Writers › Writer / Poet
Li Gongzuo
Mid-Tang author of chuanqi tales whose 'Governor of the Southern Bough' gave rise to the idiom 'a dream of Nanke'.
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 Zhuanmeng
- Roles
- Writer / Poet
Li Gongzuo, courtesy name Zhuanmeng, was a native of Longxi who lived from the reign of Emperor Dezong to that of Xuanzong and served in provincial posts such as administrative assistant in Jiangnan West. He is a major author of Tang chuanqi tales; his 'Governor of the Southern Bough' tells of Chunyu Fen, who dreams of glory in the kingdom of Huai'an only to wake and find it an ant nest beneath a locust tree. Other surviving works include 'The Story of Xie Xiao'e'. The idiom 'a dream of Nanke' derives from his tale.
Life and times
Dates Dates unknown; active c. 785–848 CE (mid-Tang)