Introduction
Ding Baozhen (simplified Chinese: 丁宝桢; traditional Chinese: 丁寶楨; pinyin: Dīng Bǎozhēn; Wade–Giles: Ting Pao-chen) (1820 – 1886), courtesy name Weihuang (稚璜), 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 (or Gongbao chicken) was named after his nickname, "Ding Gongbao" (丁宮保). "Gongbao" was the short form of an appointment he held, "Taizi Shaobao" (太子少保; roughly translates to "Crown Prince's Tutor"）, 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 head 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. His statue can be seen on display at Erwang Temple in Dujiangyan City. He held the appointment "Taizi Shaobao" (太子少保; roughly translates to "Crown Prince's Tutor"), whose short form was Gongbao (Chinese: 宮保; pinyin: Gōngbǎo; Wade–Giles: Kung1-pao3). The name of the Sichuan dish Kung Pao chicken was thus derived from his nickname "Ding Gongbao".