谷雨

Public information about Gu Yu is limited; currently only two works by this author are held in this collection, falling respectively under biography and miscellaneous prose. One of them, Su Dongpo: A Straw Cloak in the Misty Rain for a Life, takes the Northern Song writer Su Shi as its subject. Its title borrows a line from Su Shi's own verse, suggesting that the author approaches the biography through the subject's life experiences and spiritual character, sketching how the biographee kept an open, unconstrained outlook amid the ups and downs of official life. The other, Fireworks and Smoke, belongs to miscellaneous prose; its title sets two images side by side, hinting that the writing draws largely on everyday human feelings and the scenes of the world. One is a biography of a historical figure, the other a collection of prose essays. Though different in subject, both favor a combination of narrative and reflection, with a plain and unhurried style of expression. Since the author's life, native place, and writing career cannot be verified, a full account of the writing is difficult to give; readers can only glimpse, through these two works, an interest in human destiny and the details of life.