Longing to Return

1. First review the chronology of Gu Kuang's life, then read his representative poems to understand how demotion and seclusion shaped his writing.
2. Take notes while reading on the similarities and differences between his style and that of his contemporaries, forming your own comparative notes.
3. Read alongside basic knowledge of Tang official posts and geography to help understand contexts such as Zhuzuolang and Sihu Canjun.
4. Limit each reading session to two or three sections, leaving time to savor the differences between his satirical poems and his later reclusive poetry.

Jinzhang Book Company (Jinzhang Shuju) was a private publishing and distribution house in Shanghai during the late Qing and early Republican periods, issuing traditional works by lithographic printing. Judging from the 1,194 titles in the collection, its publishing focused on classical poetry, Eastern philosophy, historical reading, traditional Chinese medical texts, and canonical works, along with books on literary appreciation. Representative titles include the poetry and prose collections of Du Fu and Ouyang Xiu; historical works such as the Book of Han and Zizhi Tongjian; classical texts such as the Book of Documents and Mencius; and specialized and literary classics such as Treatise on Cold Damage and Li Sao. Its author resources cover major figures across the ages, including Du Fu, Ban Gu, Sima Guang, Zhang Zhongjing, Qu Yuan, Ouyang Xiu, and Tang Shenwei, reflecting the house's characteristic reliance on traditional scholarship and medical literature while serving general readers. Public information on its early history and operational details is limited, so no conjecture is offered here.