Gao Panlong · 全球本体聚合平台

Gao Panlong (1562–1626) was a Ming-dynasty Neo-Confucian scholar, thinker, and leader of the Donglin party. His courtesy name was Yuncong; he later changed it to Cunzhi, and his sobriquet was Jingyi. He came from Wuxi in Zhili (present-day Jiangsu).

Life

In 1582 he passed the Yingtian provincial examination; in 1589 he earned the jinshi degree and was appointed an usher in the xingren office. In 1593, in connection with the Zhao Yongxian affair, he submitted a memorial criticizing Grand Secretary Wang Xijue and became embroiled in a dispute with Yang Yingsu, a langzhong in the Ministry of Revenue; he was demoted to county clerk at Jieyang.

After mourning a parent, he returned home and lived there for nearly thirty years. His associates included 薛敷教, 顧憲成, 于孔兼, 史孟麟, and 錢一本; his students included 陳龍正, 魏大中, 華允誠, and 吳鍾巒, and he had a son, 高世儒.

Scholarship and teaching

A Neo-Confucian scholar and thinker, Gao Panlong accepted students, held an academy lecture post, and established academies, charitable schools, or family schools. In 1604, he lectured with 顧憲成 and others at Donglin Academy in Wuxi; they were known as “Gao and Gu.”

Official career and politics

At the beginning of the Tianqi reign, he entered office as 光祿寺丞, a title also given as 光祿寺少卿; after impeaching Grand Secretary 方從哲, he lost his stipend for a year and was transferred to 大理少卿. In 1624, he became 左都御史 (Left Censor-in-Chief), exposed 崔呈秀’s corrupt conduct, and was consequently hated by the eunuch faction, removed from the registers, and sent home. He advocated the clarification of official administration and opposed restoring commercial taxation; he also played a major role in struggles against imperial relatives, powerful figures, and the Zhejiang faction associated with 方從哲.

Works

His works include 高子遺書 in twelve juan; they also include 周易孔義 (3 juan), 周易易簡說 (3 juan), 春秋孔義 (12 juan), 四書講義 (1 juan), and 程子節錄四卷文集抄一卷. Other works include 朱子節要 (14 juan), 就正錄 (1 juan), 東林書院會語 (1 juan), 天完錄, 毛詩集注, 正蒙集注 (4 juan), 高子文集 (6 juan), and 高子詩集 (8 juan). Further works include 邵文莊公年譜 (1 juan), 同善會錄, 高氏家譜, 疏稿揭議, 古本大學 (1 piece), 異端辨 (1 piece), 靜坐說 (1 piece), 困學記 (1 piece), and 三時記 (1 piece).

Death and posthumous honors

In the sixth year of the Tianqi reign (1626), Wei Zhongxian had a memorial forged in the name of the eunuch in charge of imperial weaving, 李實, accusing Gao and six others of embezzling more than 100,000 taels of silver; 崔呈秀 then used a forged edict to send men to arrest him. Gao first paid his respects at the temple of the Song Confucian 楊中立 and then drowned himself; the site is now called 高子止水. Early in the Chongzhen reign, he was posthumously granted the titles 太子少保 and 兵部尚書 and received the posthumous name 忠憲.