Jīn-dynasty 金 Daoist scholar-compiler. Zì Shàn zhǎng 善長; hào Hè guāng sàn rén 鶴光散人 (“Diffuse-Person of Crane-Radiance”). Compiler of the monumental four-commentary edition of the Lièzǐ: [[KR5c0123|Chōng xū zhì dé zhēn jīng sì jiě]] 沖虛至德真經四解 (DZ 732, 1189).
Official career. The Jīn shǐ 金史 131.2813 mentions that Gāo Shǒuyuán held the position of 校書郎 (Jiào shū láng, Collator in the Imperial Library) during the Tiān dé 天德 era (1149–1153) under the Jīn Hǎilíng wáng 海陵王 (r. 1150–1161). This was a mid-level central-government position with responsibility for textual-philological work at the imperial library.
Dating. Active 1149–1189 (attested). The 40-year gap between his early Imperial Library appointment (Tiān dé era) and the 1189 compilation of DZ 732 suggests he was a senior scholar by the time of the compilation, probably in his 60s or 70s. No precise lifedates. No CBDB record identified.
Work. His sole known substantial work is the [[KR5c0123|Chōng xū zhì dé zhēn jīng sì jiě]] — a 20-juàn parallel-commentary edition of the Lièzǐ including the commentaries of:
- Zhāng Zhàn 張湛 (Eastern Jìn, fl. 370) — the foundational commentary.
- Lú Zhòng xuán 盧重玄 (Táng) — the Chóngxuán reading.
- Sòng Huīzōng 宋徽宗 (徽宗) — the 1118 imperial commentary, preserved here in full (while the separate DZ 731 is fragmentary).
- Fàn Zhì xū 范致虛 (late Northern Sòng) — a less-known commentary preserved here as its major witness.
The compilation is among the most valuable text-critical documents for the history of Lièzǐ commentary, preserving both complete versions of major commentaries and fragments of otherwise-lost material.
Regional affiliation. As a Jīn Jiào shū láng during the Tiān dé era, Gāo Shǒuyuán was presumably based in the Jīn central capital — Zhōng dū 中都 (modern Běijīng). His long life would have seen the major Jīn scholarly-religious developments from Shìzōng 世宗 (r. 1161–1189) through the final years of Xuānzōng 宣宗 and into the mid-Jīn period.
Disambiguation. Not to be confused with other Gāo Shǒuyuán figures in Chinese history.