Tongfang Academy
Micro Party Class · Issue 307
“Black-Faced” Prosecutor
— Remembering Yao Wenhui, the “National Model Prosecution Officer”
“Theoretical cultivation is the core of the comprehensive quality of Party members and cadres. Theoretical maturity is the foundation for political maturity, and political steadfastness stems from theoretical clarity.” For Party members and cadres, fostering a fine academic style and strengthening theoretical education are both fundamental requirements for cultivating Party spirit and an inescapable political responsibility.
Tongfang Law Firm provides all its lawyers with learning opportunities in the form of micro-party classes, thereby enhancing their ideological and political awareness as well as their spirit of learning and inquiry. By establishing a long-term educational mechanism, the firm has created a new platform for self-education and self-improvement.
On September 12, Prosecutor Lao Yao, known for his “blackface,” passed away.
Upon hearing the news, many elderly people were not only shocked but also deeply saddened. Numerous former comrades-in-arms, village officials who had been assisted by him, and even individuals who had once been “dealt with” by Old Yao—all rushed to pay their last respects to him after learning of his passing. “It’s such a pity that such a great leader has left us!” This was the phrase the reporter heard most often during recent interviews in Zichuan District, Zibo City, Shandong Province.
Old Yao’s full name is Yao Wenhui. He previously served as the Party Secretary and Chief Prosecutor of the Zichuan District Procuratorate in Zibo City, as well as Deputy Party Secretary and Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Zibo City Procuratorate. Although Old Yao has been retired for over 20 years, his story continues to be remembered by local residents.
A Balance of Strength and Gentleness: The Dual Facets of “Black Judge Bao”
The term “black face” used to describe Yao Wenhui was first introduced in the late 1980s when Zichuan TV reported on him. One reason was that his complexion was dark; the other was that it carried the connotation of “Judge Bao with a stern, upright demeanor.” Later, when the “Masses Daily” published an article titled “Prosecutor-General Yao Wenhui, the ‘Black-Faced’ One,” Yao Wenhui’s image as the “black-faced” figure became widely known—even beyond the province’s borders. People from other regions began to come specifically to seek his advice, either for legal consultations or to provide leads on cases.
In 1981, after 18 years of service on the public security front, Yao Wenhui was transferred to work at the Zichuan District Procuratorate, where he took on the role of head of the Economic Prosecution Division. At that time, following a decade of turmoil, the Zichuan District Procuratorate had just been re-established, and its various operations had made little progress; in particular, the number of cases filed for official misconduct was zero.
“The Party and the people have entrusted us with the heavy responsibility of fighting corruption and criminal offenses—how could we ever let down our fellow villagers and elders! We must take the initiative and be at the forefront of the anti-corruption campaign.” Leading his officers, Yao Wenhui went into factories and mining sites, gathering clues and investigating leads. That very year, he initiated and investigated 10 cases. When handling the first case, due to the incomplete legal system at the time, there was a lack of legal basis for defining the suspect’s practice of accepting “kickbacks.” Yao Wenhui meticulously reviewed numerous legal documents and books, eventually drawing on the “Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Punishment of Corruption,” promulgated in the early years after the founding of New China, to resolve the definitional dilemma. After the verdict was handed down, the case was featured in a special article published by the Mass Daily, causing great sensation. The Supreme People’s Procuratorate even forwarded the case nationwide.
Yao Wenhui handled cases impartially and dared to tackle tough issues. Relying on his firm Party spirit and integrity, he successively investigated and prosecuted a number of major cases, including what was then the largest tax-related case in Shandong Province.
“When we handle cases, we must not only extract the ‘thorns’ but also avoid harming the ‘flesh’,” recalled Hao Lixin, a fourth-level senior prosecutor at the Zichuan District Procuratorate. He still remembers these words that Yao Wenhua had imparted to him when Hao first joined the prosecution department. In Hao’s memory, Yao Wenhua was both a relentless and tireless fighter—a “determined warrior”—and an impartial enforcer of the law, yet he was also a guardian of economic activities. While cracking down rigorously on economic crimes, Yao ensured that, in accordance with the law, the key personnel and existing economic ties of enterprises were protected. He helped businesses establish sound internal regulations and plug loopholes.
While handling the case of a pharmaceutical factory salesperson in Zichuan District who had illegally embezzled payment for goods, Yao Wenhui learned that the factory was soon to hold a nationwide ordering conference, and the salesperson was the main organizer of this conference. Yao immediately made adjustments in accordance with the law, ensuring that the salesperson attended the conference on time and helping the factory avoid losses exceeding 2 million yuan. In 1993, faced with the serious situation of frequent liability accidents at Zichuan Coal Mines, Yao Wenhui organized police officers to form a publicity team, which traveled to more than 80 mines across the jurisdiction to deliver educational lectures. This effort contributed significantly to the reduction in the number of coal mine safety accidents throughout the district the following year.
The path of punishing evil and promoting good is fraught with hardship and obstacles. Behind every influential and earth-shaking case lies a fierce struggle between justice and evil. There are cases of false accusations and frame-ups, as well as midnight phone calls filled with threats and intimidation. Yao Wenhui often tells the officers around him, “I’m a Communist Party member. For the sake of the Party and the people’s interests, I’d be willing to give up my life—how could I possibly fear offending a few people?”
Correcting Wrongdoings and Redressing Injustice: Upholding the Frontline of Fairness and Justice
“Keep the sharp weapon poised with precision—absolutely do not harm the innocent.” This was a remark Yao Wenhui wrote in his diary in November 1982, after he had clarified the facts and restored the reputation of a criminal suspect who had been wrongly accused. This statement stemmed not only from his sincere feelings toward the people but also from his unique experience of having been responsible for reviewing case quality and preventing wrongful convictions.
In 1992, Yao Wenhui, who by then served as the Chief Prosecutor of Zichuan District Procuratorate, received a report that an inmate held in the detention center had died after being resuscitated unsuccessfully following a seizure caused by epilepsy. The inmate’s family had been notified and was on its way to the scene, and preparations were underway to sign the authorization for cremation of the body. Drawing on his many years of experience in public security work and his deep understanding of epilepsy, Yao Wenhui sensed something fishy about the case. He immediately took a forensic doctor to the hospital. With the consent of the deceased’s family, the forensic doctor conducted an autopsy and found that the deceased’s stomach contained no food whatsoever. After a thorough investigation, it was eventually confirmed that during the more than ten days the deceased had been held in the cell, he had been tortured by fellow inmates—kept without a single meal or drop of water. Later, the two ringleaders and prison bullies involved in the case were both sentenced to death by the court, and those responsible for oversight were also held criminally accountable. The deceased’s father, tears streaming down his face, said to Yao Wenhui: “If you’d arrived just a bit later, my son would already have been sent to the crematorium—where could he possibly go to seek justice? You truly are a prosecutor who serves the people.”
In 1998, Yao Wenhui, who had already been transferred to the Zibo City Procuratorate as Deputy Chief Prosecutor, discovered during the review of a case that had been rejected for arrest that all four co-defendants had suddenly changed their testimonies. Based on this unusual development, Yao Wenhui surmised that there might be an injustice behind this case. After leading a team to interrogate the suspects and conduct on-site investigations to gather evidence, Yao Wenhui found that a certain street in Zibo had become a key patrol area for public security officers due to the frequent occurrence of highway robberies and rapes. As a result, these four young men from out of town were arrested while passing through the area at night. Yao Wenhui promptly supervised the investigation and uncovered the wrongful conviction; consequently, the four men were exonerated and released without charge.
Pioneering and Setting the Standard: Striving to Become a Model Procuratorate Nationwide
“At the time, the Procuratorate shared a 600-square-meter, two-story old office building with six other organizations, including the Justice Bureau and the Labor Bureau. The Procuratorate had only one telephone and two vehicles for case handling; when holding meetings for all staff members, they could only sit in the hallway.” Chen Shizhong, deputy secretary of the Party Committee of the Zichuan District Procuratorate, still remembers vividly the scenes of him and Yao Wenhua participating together in voluntary labor and renovating the office building.
In 1993, thanks to Yao Wenhui’s efforts, the Zichuan District Government decided to relocate other organizations from the procuratorate’s office building and allocated special funds to add three additional stories onto the original building. To speed up the construction progress and minimize disruption to daily work, Yao Wenhui and the officers worked diligently during the day and then came to the construction site after work to volunteer their labor.
“Prosecutor Yao led everyone in cleaning up trash and pushing carts to transport materials. He even proudly told us, ‘When I was young, I used to farm the land, and at the steel mill, I swung big hammers and carried stones—there’s no way today’s young folks could match my strength!’” Recalling those days, Chen Shizhong couldn’t help but feel deeply moved. Thanks to the concerted efforts of all the officers and staff in the court, it took only three months—from renovation to completion—to completely transform the old office building into a brand-new facility. Afterwards, the court went on to build additional facilities one after another, including dormitories for officers and staff as well as a cafeteria.
After the new office building was completed, Yao Wenhui set forth the goal: “Start from scratch, emerge from the trough, climb steadily over two years, sprint aggressively over three years, and strive to become a model procuratorate nationwide.” Under his leadership, the Zichuan District Procuratorate introduced specialized office and case-handling equipment and became one of the first in the country to launch pilot programs for office automation and integrated investigation and prosecution. In an era when computers were still rare, the Zichuan District Procuratorate had already achieved informationization of investigative command and fully networked its internal office systems. The once-obscure little procuratorate suddenly found itself at the forefront of innovation among procuratorial organs across the country.
In 1995, during the investigation of a bribery case involving the director of the Public Security Bureau, given the suspect’s strong ability to evade detection, Yao Wenhua directed investigators to try recording the entire interrogation process on both audio and video. Unexpectedly, during the trial, the defendant completely reversed his earlier statements and falsely accused the prosecutors of using torture to extract confessions. However, the abundant, authentic, and objective visual and audio evidence recorded during the interrogation provided powerful counterarguments. Ultimately, the court sentenced the defendant to eighteen years in prison. When Zhang Siqing, then Procurator-General of the Supreme People's Procuratorate, visited Zichuan to inspect the work there, he praised this practice, saying: “In anti-corruption investigations, the Zichuan Procuratorate has taken the lead among procuratorial organs nationwide by making effective use of audiovisual evidence.”
“Shouting yourself hoarse is no match for setting a good example.” “Only by daring to be pioneers can we achieve world-class results”... As the “team leader,” Yao Wenhui insists on holding himself to the highest standards, thereby influencing and motivating his team, enhancing its cohesion and combat effectiveness.
Remembering the Source When Drinking Water: A Practitioner of the Mass Line
Yao Wenhui loves cultivating lotus flowers, striving for the noble qualities of “rising from the mud yet remaining unstained, and emerging from clear waters without being seductive.” Over the past 30-plus years working in Zichuan, he has frequently encountered situations where people tried to influence his cases by offering favors or gifts. In response, Yao Wenhui made up his mind once and for all: He would never bend the law for personal connections, uphold the law regardless of who’s involved, and absolutely refuse to trade principles for personal gain. After taking office as the Chief Prosecutor of the Zichuan District Procuratorate, Yao Wenhui set a strict rule for his family members: As long as he’s not home, no strangers are allowed to enter the house, and no gifts—no matter from whom—may be accepted.
Yao Wenhui comes from a farming background and has a special, heartfelt connection to farmers and the land. During his tenure, he provided long-term assistance to impoverished mountain villages, paving asphalt roads and building reservoirs for them. He even took the lead in donating 16,000 yuan to install water supply pipelines. After retirement, he took on the task of reclaiming a barren hillside littered with slag and garbage. Working with his own hands, he built dams and embankments, chipped stones to replace poor soil, and hired workers to drill wells and construct irrigation channels. Within just a few years, this once-barren hillside had been transformed into fertile farmland lush with greenery and fragrant with the aroma of vegetables and fruits. When colleagues from the Zichuan District Forestry Bureau came to visit, he explained the reason behind his decision to reclaim this particular wasteland: “The kindness of the Party and the people enabled me—a mere farmer—to get a job at a factory, rise through the ranks, and eventually become a leading cadre. Now that I’m receiving a pension and have no worries about food or clothing, I can no longer compete with farmers for land. All I ask is to do my utmost to give back to society.”
“After Inspector Yao, every chief prosecutor who has taken over the baton has invariably felt a sense of pressure—not only to uphold and further build upon the honor already achieved, but also to think carefully about how to carry forward the underlying spiritual ethos,” admitted Chang Yongdong, the current chief prosecutor of the Zichuan District Procuratorate. “Since taking up my post in Zichuan, I’ve constantly felt inspired and spurred on by the honor we’ve been entrusted with. Moving forward, we’ll carry forward and promote the spirit of Comrade Yao Wenhui by establishing a special exhibition hall dedicated to his achievements in our institute’s history museum—making it an important platform for ideological education among our prosecutors, so that the exemplary spirit can continue to shine brightly in the new era.”
Source | People's Daily Online, Official Website for Party History Study and Education
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Tongfang Academy Micro-Party Class, Issue 306: Promoting High-Quality Development of Social Work in the New Era
