Gu Mei ( zh, t=顧媚, w=Ku Mei; 1619–1664), better known by her

art name An art name (pseudonym or pen name), also known by its native names ''hào'' (in Mandarin Chinese), ''gō'' (in Japanese), ' (in Korean), and ''tên hiệu'' (in Vietnamese), is a professional name used by artists, poets and writers in the Sinosp ...

Gu Hengbo ( zh, t=顧橫波, w=Ku Heng-po) - also known as Xu Shanchi (徐善持) and Xu Zhizhu (徐智珠) after her marriage - was a Chinese Gējì, poet and painter. She received the title "Lady" (furen) from the early

Qing The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing, was a Manchu-led Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China and an early modern empire in East Asia. The last imperial dynasty in Chinese history, the Qing dynasty was preceded by the ...

court, and is often addressed as "Lady Hengbo" in Qing writings. Gu Hengbo was famous for both her beauty and her talent in painting and poetry. As such, she was considered an elite geji, alongside names like Dong Xiaowan, Bian Yujing, and Liu Rushi. She was admired for her paintings of orchids, and published a collection of poems which gained good critical reviews (although few of her works have survived). She was one of the Eight Beauties of Qinhuai described by late

officials. The other famed gejis of this group are Ma Xianglan, Bian Yujing, Li Xiangjun, Dong Xiaowan, Liu Rushi, Kou Baimen, and Chen Yuanyuan.*

Life

Gu Hengbo was born near

Nanjing Nanjing or Nanking is the capital of Jiangsu, a province in East China. The city, which is located in the southwestern corner of the province, has 11 districts, an administrative area of , and a population of 9,423,400. Situated in the Yang ...

in 1619. Before her marriage to Gong Dingzi, Gu was a Gējì in Nanjing during the reign of Chongzhen. She was well versed in literature and history, and was good at poetry, being known as "the best in Nan Qu" (南曲第一). Gu Hengbo painted both orchids and landscapes in her own style, and did not follow the painting methods of previous generations. When she was eighteen years old, she joined Li Xiangjun, Wang Yue, and others in the "Lan Society", founded by Yangzhou celebrity Zheng Yuanxun in Nanjing. In her Tower Meilou in the Qinhuai district, she hosted a famous literary salon, which counted Chen Liang, Qian Lucan and Mao Xiang among its guests. Yu Huai described Meilou (literally ''house of bewitchment'') as lavish and extravagant. Gu Hengbo also acted in ''

kunqu Kunqu (), also known as Kunju (), K'un-ch'ü, Kun opera or Kunqu Opera, is one of the oldest extant forms of Chinese opera. It evolved from a music style local to Kunshan, part of the Wu (region), Wu cultural area, and later came to dominate ...

'' as a male ('' sheng'') impersonator. One of her roles was Zhou Yu () in ''Disciplining the Son'' (). The writer Yu Huai () recounted how, after he had helped her when she ran afoul of the law, she offered to perform a stage drama for him on his birthday. She fell in love with one of her patrons, Liu Fang ( 劉芳), promised to marry him and to end her career as a Geji. When she later changed her mind, Liu Fang committed suicide. One of her patrons, the career official Gong Dingzi, paid 1,000 ounces of silver for her services. In 1643, she left her profession to become a

concubine Concubinage is an interpersonal relationship, interpersonal and Intimate relationship, sexual relationship between two people in which the couple does not want to, or cannot, enter into a full marriage. Concubinage and marriage are often regarde ...

to Gong, and settled with him in the capital. His openly demonstrated love for her attracted much attention during their time, as it offended the norms of Confucian ideals, and her influence over him became legendary. She is known to have saved the poet Yan Ermei from execution, and to have been the benefactor of the artist Zhu Yizun. In 1659, Gu Hengbo gave birth to a daughter. Anxious to have a son, Gong Dingzi built a private

Buddhist Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...

temple where the couple could pray for a son.

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * Zhang, Hongsheng ��宏生(2002). "Gong Dingzi and the Courtesan Gu Mei: Their Romance and the Revival of the Song Lyric in the Ming-Qing Transition", in ''Hsiang Lectures on Chinese Poetry, Volume 2'', Grace S. Fong, editor. (Montreal: Center for East Asian Research, McGill University). {{DEFAULTSORT:Gu, Hengbo 1619 births 1664 deaths 17th-century Chinese painters 17th-century Chinese poets Ming dynasty painters Chinese women painters Chinese women poets Ming dynasty poets Qing dynasty poets Painters from Nanjing Poets from Jiangsu Writers from Nanjing 17th-century Chinese women writers Eight Beauties of Qinhuai Chinese concubines 17th-century Chinese actresses 17th-century Chinese women singers Ming dynasty actors Male impersonators in Chinese opera Actresses from Nanjing Singers from Nanjing Kunqu actresses Ming dynasty Gējìs Chinese Gējìs