Tang Gao

Tang Gao was born into an educated and aristocratic family within a well-established Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianist (程朱理學) academic tradition. Little is known about his early life, but at some point his family lost much of their wealth and he led a meager lifestyle during early adulthood. Despite failing the imperial examinations (科舉) multiple times he eventually passed and started his career as an Imperial Historian at the Hanlin Academy (翰林院修撰兼修國史). He then became an expositor of the academy (翰林院侍講學士兼經筵講官) but died unexpectedly in 1526 aged 58. His 12-year political career, though relatively short, was during the transition from the Zhengde Emperor (正德皇帝) to the Jiajing Emperor's (嘉靖皇帝) reign during the Ming dynasty, and was a period of great change to politics, the economy, academic life, and literature.

Tang Gao, who had a straightforward attitude and was mature in nature, was generally considered to be a future Prime Minister (宰輔). At the beginning of his official life, he had already adopted the view that the government statutes (紀綱) should be strengthened. In the twelfth year of Zhengde Emperor (1517), as the vice examiner of the metropolitan examination (會試同考官), he appointed many talented people. When the Zhengde Emperor died, he served as an imperial envoy abroad to Korea (欽差朝鮮正使) and issued the Imperial Edict of the Ascent to the Throne of the Jiajing Emperor (登極改元詔), which was the peak of his political career. During his visit to Joseon (李氏朝鮮), he was acclaimed as the most righteous man in the world by the King and officials there, due to his discipline and honesty. After he returned to China, Tang Gao wanted to realize his aspirations, and wrote a letter depicting the employment problems of the Jiajing Emperor. In the “Great Rites Controversy”(“大禮議事件”), he mediated between the two groups, and expressed political foresight, which angered the Emperor. In the fourth year of Jiajing Emperor, “The Factual Record of Ming Emperor Wu Zong”(《明武宗實錄》) was finished. As a historian, he made a significant contribution to the historiography of the Ming dynasty.

Tang Gao once pursued his studies in Ziyang Academy (紫陽書院), the Prefectural School (府學) of Huizhou, where the Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism was deeply rooted. He advocated pragmatism, focused on the ways of the world and the heart of humans, so that his early works all agreed with the concept of Neo-Confucianism. However, in his late years, he turned to WangYangming’s Idealistic Theories (陽明心學), and his articles then combined both the Cheng-zhu School and the Idealistic School. Unlike his early poems and essays, which regarded Taoism (道教)as heresy, his late works often cited Buddhist Scriptures (佛典). The representative work of the convergence of the three religions (三教合一) entitled “Xingming guizhi” was circulated.