Gui Youguang

When Gui's mother conceived him, it was said that there was a rainbow glowed in the yard, while its light reached the sky, which was deemed lucky.

However, Gui still rejected that until he met He Qitu (何啓圖), an erudite scholar from Henan who happened to share the same art name with him.

[5] Gui's ancestors once lived along a river call Xiangjijing (項脊涇) in Taicang during Yuan dynasty,[4] later he designate his sanctum as Xiangjixuan (項脊軒) to commemorate them probably.

Gui Youguang was born in Kunshan, Suzhou Prefecture, a satellite city in south-east Jiangsu Province nowadays.

[8] After that, his family lived a much harder life; Gui learned about suffering and sorrow at a very early age.

[citation needed] At the age of ten, he wrote an article of several thousand words, called Qi xi (乞醯) [On Begging Vinegar].

Since the clan was on the decline, a younger descendant sold the local mansion treasured by the other members as heritage to pay taxes.

When Gui was judging, he allowed local people to utter Wu Chinese instead of Mandarin so that they could state clearly.

[12] Three years later, Gui was transferred to be a Tongpan (通判; an official position) in Shunde, he was in charge of local horse administration.

Admired by Gao Gong and Zhao Zhenji (趙貞吉), he was promoted to be the Sicheng (寺丞; an official position) of Nanjing Taipusi (南京太僕寺).

But he was still kept in Beijing by Li Chunfang (李春芳) to compile Shizong Shilu (世宗實錄) for Jiajing Emperor.

), Zihu (子祜), Zining (子寧), Longsun (隆孫), Zijun (子駿), Zimu (子慕), Zixiao (子蕭) Daughters: Rulan (如蘭; 1534–1535), Erer (二二; 1538–1539) and other three.

[20] In 1828, Tao Zhu, the Jiangsu Xunfu of that time, got permission from the emperor to memorialize Gui by establishing the Zhenchuan Academy, which was completed after three years’construction.