Tang Gao (唐皋，1469–1526) was born in Yansi town (巖寺鎮), She county (歙縣), Huizhou (徽州府), South Zhili (南直隸), in

Ming The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. Tang Gao became the

Zhuangyuan ''Zhuangyuan'', or ''trạng nguyên'' in Vietnamese, variously translated into English as principal graduate, primus, or optimus, was the title given to the scholar who achieved the highest score on highest level of the Imperial examination, (i ...

, or Number One Scholar (狀元) in the ninth year (1514) of the

Zhengde Emperor The Zhengde Emperor (; 26 October 149120 April 1521) was the 11th Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigned from 1505 to 1521. Born Zhu Houzhao, he was the Hongzhi Emperor's eldest son. Zhu Houzhao took the throne at only 14 with the era name Zhen ...

's (正德皇帝) reign during the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

. He styled himself as Shouzhi (守之), Xin’an (心庵), and Ziyang hermit (紫陽山人). Due to his premature death, the loss of his biography and epitaph, and the fact that much of his early life was not documented, scholars have been unable put together a detailed summary of his life.Tang Chen:"The Lost Poems and Articles Collection of Number One Scholar Tang Gao in Ming Dynasty", Master's Dissertation of Shanghai University, PRC, 2013.

Life

Tang Gao was born into an educated and aristocratic family within a well-established Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianist (程朱理學) academic tradition. Little is known about his early life, but at some point his family lost much of their wealth and he led a meager lifestyle during early adulthood. Despite failing the

imperial examinations The imperial examination (; lit. "subject recommendation") refers to a civil-service examination system in Imperial China, administered for the purpose of selecting candidates for the state bureaucracy. The concept of choosing bureaucrats by ...

(科舉) multiple times he eventually passed and started his career as an Imperial Historian at the

Hanlin Academy The Hanlin Academy was an academic and administrative institution of higher learning founded in the 8th century Tang China by Emperor Xuanzong in Chang'an. Membership in the academy was confined to an elite group of scholars, who performed sec ...

(翰林院修撰兼修國史). He then became an expositor of the academy (翰林院侍講學士兼經筵講官) but died unexpectedly in 1526 aged 58. His 12-year political career, though relatively short, was during the transition from the

(正德皇帝) to the

Jiajing Emperor The Jiajing Emperor (; 16September 150723January 1567) was the 12th List of emperors of the Ming dynasty, Emperor of the Ming dynasty, reigning from 1521 to 1567. Born Zhu Houcong, he was the former Zhengde Emperor's cousin. His father, Zhu You ...

's (嘉靖皇帝) reign during the Ming dynasty, and was a period of great change to politics, the economy, academic life, and literature.

Political activities

Tang Gao, who had a straightforward attitude and was mature in nature, was generally considered to be a future Prime Minister (宰輔). At the beginning of his official life, he had already adopted the view that the government statutes (紀綱) should be strengthened. In the twelfth year of

(1517), as the vice examiner of the metropolitan examination (會試同考官), he appointed many talented people. When the

died, he served as an imperial envoy abroad to

Korea Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

(欽差朝鮮正使) and issued the Imperial Edict of the Ascent to the Throne of the Jiajing Emperor (登極改元詔), which was the peak of his political career. During his visit to

Joseon Joseon (; ; Middle Korean: 됴ᇢ〯션〮 Dyǒw syéon or 됴ᇢ〯션〯 Dyǒw syěon), officially the Great Joseon (; ), was the last dynastic kingdom of Korea, lasting just over 500 years. It was founded by Yi Seong-gye in July 1392 and re ...

(李氏朝鮮), he was acclaimed as the most righteous man in the world by the King and officials there, due to his discipline and honesty. After he returned to China, Tang Gao wanted to realize his aspirations, and wrote a letter depicting the employment problems of the Jiajing Emperor. In the “

Great Rites Controversy The Great Rites Controversy () took place in the decade following 1524 in Ming China. It pitted the young and newly enthroned Jiajing Emperor against the Grand Secretary Yang Tinghe and the majority of the Confucian officials in his government. ...

”(“大禮議事件”), he mediated between the two groups, and expressed political foresight, which angered the Emperor. In the fourth year of Jiajing Emperor, “The Factual Record of Ming Emperor Wu Zong”(《明武宗實錄》) was finished. As a historian, he made a significant contribution to the historiography of the Ming dynasty.

Confucianism

Tang Gao once pursued his studies in Ziyang Academy (紫陽書院), the Prefectural School (府學) of Huizhou, where the Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism was deeply rooted. He advocated pragmatism, focused on the ways of the world and the heart of humans, so that his early works all agreed with the concept of

Neo-Confucianism Neo-Confucianism (, often shortened to ''lǐxué'' 理學, literally "School of Principle") is a moral, ethical, and metaphysical Chinese philosophy Chinese philosophy originates in the Spring and Autumn period () and Wa ...

. However, in his late years, he turned to WangYangming’s Idealistic Theories (陽明心學), and his articles then combined both the Cheng-zhu School and the Idealistic School. Unlike his early poems and essays, which regarded

Taoism Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of Philosophy, philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of China, Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmo ...

(道教)as heresy, his late works often cited

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

Scriptures (佛典). The representative work of the convergence of the three religions (三教合一) entitled “Xing-Ming-Gui-Zhi”(《性命圭旨》) was circulated.

Literature

As Tang Gao advocated pragmatism, his works focused on the documentary form. Influenced by the “Former Seven Scholars”(“前七子”), his writing style tended to revert to the old ways. The several existing

Yue Fu ''Yuefu'' are Chinese poems composed in a folk song style. The term originally literally meant "Music Bureau", a reference to the imperial Chinese governmental organization(s) originally charged with collecting or writing the lyrics, later the t ...

(樂府詩) drafted by him all seemed extraordinary with a trace of Yang Weizhen’s (楊維楨) style. The poems were once selected into

Qian Qianyi Qian Qianyi (; Suzhou dialect: ; 1582–1664) was a Chinese historian, poet, and politician during the late Ming dynasty.Cihai: Page 1704. Qian was a famous author and poet; and along with Gong Dingzi and Wu Weiye was known as one of the Three M ...

(錢謙益)’s “Lie-Chao-Shi-Ji”(《列朝詩集》), which represented his retroactive trend. He especially admired Li Mengyang (李夢陽) and was also on good terms with some retroactive scholars like Wang Jiusi (王九思). During his diplomatic mission, he versified together with some civil officials of the Joseon dynasty such as Li Xing (李荇), and introduced the opinions of the"Former Seven Scholars" such as Li Mengyang from the official level. The “Xin-Si-Huang-Hua-Ji”(《辛巳皇華集》) versification and the direct result—the spread of Li Mengyang's poetry eastwards, had a far-reaching effect on the literary innovation in the mid and late period of the Joseon dynasty. In addition, several of his travel poems carried a style of

Xie Lingyun Xie Lingyun (; 385–433), also known as the Duke of Kangle (康樂公), was one of the foremost Chinese poets of the Southern and Northern Dynasties and a famous practitioner of the Six Dynasties poetry. Life Xie Lingyun was a descendant o ...

(謝靈運)’s scenic poems. Among them, some particular ones also contained the style of

Tang Yin Tang Yin (; 1470–1524), courtesy name Bohu (), was a Chinese painter, calligrapher, and poet of the Ming dynasty period. Even though he was born during the Ming dynasty, many of his paintings, especially those of people, were illustrated with el ...

(唐寅)’s Wu School. His poetic creation drew widely from others’ strong points and appealed to both refined and popular taste. This was quite similar to that of his good friend Yang Shen (楊慎).

Wife and Sons

Tang Gao led a short life, which made many scholars feel that he had not fulfilled himself. Tang Gao's wife Yan (閻氏) left a single poem, with the prosperous charm of the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

. His eldest grandson Tang Rulong (唐汝龍) received a good education from Tang Gao, studied

Li Bai Li Bai (, 701–762), also pronounced as Li Bo, courtesy name Taibai (), was a Chinese poet, acclaimed from his own time to the present as a brilliant and romantic figure who took traditional poetic forms to new heights. He and his friend Du F ...

(李白)’s poetic style and was highly appreciated by

. He attempted the imperial examinations several times but was unsuccessful and grew depressed.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gao, Tang 1469 births 1526 deaths Ming dynasty scholars