Gu Tan's mother was a daughter of Sun Ce, Sun Quan's elder brother and predecessor as the warlord ruling over the Jiangdong territories in the late Eastern Han dynasty.
16 Facts About Gu Tan
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Gu Tan started his career before he reached adulthood as one of four close attendants of Sun Deng, the eldest son and heir apparent of Sun Quan, the ruler of the Eastern Wu state.
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Gu Tan became Commandant Who Upholds Righteousness and continued playing a supporting role to Sun Deng.
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When Sun Deng ordered his secretary Hu Zong to write a commentary on four of his advisers in 229, Hu Zong wrote that Gu Tan was excellent at recognising opportunities and having deep and detailed thoughts.
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Whenever Gu Tan read documents, he could easily spot mistakes simply by browsing through quickly; his subordinates were very impressed with him.
6.
Gu Tan was given an additional appointment as a Commandant of Equipage.
7.
Gu Tan is a talented individual and a highly regarded figure among his colleagues.
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Sun Quan 8.
Around 244, some months after his grandfather's death, Gu Tan was appointed Minister of Ceremonies in the Wu imperial court.
9.
Gu Tan believed that Sun He was the rightful heir apparent so he wrote a memorial to Sun Quan to urge him to follow Confucian rules of propriety in the way he treated his sons.
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Gu Tan argued that Sun He, as the crown prince, was of a higher status and should therefore receive greater honours and privileges as compared to Sun Ba.
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Gu Tan quoted historical examples to make his case that rulers should make a clear distinction between their heir apparent and other sons.
12.
Sun Ba bore a grudge against Gu Tan after learning that he wrote this memorial.
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Gu Tan did not get along well with Quan Ji because of the latter's behaviour, which he deemed immoral.
14.
The Quans later found an opportunity to report Zhang Xiu, Gu Cheng and Gu Tan for committing serious offences.
15.
Gu Tan expected Gu Tan to do so, after which he could then pardon and release the three of them.
16.
When he was in exile, Gu Tan wrote a 20-chapter book, Xin Yan, to express his frustration and lament at his own plight.