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Influence of Ruan Yuan and the scholars around him
The influences of Ruan Yuan and his network of scholars were far-reaching. They taught more than a generation of students their interpretation of the Classics. They also compiled reading lists, and set questions for the civil service examinations. As examiners, they established standards for passing the examinations, thus deciding who was qualified to enter officialdom. A 20th-century study found that, in one year alone, 22 scholars associated with Ruan Yuan had been either directors of studies or as examiners. Another study on academies founded by Ruan Yuan and controlled by the generations of scholars around him discovered that during the 103 years (1801-1904) the Gu jing jing she was in operation, there were 47 provincial-level examinations in Zhejiang. Between five to six percent of the successful candidates had been students at the Gu jing jing she. Twenty-five percent of candidates from Zhejiang who took the Metropolitan Examination of 1902 were graduates of this academy. The Xue hai tang, and indeed all other academies until the onset of western-style education in China, were modelled on the Gu jing jing she. The first Cantonese to gain first place on a Metropolitan Examination was a graduate of Xue hai tang.
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In addition, it must be assumed that Ruan Yuan and the scholars around him sanctioned publications only when they agreed with the texts and interpretations. One only needs to peruse any of Ruan Yuan's major publications to see a collection of scholars, from all areas of China working together on some of the major compilations of the era, thus casting doubt on the traditional preoccupation among certain scholars that Qing scholarship was divided into regional schools (pai).
Ruan Yuan's importance, therefore, extends beyond his own publications, and beyond providing a rice bowl for contemporary scholars. He served as an intermediary to transcend these regional schools of learning.
Individual scholars and their achievements and personalities are worthwhile topics for further study.