Táng-dynasty 唐 Daoist subcommentator known from the bǔ zhù 補注 (“supplementary notes”) to the [[KR5c0078|Dàodé zhēn jīng zhǐ guī 道德真經指歸]] (DZ 693). The hao 谷神子 (“Master of the Valley-Spirit”, drawing on Lǎozǐ chapter 6: gǔ shén bù sǐ 谷神不死) was a Daoist pseudonym used by several Táng figures, and the identification of this specific Gǔshén zǐ remains uncertain.
Candidate identifications. Modern scholarship (Schipper & Verellen 2004, 1:289–90) offers several candidate identifications:
- Féng Rěn 馮若 — a Daoist commentator of the Táng, otherwise little-known.
- Péi Xíng 裴鉶 — Táng scholar-official, author of a commentary on the Lǎozǐ mentioned in the Táng shū 唐書. Péi Xíng is chiefly known as the author of the Chuán qí 傳奇 (a collection of Táng chuán qí tales) and as a literary-official figure of the mid-to-late 9th century. Two figures of this name are attested in Táng sources, both of whom used Gǔshén zǐ as a pseudonym.
- Zhèng Huángǔ 鄭還古 — another Táng Daoist, otherwise sparsely documented.
None of these identifications is certain. The subcommentary itself is limited to a few textual glosses on the Zhǐ guī and cannot be firmly dated beyond the general Táng (618–907) period.
Role. Gǔshén zǐ is identified in the received Daozang DZ 693 witness as the author of the subcommentary (bǔ zhù 補注). However, the attribution has been contested: one of the two prefaces in DZ 693, earlier attributed to Gǔshén zǐ, is now generally thought to belong instead to the main commentary (possibly to the Táng reconstructor of the Zhǐ guī itself). The “Gǔshén zǐ” name may thus have attached to a range of editorial material that was not originally his.
Dating. Táng (618–907). No lifedates. No CBDB record. No DILA authority identification (this is a Daoist-pseudonymic figure, not a Buddhist one).