Life

Gu Mei was born near Nanjing in 1619. At the beginning of the Chongzhen reign, Gu Mei became a courtesan in the Qinhuai River district of Nanjing. In her Tower Meilou in Qinhuai district in Nanjing, she hosted a famous literary salon, which counted Chen Liang, Qian Lucan and Mao Xiang among its guests. Yu Huai described Meilou (literally house of bewitchment) as lavish and extravagant.

She fell in love with one of her patrons, Liu Fang, promised to marry him and to end her career as a courtesan. When she later changed her mind, Liu Fang committed suicide.

One of her patrons, the career official Gong Dingzi, paid 1,000 ounces of silver for her services. In 1643, she left her profession to become a concubine to Gong Dingzi and settled with him in the capital. His openly demonstrated love for her attracted much attention during their time, as it offended the norms of Confucian ideals, and her influence over him became legendary. She is known to have saved the Yan Ermei from execution, and to have been the benefactor of the artist Zhu Yizun.

In 1659 Gu Mei gave birth to a daughter. Anxious to have a son, Gong Dingzi built a private Buddhist temple where the couple could pray for a son.

She was one of the Eight Beauties of Qinhuai described by late Qing officials. The other famed courtesans of this group are Ma Xianglan, Bian Yujing, Li Xiangjun, Dong Xiaowan, Liu Rushi, Kou Baimen, and Chen Yuanyuan.

生平

顧橫波是八艷中地位最顯赫的一位，受誥封為「一品夫人」。據《板橋雜記》記載，顧橫波「莊妍靚雅，風度超群。鬢發如雲，桃花滿面；弓彎纖小，腰支輕亞」，工於詩畫，尤善畫蘭，個性豪爽不羈，與柳如是較像，時人呼之「眉兄」，柳如是自稱為「弟」。龔鼎孳年方二十四，來到眉樓，一見顧橫波，為之傾倒不已。龔鼎孳為顧畫成「佳人倚欄圖」並題詩：「腰妒垂楊髮妒雲，斷魂鶯語夜深聞。秦樓應被東風誤，未遣羅敷嫁使君。」崇禎十四年嫁龔鼎孳，洗盡鉛華，改名換姓「徐善持」。

崇禎十七年（1644年），闖王李自成攻下京城，龔鼎孳出仕李闖，隨即降清。三朝之臣，做到了禮部尚書，顧橫波也堂皇受誥封為「一品夫人」。康熙三年（1664年）冬，顧橫波一病不起，病卒于北京鐵獅子胡同，龔鼎孳在北京長俸寺建妙香閣紀念。

顧媚善詩詞，作有《海月樓夜坐》、《花深深·閨坐》、《虞美人·答遠山夫人寄夢》、《千秋歲·送遠山夫人南歸》等詩詞，收入所著《柳花閣集》。

注釋

參考

• 清余懷著《板橋雜記·顧媚》，劉如溪點評，青島出版社

• 黃賓虹：《顧橫波之艷史》