Gu Yanwu
Gu Yanwu | |||||||||
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19th-century portrait | |||||||||
| Born | 1613 Qiandun, Jiangnan, Ming China | ||||||||
| Died | 1682 (aged 68–69) Quwo, Shanxi, Qing China | ||||||||
| Burial place | Kunshan, Jiangsu, China | ||||||||
| Notable work |
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| Chinese name | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 顧炎武 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 顾炎武 | ||||||||
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| Birth name | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 顧繼紳 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 顾继绅 | ||||||||
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| Second name | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 顧絳 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 顾绛 | ||||||||
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| Courtesy name | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 寧人 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 宁人 | ||||||||
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| Art name | |||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 顧亭林 | ||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 顾亭林 | ||||||||
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Gu Yanwu (Chinese: 顧炎武; pinyin: Gù Yánwǔ; Wade–Giles: Ku4 Yen2-wu3, 1613–1682) was a Chinese historian, philologist, and poet active during the Ming–Qing transition. Born to a family of scholar-officials in the village of Qiandun in modern Kunshan, Jiangsu, he was adopted as the grandchild of his paternal uncle as an infant. He was tutored in the Chinese classics by his adoptive mother and grandfather, and began to pursue advancement in the imperial examination system.
After the death of his adoptive grandfather, he passed preliminary examinations in 1626, but repeatedly failed to advance beyond the triennial examinations to achieve the scholarly rank of juren. He abandoned the exams in 1641. Several of his family members, including his adoptive mother, died in 1644–1645 during the Qing dynasty's conquest of China. He became a Ming loyalist, changing his personal name from Jiang to Yanwu ('warlike and blazing'), but declined any political position in the Ming rump state and refused to collaborate with the Qing administration. He took to a life of itinerant scholarship, wandering across much of China while collecting notes for his scholarly works.
The most notable of his works was the Rizhilu (日知錄; 'Record of Daily Knowledge'), an edited collection of his notes on various topics, mainly related to statecraft and historiography. Only two of his works – the first edition of the Rizhilu and his phonology treatise Yinxue wushu (音學五書; 'Five Books on Phonology') – were published during his lifetime; the rest of his surviving works, including a variety of poetry, geographical texts, and notes, were published by his lone disciple Pan Lei after his death. Many of his works were lost. Although Gu's thought was relevant throughout the Qing period, 19th century scholars such as He Shaoji venerated him at a Beijing temple constructed in his honor. Later, revolutionaries such as Liang Qichao praised his work, stressing his empiricism and resistance to Qing rule.