Writers › Writer / Poet
Gao Shi
High Tang poet of the frontier, author of 'Song of Yan', who rose after the An Lushan rebellion to military governor of Huainan and Western Sichuan and Marquis of Bohai
In a study at night, a desk holds a brush pot, a porcelain vase with a plum branch, a lit red lantern, a folded fan and an unrolled blank scroll, with no one seated there, while through a round window the moon rises over a lake with a sailboat.
Also known as Zi Dafu · Bohai Xianhou · Zhong · Zi Zhongwu
- Roles
- Writer / Poet
Gao Shi, courtesy name Dafu, also Zhongwu, came from Tiao in Bohai. As a young man he drifted without a livelihood through the old lands of Liang and Song, and in 738 he wrote 'Song of Yan' (Yan ge xing). In 749, recommended by the prefect Zhang Jiugao, he passed a special examination and became sheriff of Fengqiu, but soon left to serve the Hexi commander Geshu Han as secretary. During the An Lushan rebellion he joined the fleeing Emperor Xuanzong, became a remonstrance official, and under Emperor Suzong was made military governor of Huainan to put down Prince Yong. Slandered by Li Fuguo, he was shifted to a court sinecure, then governed Pengzhou and Shuzhou before becoming military governor of Western Sichuan. Recalled as vice minister of justice, he was made Marquis of Bohai and died early in 765, receiving the posthumous name Zhong. The Old Book of Tang (Jiu Tangshu) remarks that of all Tang poets only Gao Shi rose to high office.
Life and times
- 704 CEBorn
Tang - 765 CEDied
Works
Literature · Poetry5- Farewell to Dong Da (I)TangGao Shi's quatrain for the lutenist Dong Tinglan, cheering a down-at-heel friend on his way
- On HistoryTangGao Shi retells how Xu Jia pitied Fan Ju's poverty without knowing he faced a great minister
- Written after Wine for Zhang XuTangGao Shi, after wine, salutes the calligrapher Zhang Xu and his wild, unworldly spirit
- Seeing Off Censor Zheng, Banished to MinTangGao Shi comforts a friend banished to the far south, drawing on his own memories of the road
- Seeing Off Sheriff Li, Demoted to Xiazhong, and Sheriff Wang, Demoted to ChangshaTangGao Shi sends off two demoted friends, one to the Gorges and one to Changsha, with comfort
- Literature · Sayings2
- Who in the World Does Not Know You?TangLine from Gao Shi's farewell to Dong Da: everyone under heaven knows your name
- Fear Not That No Friend Awaits: Gao Shi's Farewell to Dong DaTangLine from Gao Shi's farewell to Dong Da: friends await you everywhere