Gu Yanwu - Well-known Ideologist and Scholar in the Late Ming and Early Qing Dynasties

2016-05-23  Source: Chinese Culture

Gu Yanwu (1613 - 1682), born in Kunshan of Jiangsu, was a well-known ideologist and scholar in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties.

Gu Yanwu used to organize people to resist the Qing Army around his hometown. When failed, he began to investigate the landform of mountains in various regions.

A man of wide reading, Gu Yanwu was learned on Confucian classics, history, astronomy, geography, phonology, inscriptions on ancient bronzes and stone tablets, and so on. He was the advocator of the thoughts of "every man is responsible for his country's rise and fall" and practical utility, and wrote the book Ri Zhi Lu (Daily Accumulation of Knowledge).