Guiguzi

Who is Guiguzi?

Gui Gu Zi （鬼谷子） is the Chinese title given to a group of writings thought to have been compiled between the late Warring States period and the end of the Han Dynasty. The work, between 6,000-7,000 Chinese characters, discusses techniques of political lobbying based in Daoist thinking.

There has been much speculation about the identity of the writer of "Gui Gu Zi", the origin of his name and the authenticity of the work as a whole. While there has been no final outcome to this discussion, Chinese scholars believe that the compilation reflects a genuine corpus of Warring States period writings on political lobbying. Most writers doubt the assertion that the "Gui Gu Zi" was written by a single personality, Guigu Xiansheng （鬼谷先生）, who was said in the 'Annals of the Grand Historian, Sima Qian' （司馬遷《史記》蘇秦列傳） to have been the teacher of the late Warring States political lobbyists Su Qin and Zhang Yi （張儀）. A tradition that Guigu Xiansheng was the teacher of renowned Warring States generals Sun Bin （孫臏）and Pang Juan （龐涓）is also considered to be a late confabulation. The association of the name Wang Xu is not generally held to be supported. There is no material in the text to support the view held by some that "Guiguzi" is a book on military tactics.