Gu Kuang 727?-816?

After gaining the jinshi degree in 757, Gu Kuang served as Transport Commissioner in the Salt Monopoly Bureau and eventually rose to the post of Editorial Director in the Palace Library in 788. His alleged sarcasm, however, earned him enemies, and upon the death of his powerful patron Li Bi (722-789), he was demoted to Raozhou. In 793, he retired to his native Suzhou, living in reclusion in Mt. Mao, a centre of Taoisim at the time. Gu was a landscape painter and a poet praised for his simple, unaffected style. His work is collected in Huayang ju [Huayang collection]. Four volumes (juan) of his poetry can also be found in Quan Tang shi.

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