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Jiang Fan (1761-1831) was one of the scholars from Yangzhou who followed Ruan Yuan all their lives. After losing his fortune and library in a drought that devastated Yangzhou 1785-86, he worked for a number of major officials on their personal staff, including Grand Secretary Wang Jie (1725-1805) and Ruan Yuan. At the recommendation of Ruan Yuan, who was then Director of Grain Transport, Jiang was appointed to the Lizheng Academy as Director in 1813. He followed Ruan Yuan to Canton as tutor to Ruan Fu (b. 1802), who, alone among Ruan Yuan's children, had entertained any pretension as a classical scholar. While at Canton, Jiang edited the Guangdong tongzhi 1819-1822 under Ruan Yuan's aegis. Ruan Yuan published Jiang's major work, Hanxue shicheng ji.
Jiao Xun (1763-1820) was another scholar from the Yangzhou area. He was considered to be a major force of the mid-Qing era in Classics, history, astronomy, mathematics, phonetics, etymology, and geography. He was a close personal friend of Ruan Yuan and worked as Ruan's personal secretary in the early days of Ruan Yuan's official career. A record of anti-piracy campaigns in Zhejiang 1799-1809 was compiled by Jiao and printed as Yingzhou shu ji. Jiao also worked on Chouren zhuan. He was recorded to have been paid 1,000 taels to compile the Yangzhou fu zhi [Local gazetteer of Yangzhou]. With this money, he was able to purchase land and build a house. His own works, mostly printed by Ruan Yuan, included Bei hu xiao zhi [Local history of Bei hu, a community north of Yangzhou], Li tang xue suan ji (Jiao Xun's mathematical studies), and Diao gu lou ji [Studies from Diao gu lou], comprising three major treatises on the Classics.
Hung Yixuan (1770-1815) was an example of those scholars whose personality and inclination had made it difficult for them to fit into the trials and tribulations of official life. One of three brothers all known for their intellectual achievements, which embraced astronomy, history, the Classics, and geography, Hung first came to the attention of Ruan Yuan in Hangzhou in 1796 or 1797. As Governor-General at Canton, Ruan Yuan rescued Hung from office by appointing him to his personal staff to work with Feng Dengfu on epigraphical notes they were compiling on Zhejiang.
Ling Tingkan (1757-1809) had made his home in Yangzhou, where he had become a close friend of Ruan Yuan. A jinshi of 1790, Ling had