Li Ao

Li Ao (772–841), courtesy name Xizhi, was a Chinese philosopher and prose writer of the Tang dynasty. Born in present-day Tianshui, Gansu, he achieved the degree of Jinshi in 798 and joined the imperial bureaucracy, serving in the history department at Changan. In 809, he was assigned to the southern provinces and traveled from Luoyang to Guangzhou over nine months, documenting his journey in the "Lainan Lu," considered an early form of diary. At the time of his death in Xiangyang, Hubei, Li held the position of Governor of East Shannan Circuit. Late imperial scholars regarded Li as the founder of a significant philosophical school, influenced by Buddhist and neo-Confucian thinkers. His writings are preserved in the "Liwengong Wenji."