I've heard about a judge in ancient China (forgot which dynasty), Bao Qin Tian (or Justice Bao), who was black. Does anyone have any information on him? I tried to look it up online, I could only find TV shows on the guy.

Bao Gong was said to have dark skin, but that is pretty far from making him "black" you know. Maybe part of his ancestors came from SE Asia where some have bronze skin or more likely from the Indian subcontinent.
Albeit rarely close, there were ties between India and China (bhuddism came from India much earlier than the judge Bao's era).

About him : born in 999, dead in 1062 in present-day Anhui (coastal province, which might explain some "exotic" features. Very famous man of the North Song dynasty. Complete name : Bao Zheng. Lots of tales/crime stories speak about him and how shrewd he was.

He was the embodiment of justice in Chinese culture and a hero-model in the classic incorruptible Chinese mandarin mold. He had been deitified; one of the myriad of Chinese gods.

He's not black; just darker-skinned, comparatively.

PS Anhui is not a coastal province... :p

And he has this cool crescent moon shaped birthmark on his forehead too. :)

BTW there's a large temple dedicated to him in, of all places, my hometown Manila. :D

Bao Zheng was very popular with ordinary Chinese, since he's the arch-nemesis of the stereotypical Chinese villains - corrupt officials and the like. In my grandma's house, we had a idol for him too, for daily prayers and incense. :)

Anhui ! My bad ! Not too far from the sea but not a coastal province at all...

Say, can we bug someone to make a king unit based on him? :mischief: