Writers › Writer / Poet

Zheng Gu

Late Tang poet, courtesy name Shouyu, nicknamed 'Zheng the Partridge' for his poem on partridges; rose to director in the Ministry of Justice

Also known as Shouyu · Zheng the Ministry Official · Zheng the Partridge

Zheng Gu, courtesy name Shouyu, from Yichun in Yuanzhou (modern Jiangxi), was a poet of the late Tang. He passed the jinshi examination in 887 and rose to director in the Ministry of Justice, so he was known as Zheng Duguan. His poems are clear and graceful; his poem on partridges made him famous as 'Zheng the Partridge'. He exchanged verse with Xu Tang and Zhang Qiao and was counted among the 'Ten Talents of the Xiantong Era'. His collection Yuntai bian survives.

Life and times

Dates c. 851 CE–c. 910 CE

EraTangFive Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms