56
+35
Matters failed to run smoothly from the beginning. Duan's feeling about being flattered had been expressed in a letter. “I found it impossible to refuse Ruan Yuan's generous and tempting offer to edit the annotation notes to the Thirteen Classics. Of course I realized that this was to be an onerous task, therefore have asked for help.” The tone changed in another letter, dated three years from the outset of the project. "I truly regret that for three years, my time has been spent on making other people's dowry."**" The completed work was not printed until 1817 in Nanchang shortly before Ruan Yuan was transferred to Canton. The edition was full of errors.
Ruan Yuan's changing fortune and personalities of the leading scholars working on this project were the major reasons for the long delay in completion of this project. Ruan Yuan had had to concentrate on government affairs. From 1805-1807, mourning for his father, he was able to work on the Jiao kan ji. From 1809 to 1812, he was not in a position to sponsor any literary project. Another major reason for the long delay was the personality of Duan Yucai. In 1800 Duan was 65 years old, and 80 at the time of his death in 1815. During the interim, he was becoming increasingly difficult. He and Gu could not agree on fundamental issues, with most of the scholars siding with Gu. So, the project did not coalesce until after Duan's death. That the printing and binding of the work took little more than two years indicates that a great deal of the work had been done already before Duan's death, and that the human and financial resources were such that completion of the major work was only a matter of time.
How Ruan Yuan supported the scholars
Ruan Yuan supported the scholars around him in three major ways. He put close relatives and friends, such as his cousin Ruan Heng (d. 1856) and Jiao Xun, as well as those with the practical knowledge he needed in discharging government responsibilities on his personal staff, paid out of his own or administrative funds. Ruan Yuan made it possible for other scholars to obtain academic appointments and to work on literary projects. Meanwhile, each scholar was to pursue his own research and writing. In many cases, although not all, Ruan Yuan published their works.
Eighty scholars were on his direct payroll during his long career that lasted almost half a century through the reigns of three emperors.