Gu Hengbo

Gu Mei (1619–1664), better known by her art name Gu Hengbo, also known as Xu Mei and Xu Zhizhu after her marriage, was a Chinese Yiji, poet and painter. She received the title "Lady (furen)" from the early Qing court, and often addressed as "Lady Hengbo" in Qing writings.

Gu was famous for her beauty and talent within painting and poetry and counted among the elite of courtesans alongside Dong Xiaowan, Bian Yujing and Liu Rushi. She was admired for her paintings of orchids, and published a collection of poems which was given good critics, although few of her works have survived.

Life
Gu Mei was born near Nanjing in 1619. Before Gu Hengbo married Gong Dingzi, she was a Gējì in the Chongzhen reign area of Nanjing. She was well versed in literature and history, and was good at poetry. She was known as "the best in Nan Qu(南曲第一)".Gu Hengbo painted Mo Lan in her own style and did not follow the painting methods of previous generations. The landscapes she also painted were very natural. When she was eighteen years old, she joined Li Xiangjun, Wang Yue and others in the "Lan Society" founded by Yangzhou celebrity Zheng Yuanxun in Nanjing. In her Tower Meilou in Qinhuai district in Nanjing, she hosted a famous literary salon, which counted Chen Liang, Qian Lucan and Mao Xiang among its guests. Yu Huai described Meilou (literally house of bewitchment) as lavish and extravagant.

Gu Mei also acted in kunqu as a male (sheng) impersonator. One of her roles was Zhou Yu (周羽) in Disciplining the Son (教子). The writer Yu Huai (余懷) recounted how after he had helped her when she ran afoul of the law, she offered to perform a stage drama for him on his birthday.

She fell in love with one of her patrons, Liu Fang (劉芳), promised to marry him and to end her career as a Yiji. When she later changed her mind, Liu Fang committed suicide.

One of her patrons, the career official Gong Dingzi, paid 1,000 ounces of silver for her services. In 1643, she left her profession to become a concubine to Gong Dingzi and settled with him in the capital. His openly demonstrated love for her attracted much attention during their time, as it offended the norms of Confucian ideals, and her influence over him became legendary. She is known to have saved the Yan Ermei from execution, and to have been the benefactor of the artist Zhu Yizun.

In 1659 Gu Mei gave birth to a daughter. Anxious to have a son, Gong Dingzi built a private Buddhist temple where the couple could pray for a son.

She was one of the Eight Beauties of Qinhuai described by late Qing officials. The other famed Yijis of this group are Ma Xianglan, Bian Yujing, Li Xiangjun, Dong Xiaowan, Liu Rushi, Kou Baimen, and Chen Yuanyuan.