Ding Baozhen

Ding Baozhen, courtesy name Weihuang, was a Chinese official who lived in the late Qing dynasty and served as the governor of Sichuan Province.
The Sichuan dish Kung Pao chicken was named after his nickname, "Ding Gongbao". "Gongbao" was the short form of an appointment he held, "Taizi Shaobao", while "Ding" was his family name.

Life

Born in Pingyuan, Guizhou Province in 1820, Ding was appointed a government official in 1854 after an outstanding performance in the annual imperial examination. He served as xunfu of Shandong Province and later as governor of Sichuan province. In the second year of the Guangxu period in the Qing dynasty, he supervised the reconstruction of the Dujiangyan Irrigation Project. A statue of him is displayed at Erwang Temple in Dujiangyan City.