Gu Xiancheng

Rebuilt the Donglin Academy to lecture and debate politics: "The sound of wind, the sound of rain, the sound of reading, all reach the ear."

Life

Director in the Ministry of Personnel

Gu Xiancheng was a native of Wuxi who passed the jinshi exam. While serving in the Ministry of Personnel, he clashed with the Wanli Emperor over the nomination of grand secretaries and was dismissed and sent home in 1594.

Donglin Academy

In 1604, together with his younger brother Gu Yuncheng, Gao Panlong and others, he rebuilt the Donglin Academy where the Song scholar Yang Shi had once taught. There they lectured, criticized court politics and appraised public figures, attracting large numbers of scholars and forming the "Donglin faction."

Concern for every affair

His couplet "The sound of wind, the sound of rain, the sound of reading, all reach the ear; the affairs of family, state and the world, all are my concern" is still quoted today. He died in 1612. The Donglin faction was later brutally suppressed by Wei Zhongxian in the Tianqi era.

Legacy

The Donglin Academy founded by Gu Xiancheng combined lecturing with political debate, and the integrity of the Donglin faction had a profound influence on late Ming politics.

Major works & achievements

• Rebuilt the Donglin Academy

Did you know? The couplet beginning "The sound of wind, the sound of rain, the sound of reading" still hangs in the Donglin Academy in Wuxi today.

Key dates

• 1580Passed the jinshi exam
• 1594Dismissed and sent home
• 1604Rebuilt the Donglin Academy
• 1612Died