Gao Panlong was a Ming-dynasty scholar; reliable public information about his life and official career is limited, so no detailed account is given here. Two of his works survive, Gaozi Yishu (Surviving Writings of Master Gao) and Jiuzheng Lu (Record of Correction), and they are now generally classed as philosophical readings and Eastern philosophy. Judging from their titles and orientation, his writings center on teaching and discoursing on the Way, self-cultivation and self-examination, and carry a strong Neo-Confucian flavor, focusing on the analysis of mind and nature and of ethics, in a plain and inward-looking tone. Because sources are limited, his intellectual lineage and circle of associates cannot be reliably established, yet the later editing and transmission of his works show that his thought has drawn the attention of readers of Eastern philosophy. He is best read against the scholarly background of the Ming dynasty, attending to his manner of argument and his theory of self-cultivation, rather than forcing modern disciplinary categories upon him.
