Gu Fu (his dates are variously given as 1438–1508 and 1440–unknown) was a Ming official. His courtesy name was Tianxi, his sobriquet Yunya, and he was ranked third among his siblings; he was a native of Wu County, Suzhou Prefecture, and registered in Daxing County, Shuntian Prefecture.
Life
In the second year of the Chenghua era (1466), he earned the jinshi degree; he ranked 65th in the Shuntian provincial examination, 173rd in the metropolitan examination, and 32nd in the third class of the palace examination. He was appointed a Secretary in the Ministry of Justice and successively served as Assistant Director and Director.
In the twelfth year of Chenghua, he reviewed prisoners in Henan and was promoted to Director; in the fifteenth year, he adjudicated the corruption case involving Li Xiong, prefect of Huzhou. Because the proposed punishment was inconsistent, he was sent to the imperial prison and then demoted to Assistant Prefect of Yongzhou. His offices also included tongpan of Yongzhou.
In the first year of the Hongzhi era (1488), he became prefect of Ji'an; in the eighth year, he was promoted to Right Assistant Commissioner in the Henan Provincial Administration Commission, assigned to Nanyang, and charged with pacifying its people. During this tenure, he repaired the shrine of Zhuge Liang and enlarged the military review ground; after the personnel review in the first month of the twelfth year, he left office.
Family and associations
His father was Gu Xian, his grandfather Gu Zhong, and his great-grandfather Gu Renda; his mother was Lady Tao. He had two elder brothers, Gu Zhen and Gu Xiang, a younger brother, Gu Lu, and a wife of the Li family. At their parting, Li Dongyang composed a farewell piece for him, including a farewell poem and preface; Li also composed his tomb inscription and sent him a letter.
References
- CBDB Gu Fu (133671)
- 搜韵 顧福 (50446)
- Wikidata Gu Fu (Q45697563)