Jīn-dynasty 金 Daoist commentator of the mid-12th century, author of the [[KR5c0067|Dàodé zhēn jīng sì zǐ gǔ dào jí jiě 道德真經四子古道集解]] (DZ 684), a distinctive commentary on the Dàodé jīng (preface dated 1179, postface 1180).
Native place. Kòu signs his preface Gǔ xiāng Kòu Cáizhì 古襄寇才質 — “Kòu Cáizhì of Gǔ xiāng”. Gǔ xiāng 古襄 (“Old Xiāng”) is probably a reference to the ancient Xiāng 襄 region — most plausibly Xiāng zhōu 襄州 (modern Xiāng yáng 襄陽 in Húběi), an area that had passed to Jīn control in the mid-12th century, or possibly Xiāng fén 襄汾 (Shānxī).
Career. By his own account (in the DZ 684 preface), Kòu describes himself as “an obscure rustic without name, a man of the wilderness” (cǎo zé wú míng zhī yě rén 草澤無名之野人). He had “formerly been in official service” (xí shì 昔隨仕) — sufficiently so to travel to the capital and attend lectures from “high Daoist masters” (gāo dào jiǎng shī 高道講師) — but had retired to rural obscurity by the time of composition. His early studies were in nèi dān 內丹 alchemy and divination (dān jīng bǔ shì zhī shù 丹經卜筮之術); only in later life did he turn to the classical Daoist commentary-corpus.
Works.
- [[KR5c0067|Dàodé zhēn jīng sì zǐ gǔ dào jí jiě]] (originally titled Sì zǐ gǔ dào yì 四子古道義) — a ten-juàn commentary on the Dàodé jīng drawing interpretive material solely from the “Four Masters” (Zhuāngzǐ, Lièzǐ, Wénzǐ, Gēngsāngzǐ). Preface dated 1 January 1179; postface dated 1180.
- Jīng shǐ shū 經史疏 (“Subcommentary on the Classics and Histories”) in ten juàn. A companion work intended “to complement” the Sì zǐ gǔ dào yì (per the DZ 684 preface). Now lost — no longer extant at the time of the Sìkù quánshū compilation (1782).
Philosophical orientation. Kòu’s distinctive methodological principle is the rejection of Buddhist kōng xìng 空性 (śūnyatā) as an interpretive category for the Dàodé jīng, and the strict limitation of interpretive resources to the “Four Masters” — the direct disciples of Lǎozǐ as canonised by Táng Xuánzōng in 742. This polemical stance aligns Kòu with emerging anti-Buddhist currents in mid-Jīn Daoism, contemporaneous with the early Quán-zhēn 全真 movement of Wáng Chóngyáng 王重陽 (1113–1170) and his disciples.
Dating. The 1179/1180 preface/postface date of DZ 684 is the only secure chronological anchor. No lifedates are recorded. No CBDB record is identified.
Disambiguation. Not to be confused with 寇謙之 Kòu Qiānzhī (365–448), the Northern Wèi 北魏 Daoist reformer and founder of the Xīn Tiān shī dào 新天師道 (“New Celestial Master Way”); the two figures are separated by seven centuries and belong to quite distinct Daoist traditions.