Who is Gu Rong 顾荣

Gu Rong
(? ~ 312) A renowned scholar of the Western Jin Dynasty. His courtesy name was Yanxian, and he was from Wuxian County, Wujun (now in Jiangsu Province). He was the grandson of Gu Yong, the prime minister of the Wu State. He held positions such as Huangmen Shilang (a court official) and Taizi Fuyi Duwei (an assistant official to the crown prince) in the Wu State. After the fall of Wu, he entered Luoyang together with Lu Ji and Lu Yun, and they were known as the "Three Talents" at that time. He successively served as Langzhong (a court gentleman), Taizi Zhongsheren (an official in the crown prince's office), Court of Justice Corrector (a judicial official), and was granted the title of Bo (a noble rank) of Jiaxing. In the later period of the War of the Eight Kings, he returned to Wu. Like other renowned scholars such as Lu Ji, he "used a great brush as a plow and hoe, paper as fertile farmland, quiet contemplation as farming, righteous principles as a bumper harvest, discussions as brilliant blossoms, loyalty and forgiveness as treasures, wrote articles as splendid brocade, cherished the Five Classics as silk fabrics, took modesty as a mat, spread righteousness and humility as a curtain, practiced benevolence and righteousness as a house, and cultivated morality as a spacious mansion" (from A New Account of the Tales of the World·Appreciation and Praise).

This description indicates that he was diligent in writing, familiar with the Confucian Five Classics, and practiced benevolence, righteousness, and courtesy, clearly being a Confucian scholar. However, he "embodied virtue and grasped the Dao" (Book of Jin·Biography of Gu Rong) and was adept at discussing metaphysics, possessing certain characteristics of a metaphysician. In philosophy, he put forward the ontology of Taiji, regarding Taiji as the highest category. He pointed out that Laozi was the first advocate of the Taiji theory, and believed that the "One" mentioned by Laozi, which generates all things, is Taiji. He said: "Taiji refers to the time of chaos when things were obscure and undifferentiated. The sun and moon contained their brilliance, the Eight Trigrams hid their divinity, heaven and earth were merged as one, and sages concealed themselves. Then, after the great transformation, clarity and turbidity emerged, the two instruments (heaven and earth) displayed their forms, yin and yang interacted harmoniously, all things began to sprout, and the six directions expanded. Laozi said: 'There is a thing confusedly formed, born before heaven and earth', which is indeed the Taiji of The Book of Changes. However, Wang Bi said: 'Taiji is heaven and earth', which I think is inappropriate. The term 'two instruments' refers to heaven and earth in terms of form; in terms of qi, they are called yin and yang. If we say that Taiji is heaven and earth, then it means heaven and earth generated themselves, with no creator. Laozi also said: 'Heaven and earth can last long because they do not exist for themselves, thus they can endure', 'The One generates the Two, the Two generates the Three, and the Three generates all things', 'It is the origin, and the surging qi brings harmony'. To trace the origin of primal qi and seek the root of heaven and earth, I am afraid we should take this as the criterion." (from Book of Jin·Biography of Ji Zhan)

He believed that Taiji is the original unity. It was chaotic and obscure, existing before heaven and earth, and gave birth to heaven and earth. It is the root of primal qi and the origin of heaven and earth. In his view, Taiji is neither a god nor a certain concept, but a primitive material form. There is a biography of him in Volume 68 of Book of Jin.