Lu Guimeng

Life

Lu Guimeng was a seventh-generation descendant of Lu Yuanfang and the son of Lu Bin'yu, a censor. In youth he was intelligent, skilled at composition, versed in the meanings of the Six Classics, and especially learned in the Spring and Autumn; while living in Gusu, he possessed a library of more than ten thousand volumes. After failing the jinshi examination, he followed Zhang Tuan (also written Zhang Bo), who served as governor of Huzhou and Suzhou, and was appointed to staff posts in the two prefectures.

In 869, when Cui Pu was appointed governor of Suzhou, Lu sought him out with his writings; he met Pi Rixiu, and the two exchanged poems. Lu later compiled their exchange poems as 《松陵唱和集》. He subsequently withdrew to Fuli at Songjiang, where he wrote extensively and held discussions tirelessly; in spring 879, he fell ill at Lize, another name for Songjiang, and continued living in seclusion and writing. Fond of tea, he established a tea garden below Guzhu Mountain; disinclined to mix with worldly society, he often traveled by boat with a canopy, roaming freely among the rivers and lakes.

He declined a summons as a worthy recluse. He was close to Li Wei and Lu Xie; when they became chancellors, he was appointed Left Reminder, but died when the edict was issued. In the Guanghua era (900), Wei Zhuang memorialized him, and he was posthumously granted the office of Right Supplementary Remonstrator.

Literary work

Lu was accomplished in poetry and prose and was counted with Luo Yin and Pi Rixiu among the major late-Tang writers of xiaopin; his exchanges with Pi earned them the name Pi-Lu. His regulated verse was influenced by Wen Tingyun and Li Shangyin, while his old-style verse followed Han Yu, favoring elaborate and strikingly unconventional forms; Pi Rixiu once compared him with Wen and Li. Some poetic critics said that his exchanges with Pi opened an “obscure and difficult style,” while others praised his distinctive elegance; another assessment traced his poetry to Du Fu and Han Yu and found especially deep resonance in 《五歌》《二遺》 and the twenty poems of 《自遣》.

《笠澤叢書》 is a three-volume collection of his poetry and prose; the ten-volume 《松陵唱和集》 of exchanges with Pi survives and is also referred to as 《松陵集》. 《甫里先生集》, in twenty volumes, was compiled by Song editors and is also known as 《甫里集》. 《詩編》, in ten volumes, and 《賦》, in six, are lost; 《全唐詩》 preserves fourteen volumes of his poetry, while 《全唐詩外編》 and 《全唐詩續拾》 add three poems and ten fragments. Other works include 《耒耜經》《小名錄》《漁具詠》《記錦裾》《錦裙記》《零陵總記》 and 《三異人傳》.