This is a biographical study of Ruan Yuan, based on Betty Peh-T'i Wei's doctoral dissertation. Organized into five parts and fifteen chapters, including an introduction and conclusion as well as six appendices, this book is the most detailed study to date of the life of Ruan Yuan. It scrutinizes the successful career of Ruan as an official, his prolific production as a scholar, as well as his sagacity and generosity as a patron of scholarly projects.
The book is organized chronologically, with a few thematic chapters (parts III and IV). The book is divided into five parts. Part I, “The Making of a Scholar-Official,” has three chapters. The first two introduce Ruan's family background as well as his success at the examinations and his meteoric rise in officialdom. While in Beijing, Ruan joined scholars engaged in Han Learning. Chapter 3 recounts his service as director of studies in Shandong (1793–95)...
