Biography of Ruan Yuan

Author: Guo Mingdao
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-11-01
Features: During the Qianlong and Jiaqing reigns, many figures became widely known through word of mouth. However, compared to figures like Heshen and Ji Xiaolan, Ruan Yuan was far less household names. In reality, Ruan Yuan served through the three reigns of Qianlong, Jiaqing, and Daoguang, leaving a strong mark as an official and demonstrating profound knowledge in scholarship. His moral integrity and literary achievements were unparalleled to the likes of Heshen but could be compared to Ji Xiaolan. He described himself as "a grand counselor across three reigns and a frontier official in nine provinces," while others praised him as "a master of Confucian classics of his generation and a towering figure in academia," or called him "a renowned Confucian scholar and wise minister of his time," and "a man of the Jiaqing and Daoguang eras." This book is divided into two parts—Biography and Scholarship—with a total of 19 chapters, comprehensively discussing the official career and academic achievements of this 86-year-old scholar-official with a somewhat legendary background.