RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1991 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/k356gt84j 47 1820-1840. Ding xiang ting pi tan, 4 juan, 1800 and several other volumes. How Ruan Yuan managed his scholarly projects As Chief Executive in the provinces, with authority to allocate public resources and solicit private funding, Ruan Yuan was able to make decisions to sponsor academic and scholarly activities. With government affairs demanding his constant attention, the scholars around him, with expertise in various fields, were entrusted with the actual research and writing of the works. Ruan Yuan could draw from the large field of scholars he knew who either did not qualify or had preferred not to enter government service. A number of these scholars from Ruan Yuan's own home district, the Yangzhou and Jiangdu area, which had enjoyed a long literary and intellectual tradition, followed him throughout his career. From the provinces of Shandong and Zhejiang where the scholarly heritage was also exceptionally strong, and where there was a rich legacy of book collecting as well, he was able to recruit many scholars. In addition, as examiner for several provincial level examinations and in particular as Metropolitan Examination examiner in 1799, he could lay claim to a network of 'students' all over the country. Lynn Struve's observation about the Xue Brothers is equally applicable in Ruan Yuan's case. The opportunities to serve as examiners for the most important capital and provincial examinations, through which they could develop networks of "student-teacher" relations among the most promising examinees in the country.21 122 Ruan Yuan himself showed how he gave up all his time away from government affairs on literary production. “I have no time-consuming avocation. Nor do I enjoy a capacity for wine. Therefore, I tend to spend all my spare time with a brush in my hand, in the company of books and scholars.” He indicated in the preface of each work where the idea for its creation had originated. The subjects for his earlier works as a young Hanlin had been assigned to him. Two major subjects for compilation later on had been proposed by other scholars—the Chou ren zhuan by Li Rui (1765-1814) and the Shi san jing zhu shu fu jiao kan ji by Lu Wenchao (1717-1796). In addition to the scholarship needed for such tasks, Ruan Yuan provided the management for such productions. He wrote on how his writing projects were organized. ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1991 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/k356gt84j 55 intellectually lethargic. It was also from Liu's diaries we discover that Ruan Yuan's house was burned down on April 2, 1823 with heavy losses, including Ruan's entire library.1 31 The founding of the Xue hai tang in Canton brought to Ruan Yuan a number of Cantonese scholars. Besides Chen Li, who was cited by Hiromu Momose in Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period as perhaps "the most brilliant among a group of Cantonese scholars who developed eclectic theories mid-way between Sung Neo-Confucianism and the School of Han Learning," the others included Lin Botun, Wu Lanxiu, Ma Fuan, and Xu Rong, Tan Rong from Nanhai, who had passed the provincial examination in 1824 and had been appointed to the Xue hai tang by Ruan Yuan but had chosen not to take the metropolitan examination, nevertheless persuaded his friends, the Wu Family hong merchants, to print the large collectanea, Yue ya tang cong shu, consisting of 180 titles. It is disappointing that the personalities and idiosyncrasies of these scholars cannot be discerned from reading their writings. Employing the techniques of detective novelists by investigating whatever might be construed as clues that come my way, I have been able to reconstruct the person of Ruan Yuan to a certain extent, but the scholars around him have completely eluded my attempts. They were not easy prey. Neither were they easy to manage. At times their eccentricities hindered progress of Ruan's work. The completion of Shi san jing zhu shu fu jiao kan ji was delayed considerably because of personality conflict among the compilers. The idea for such a project had originated with Lu Wen chao (1717-1796), a scholar-official from Hangzhou who had spent a greater part of his time copying various old editions of the Classics by hand, noting the differences and printing the corrected texts. After Lu's death his student, Zang Rong, who was working on Jing ji zuan gu, persuaded Ruan Yuan to undertake the project to print the Jiao kan ji as well. In 1799, after consulting his staff, a much more ambitious project became envisaged, to print the Thirteen Classics together with all the notations throughout the ages. Being then Governor of Zhejiang with resources at his command, Ruan Yuan asked Duan Yucai (1735-1815), a Classicist with expertise in etymology and phonetics, to take on the responsibility as editor. Considering the task too arduous for a single man, Duan recommended his friend Gu Guangchi (1776-1835) to share the work. Gu, in turn, brought other scholars. 33 Page 75 Page 76 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1991 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/k356gt84j Liang Zhe fang hu (ling qin ci mu) lu (REHE)* Zhejiang kao Ku jing jing she wen ji 詁經精社文集 (Wang fu zhai) zhung ding kuan shi (E) H** Xue shi zhong ding kuan shi 薛氏鐘鼎款識 Jiao shan ding-kao 焦山定陶鼎考 Huang Qing bei ban lu Hai tang zhi 海塘志 Ji gu zhai zhung ding yi qi kuan shi **** 海連考 Hai yun kao I Liang Zhe jin shi zhi 兩浙金石志 Shi san jing zhu shu fu jiao kan ji +¶EAH Yang zhou Ruan shi jia miao bei 揚州阮氏家廟碑 Yen jing shi wen ji 擘經室文集 Sui Wen xuan lou ming Ying zhou shu ji 瀛舟書記 Qu jiang ting ji 曲江亭記 ** Si ku wei shou shu mu ti yao 四庫未收書目提要 Tian yi ge shu mu 大一閣書目 Ling yin shi shu zang mu Chou ren zhuan AM Shi san jing jing fu +* ****! Yi li shang fu da gong zhang zhuan zhu chuan wu Kao x 功章傳注舛考 Han Yen xi xi yue Hua shan bei kao ✶✶U** Ru lin zhuan kao ####N Guo shi wen yuan zhuan 國史文苑傳 Jiao shan shu cang shu mu 焦山書藏書目 (Song ben) shi san jing zhu shu (**)+*** Jiang su shi zheng # Jiang xi gai jian gong yuan hao she bei ji 江西改建貢院號舍碑記 Guangdong tong zhi 廣東通志 Gai jian Guangdong xiang shi wei she zhuo bei ji ***** 碑記 Shi shu gu shun 詩書古訓 Yen jing shi ji 擘經室集 Chong xiu Ruan shi zu-pu CEE** Huang Qing jing jie 皇清經解 Xue hai tang zhi 學海堂集 Yen jing shi shi lu 擘經室詩錄 Shi hua ji 石畫記 61 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1991 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/k356gt84j 62 Yun nan tong zhi gao 雲南通志稿 選平樂府重建聖廟碑記 Xuan Ping lo fu chong jian sheng miao bei ji Ta xin shuo 塔性說 San jia shi bu yi 三家詩補遺 Wen xuan lou shu cang shu ji 文選樓書藏書記 Ba zhuan yin guan ke zhu ji 八轉吟館刻記 Bu bi tu shi 布幣圖識 A4 Ruan shi Chi gu zhai Han tong yin te 阮氏積古齋漢銅印得 Wen xuan lou cang bei 文選樓藏碑 Ruan wen da gong zhi shi hou jia shu 阮文達公致仕後家書 Han shi jing can zi 漢石經藏碑 Lang huan xian guan shi Ruan wen da gong zhi shi hou jia shu 阮文達公致仕後家書 Lun yu lun ren lun 論語論仁論 Meng zi lun ren lun NOTES Arthur F Wright, "Values, Roles, and Personalities” in Confucian Personalities, edited by Arthur F Wright and Denis Twitchett (Stanford 1962), 11 Ibid., 4 See Appendix 1 chronology of Ruan Yuan's government appointments and Appendix 2. Ruan Yuan's major works and compilations 4 Lyn Struve, "The Hsu Brothers and Semi-official Patronage of Scholars in the K'ang-hsi Period", Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 42-231-266 (1982). R Kent Guy, The Emperor's Four Treasuries. Scholars and the State in the Late Ch'ien-lung Era, Harvard, 1987 Guy has inscribed "We await Ruan Yuan" on the front piece of my copy of his work Struve, 231 The three Xu Brothers were Xu Qian xue (1631-1694), Xue Bing yi (1633-1711), and Xu Yuan wen (1634-1691) Other officials who were patrons of scholars included Ye Fang ai (1629-1682), Song De yi (1622-1687), and Yu Guo zhu (d ca 1688), Struve, 232-239 7 Guy, 52 Guy had neglected to include the group Ruan Yuan had organized at the Gu Jing Jing she in Hangzhou earlier. A number of scholars from this group had followed Ruan throughout his official life from the late 1790s to the late 1830s for over 40 years I have opted to keep the Wade-Giles transliteration of the Guy original 8 Wang Jun-yi, “Kang Qian sheng shi yu Qian Jia xue pai — jian lun Qian Jia xue pai di liu pai ji chi ping jia" 清代乾嘉學派的流派及其評價 Qing shu yen jiu 4 342-366 (Beijing, 1986). Unless otherwise indicated, all translations into English in this paper are made by me 9 Qian Mu, Zhong guo jin san bai nian xue shu shi [A history of Chinese learning during the past 300 years], (Taipei edition, 1976), 478 ================================================================================ RASHKB Journal 皇家亞洲學會香港分會學刊 | RAS-1991 https://digitalrepository.lib.hku.hk/catalog/k356gt84j 10 [bid || 63 &£#* (The He You sheng, "Chen Lan Fu di xue shu ji chi yen yuan" [learning of Chen Lan Fu and its origins], Gu Gong Wen xian 2.4 (Taipei, 1971), 1-19. He's study on Ruan Yuan can also be found in "Ruan Yuan di jing xue ji chi zhi xue fang fa" [Classical scholarship of Ruan Yuan and his education policy], Gu Gong Wen xian 2:1:19-34 (1970). 12 Liang Chi chao, qing dai xue wen gai lun [A discourse on Qing learning], (1921, Taipei Commercial Press reprint, 1975), 22 13 Xiao Yi shan, ging dar tung shi [History of the Qing dynasty], (1935, Taipei Commercial Press reprint, 1976), 11 717. 14 Hu Shi, Dai Dong yuan di zhe xue [The philosophical studies of Dai Zheng], 138. 15 This is the only work of Ruan Yuan's that I have not been able to find. It was never printed because Ruan Yuan was not satisfied with the draft. The manuscript had been kept with Ruan Yuan's papers in his lifetime and subsequently disappeared. There was no indication whether it perished in the fires that destroyed the Ruan residence in Yangzhou in 1843, or that which burned down his studio, Wen xuan lou, in 1935. 16 Ruan Yuan himself, as well as contemporary and modern scholars, complain often of the many errors in this edition. Ruan Yuan gave the excuse of not having had time to proofread the manuscript himself. In fact, he had been receiving admonitions from the Jiaqing Emperor at that time that he was expending too much time and energy on scholarly activities instead of concentrating on the affairs of state. Gungzhong dang (Palace memorials) Jiaqing 017818 (1817/29). 17 This work was not printed during Ruan Yuan's lifetime, but is in Qing shi kao (Draft history of the Qing dynasty). 18 There are a large number of these biographies of individual scholars, not necessarily all Ruan Yuan, scattered throughout rare book collections in various libraries. Copies of the biographies are also among the Guo Shih Guan (Qing Historiography Office) documents in the National Palace Museum (Taipei). 19 For example, the Provincial Gazetteer of Fujian by Chen Shouchi, the Gazetteer of Yicheng by Liu Wenchi, and a new edition of the Gazetteer of the Prefecture of Yangzhou by Jiao Xun. 20 A contemporary print is in the collection of the Harvard-Yenching Library. 21 Struve, 233 22 Ruan Yuan, Ding Xiang ting bi ji [Informal notes from the Ding Xiang studio] 4:1b-2a. 23 [bid. 24 Ruan Heng, Ying zhou pi tan [Notes from Yingzhou] 1.4b; also Ruan Yuan, Yen jing shi ji [Notes written in the Yen jing studio] 11:8:8a. 24 Zhang Jian, et al, Let tang an zhu di zi ji [The life of Ruan Yuan as recorded by his sons and students] 1:19b. 26 The preface was dated 1804, but the work was not printed until later, in 1807 when the manuscript was finally acceptable to Ruan Yuan. 27 Preface of a work entitled Ji Gu Zhai Chong ding yi chi kuan shi, printed in 1853. A copy can be found in the Fu Ssu-nien Library of the Academia Sinica in Taipei. ================================================================================