Encyclopedia: Liang Gu

Historic (Unverified)

Wei Heng’s Siti Shu Shixu states, “At the start King Yu set the standard for proper official writing, which became the foundation for modern writing. Emperor Ling was fond of calligraphy and during that time there were many people who were skilled at it. Whenever someone was considered suitable for an official position on account of his proficiency, he would make frequent boasts of his ability in every style of writing and cut up and burn his examples. Liang Gu sought to profit from another’s writing so he gave him some wine, waited for him to become drunk and then stole his writing samples. Gu then quickly used them to practice his calligraphy and was selected for office as Imperial Secretariat. Thereafter, when His Excellency desired office as Prefect of Luoyang, Gu felt he should be only Military Commandant of the Northern District. Gu later came to be attached to Liu Biao. Upon the pacification of Jing province His Excellency sought to recruit Gu, and Gu was afraid that His Excellency himself would visit his home. From the military bureau he borrowed the services of a Major, employing him to provide some writing in secret and toiled at imitating the calligraphy himself. His Excellency came across the writing within the official registers, displayed it in appreciation of it and made known Gu’s suitability for holding office. Gu was styled Menghuang and was a man from Anding.