Gu Yanwu (1613--1682), whose name was Zhongqing, was originally named Jiang. After the destruction of Guang in the Ming Dynasty, the word was changed to Ning people, and the name was Tinglin. People from Kunshan, Jiangsu. A famous thinker, writer, and historian in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties. When he was a boy, he participated in the restoration of Du Dynasty and fought against eunuchs and powerful people.

The Qing troops moved south and participated in the anti-Qing struggle in Kunshan and Jiading. After failing, he traveled all over North China, devoted himself to the study of border defense and northwest geography, and contacted fellow scholars in an attempt to restore the Ming Dynasty.

Gu Yanwu is knowledgeable and has studied national codes and systems, anecdotes of prefectures and towns, astronomical instruments and images, rivers, soldiers and farmers, as well as the exegesis of hundreds of classics and history, and sound. He opposed Neo-Confucianism, advocated "practical application" and opposed empty talks on "mind, reason, nature, and destiny" that were divorced from reality. He focused on seeking extensive evidence and pioneered the atmosphere of Pu learning in the Qing Dynasty. He put forward the ancient precepts of "being knowledgeable in literature" and "being ashamed of doing it." He also attached special importance to integrity and shame, believing that "a person who does not speak of shame first is a person without foundation." Politically, he proposed that "the power of the world should be transferred to the people of the world" and asked the monarch to divide powers and govern.

He is the author of "Rizhi Lu","World County Country Benefit and Disease Book","Tinglin Poetry Collection","Zhaoyu Zhi", etc.

He died on February 15, 1682 (the ninth day of the first month of the 21st year of the Qing Dynasty Kangxi).