Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period/Ku K'uei-kuang
KU K'uei-kuang 顧奎光 (T. 星五), 1719–1764, official and scholar, was a native of Wu-hsi, Kiangsu. His great-grandfather, Ku Ch'ên 顧宸 (T. 修遠, chü-jên of 1639), was a bibliophile and a writer who left the following two works: 宋文選 Sung-wên hsüan, 30 chüan (1661), and 杜詩註解 Tu-shih chu-chieh, 12 + 7 chüan (1663). Obtaining his chin-shih degree in 1745, Ku K'uei-kuang was appointed in 1753 magistrate of Lu-hsi, Hunan, where he served for six years. In 1759 he was transferred to Sang-chih, Hunan, where he served as magistrate until his death in 1764. During his administration in both of these districts he won the esteem of the people by improving their agricultural practices, encouraging the silk industry, handing down fair decisions in law suits, and by establishing many schools. He was highly praised as a kind and able district magistrate and was considered by Ch'ên Hung-mou [q. v.], then governor of Hunan, as the equal in this respect of the famous T'ang poet, Yüan Chieh (see under Shih Jun-chang), who was long remembered by the people of Tao-chou, Hunan, for his excellent administration. During his tenure as magistrate Ku K'uei-kuang found time to compile local gazetteers for both the districts in which he served, namely the 瀘溪縣志 Lu-hsi hsien-chih, 24 chüan, published in 1755; and the 桑植縣志 Sang-chih hsien-chih, 4 chüan, published in 1764.
As a scholar Ku Kuei-kuang left two collections of notes on the Classics: 春秋隨筆 Ch'un-ch'iu sui-pi, 2 chüan; and 然疑錄 Jan-i lu, 6 chüan. The former was copied into the Ssŭ-ku Manuscript Library and the latter was given descriptive notice in the Ssŭ-ku Catalogue (for both see under Chi Yün). His collected writings were published under the title 顧雙溪集 Ku Shuang-hsi chi, 9 chüan. He is also credited with a work on the Odes, entitled 毛詩牖日錄 Mao-shih yu-jih lu, 4 chüan.
For generations the family of Ku K'uei-kuang was noted for its literary men. Ku himself had four sons: Ku Min-hêng 顧敏恆 (T. 立方, H. 笠舫, chin-shih of 1787), Ku Hsiao-yü 顧斆愉, Ku Ching-hsün 顧敬恂 (licentiate of 1789), and Ku Yang-hsien 顧敭憲, whose literary works were edited and published in 1795 by a fellow-townsman, Yang Kuei 楊揆 (T. 同叔, H. 荔裳, chü-jên of 1780, 1760–1804), under the collective title 辟疆園遺集 Pi-chiang yüan i-chi, 10 chüan. Ku K'uei-kuang's brother, Ku Tou-kuang 顧斗光, a licentiate of 1780, left two literary works: 列女樂府 Lieh-nü yüeh-fu, 8 chüan, and 翠苕軒詩鈔 Ts'ui-t'iao hsüan shih-ch'ao, 14 + 4 chüan. Ku Min-hêng's son, Ku Han 顧翰 (T. 蒹[蕳]塘, chü-jên of 1810), and his daughter, Ku Ling 顧翎 (T. 素羽), also achieved fame as poets. One chüan of verse in irregular metre, entitled 綠秋草堂詞 Lü-ch'iu ts'ao-t'ang tz'ŭ, by Ku Han, was included in the collectanea, Sui-yüan ch'üan-chi (see under Yüan Mei).
[2/72/10b, 11a; 3/235/45a, 257/61a; 21/7/3a; 23/48/22a; 無錫金匱縣志 Wu-hsi Chin-k'uei hsien-chih (1881) 16/15a, 17a, 47a, 23/31a, 34b, 39a, 39/24b; 辰州府志 Ch'ên-chou fu-chih (1765) 35/39b; Ssŭ-k'u 29/10a.]