I was watching a \u201cC-drama\u201d, or Chinese television drama, on Netflix and found myself silently questioning why I had to sit through a sluggish 20-minute set piece that could have been done and dusted in two. At that moment, the person who had persuaded me to watch the period potboiler asked, \u201cWhat is a biaoju<\/em>?\u201d, referring to a key plot device in the show.<\/p>\n China\u2019s armed escort services, known as biaoju<\/em>, grew out of a very practical problem: getting from point A to point B without being robbed or even killed along the way.<\/p>\n In the late imperial period between the late 14th and early 20th centuries, long-distance travel could be risky business. Merchants transporting silver and goods often had to pass through remote areas where banditry was a real threat. Hiring tough, skilled fighters for protection became necessary.<\/p>\n Biaoju<\/em> were organised businesses, the most famous of which were linked to Shanxi merchants, who were deeply involved in early banking and long-distance trade.<\/p>\n These escort firms operated a bit like today\u2019s logistics companies, except their \u201cdelivery guarantee\u201d depended on swords, spears and fighting skills rather than tracking numbers. If a shipment went missing, it wasn\u2019t just a financial loss; it could destroy an escort agency\u2019s credibility overnight.<\/p>\n Aside from protecting goods and silver, they also escorted people, from wealthy merchants to officials travelling across provinces.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/img.i-scmp.com\/cdn-cgi\/image\/fit=contain,width=1024,format=auto\/sites\/default\/files\/d8\/images\/canvas\/2026\/03\/26\/52661eca-f2c5-4c9b-9699-02ba45fde979_3bce2910.jpg\" "\\"A")
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