Baoying Liang
Dean Baoying Liang
"To our revered founder, the man who brought magic back to the academy, a toast."
Mental characteristics
Personal history
Gender Identity
Male, though he also enjoyed performing and socializing in drag
Sexuality
Baoying enjoyed the company of men in addition to women. His journals highlight the greater sexual freedom afforded to men--in particular--in the "Wild" American West as a major factor that motivated him to shepherd the group of local farmers and laborers who emigrated to America. He found a very congenial atmosphere when he arrived in San Francisco, as the great imbalance of men to women and relative lawlessness both encouraged cross-dressing, drag, and a much greater acceptance of trans folks. (though the latter were still subject to arrest on vague charges, not to mention newspaper sensationalism)
According to his journals, drag is what prompted Baoying's initial magical research. Liang Family Magic is not well suited to impromptu performances or chaotic environments like dances, so Baoying branched out into illusions and from there into the shapeshifting integral to the Liang family's connection to the land and buildings of Pearl College.
When Baoying left California for Illinois, he brought two women (Annie May and Daiyu Zhu) and two men (Weiyuan Chang and Fa Ding), all of whom he adopted into the Liang family. His journals are unusually circumspect about their exact relationships, but what is known is that he had a biological daughter, Mingzhu, and son, Qiqiang, with Daiyu.
Education
Unlike the vast majority of Chinese immigrants during the California Gold Rush, Baoying was well-educated. He was well-read in the Chinese classics, with a particular love for the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and extremely practiced at Liang Family Magic.
Accomplishments & Achievements
Baoying is revered among the Terra occultist population. He is most associated with founding Pearl College, the premiere academic institution for magic, and for the creative genius--not to mention courage--to invent The Potpourri Hypothesis.
He was the originating patriarch of the Liang Family in the United States. His unconventional life and decisions, such as entrusting the college to his firstborn daughter rather than his secondborn son, echoed through the years and college halls to create a flourishing culture of acceptance, curiosity, and responsibility.
Morality & Philosophy
Much like the Chinese folk religious concept from which his name derives, Baoying comfortably believed in both fate and individual agency. One biographer speculates that this flexibility set him on the path to The Potpourri Hypothesis.
Wealth & Financial state
The group of local men that Baoying shepherded to America made his fortune. Not primarily in the gold mines, as you might assume, but through a number of businesses serving miners. They began with laundry but swiftly expanded out to clothing, mining equipment, and even medicine. He primarily acted as an advisor to and initial source of funding for the various enterprises, and thereafter took a percentage cut of the profits.
Or at least, that is what his journals say. These funds eventually saw him through not only moving halfway across the country to Illinois but buying the land and constructing the first buildings for Pearl College. Some later biographers and historians have wondered if Baoying had a hand in some of the less legitimate and more questionable enterprises known to exist in the gold rush towns--but never in the hearing of a Liang.
Current Status
Deceased (of old age)
Current Location
Ethnicity
Other Ethnicities/Cultures
Circumstances of Death
Passed the post of Dean to his daughter Mingzhu
Birthplace
Jiangsu Province, China
Place of Death
Family
Children
Pronouns
he/him
Gender
male
Hair
Jet black shorn short, with everpresent attempts at a mustache
Height
5'10"
Weight
140 lbs
Quotes & Catchphrases
"A man plans. Then heaven decides the outcome."
Aligned Organization
Founded Settlements
