered for being fair to rich and poor alike. In opera he is painted with a black face and a white crescent moon on his forehead. Chinese audiences know this tale from Peking opera and countless TV dramas, and the phrase 狸猫换太子 is still used for any sneaky swap.
Did you know?
- In Chinese, 狸猫换太子 literally means swapping a civet cat for a prince, and people use it to describe a secret switch.
- Bao Zheng really lived (999-1062) and was known as an honest official; opera fans call him Bao Qingtian, Bao of the Clear Sky.
- Peking opera shows Judge Bao with a black painted face, a sign of fairness and courage.