Although official records indicate Ruan Yuan as being from Yizheng (儀徵), a county in the Yangzhou Prefecture of Jiangsu Province, actually he was a native of the County of Beihu (北湖) in the prefecture.¹ It was his grandfather, Ruan Yutang (阮玉堂 1695–1759), who first adopted Yizheng as the Ruan native place when he registered for military degree examinations during the first decade of the eighteenth century. Since Yizheng’s examination quotas were more favourable than those of the other counties of the prefecture, it was not uncommon for eligible boys from other counties to opt for Yizheng as their native...

It was during this period of Ruan Yuan’s sojourn in Beijing as a candidate for the metropolitan examinations that the direction for his intellectual development and political future was set. As a young man from an obscure background without independent financial means, Ruan Yuan was distinguishable from other candidates only because he had the patronage of Zhu Gui. Zhu Gui, already an acknowledged leader in the world of intellectuals in 1786, was to become a powerful political figure after the death of Qianlong in February 1799, when his pupil, Jiaqing, assumed the control of the court and the government. Despite...

The system of selecting government officials by examination made the position of the director of studies (xuezheng 学政) in each province an extremely important one. Although this office carried no rank of its own, for the holder it could be a stepping stone to higher appointments. During the mid-Qing the director of studies was usually a Hanlin graduate holding the title and rank of another concurrent appointment. Ruan Yuan was holding two titles during his tenure in Shandong and Zhejiang, Senior Supervisor of Instruction 3A and Sub-Chancellor of Grand Secretariat on duty at Wenyuan Pavilion 2B.¹ He was, therefore, a...

In the winter of 1799–1800 when Ruan Yuan first arrived in Zhejiang as governor, his most urgent task was the suppression of coastal piracy.² The initiation and implementation of a comprehensive programme to halt the pirate activities off the southeast coast of China within the directives of Jiaqing remained a major challenge for him during his tenure in this province, 1799–1805, and again in 1808–9. This task was more difficult because the programme had to be implemented without drawing from the regular tax revenue of the province.

Throughout history pirates had plagued the Chinese coast, but it...

My objective in this chapter is not to analyze the Chinese secret societies from a historical, or economic, or even social perspective. Recent scholarly studies in Chinese as well as in foreign languages, all based on archival documents, have already enlightened readers on the origin and development of the secret societies of the mid-Qing era. My intention here is to show how Ruan Yuan saw them as he discharged his responsibilities as Governor of Jiangxi. His observations on secret society activities and his interrogation of the perpetrators, as shown in his memorials to the throne, was seen by him as...

Ruan Yuan was Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi from November 1817 to August 1826. As ‘trade and tribute in the Confucian view were cognate aspects of a single system of foreign relations,’¹ the governor-general at Canton was the highest Chinese authority dealing with foreigners in China on specific issues and on a day-to-day basis. In the port of Canton there were foreign traders in the foreign factories and on the foreign ships. The provincial authorities’ responsibilities therefore embraced all the foreigners within Chinese jurisdiction, except the Russians in Beijing. This assignment was important for Ruan Yuan. From the historical perspective,...

After Canton Ruan Yuan was Governor-General of Yunnan and Guizhou in Southwest China. Topographically, the region was ‘rugged with high local relief, and the canyons of western Yunnan (were) characterized by a vertical zonation of climate, soils, and vegetation’.¹ These mountainous provinces boasted a multi-cropped agrarian economy, in addition to copper and salt mining. Therefore, although a ‘relatively primitive frontier region … by the end of the 18th century, (it) had developed into one of the principal regional economies of Qing China.’² Geographically, the provinces bordered on Guangxi, Hunan, Sichuan, and Tibet, then already a part of the Chinese Empire....

Whereas this research on Ruan Yuan’s government work heretofore has concentrated on the area of security and control, it was his social welfare programmes in Zhejiang that showed his humanitarian concerns both as an official and as a private individual. As in his handling of other issues, he managed the social welfare aspects of his provincial responsibilities in accordance with law and tradition, but offered innovations wherever opportunities arose. In maintaining institutions of care and in establishing gruel kitchens¹ in time of need, Ruan Yuan was carrying out a traditional responsibility of the Confucian state, but with humanitarian touches of...

As a scholar and patron of learning Ruan Yuan is well known. His intellectual interests encompassed a wide range of research. With more than eighty extant publications with his name as author, compiler, or editor, there are also scores of forewords and epilogues to other scholars’ works, indicating that at least he was familiar with their contents. It was not easy for him to manage his government job and scholarly activities at the same time. Conflict of demands invariably occurred. In 1814, when time passed and he had not succeeded in capturing Zhu Maoli in Jiangxi, the Jiaqing Emperor ranted...

Upon achieving success as an official, Ruan Yuan took on certain responsibilities for his family and community, as expected in the Confucian persuasion. Beneficiaries included his parents, ancestors up to four generations, members of the Ruan clan individually and in general, and, through programmes such as compilation of gazetteers and building roads and bridges, the community of Yangzhou as well. A number of projects Ruan Yuan carried out, such as renovating the Ruan clan hall and glorification of the family cemetery, were dictated by tradition. Others, such as compilation of a new edition of the prefectural gazetteer and sponsoring publication...

Despite popular claim that traditional Chinese society deemed a woman ‘virtuous’ (de 德) only when she was without ‘talents’ (cai 大), respectable women in gentry families had been educated in the classics throughout the ages. This fact was especially evident during the mid-Qing when publication of works by women proliferated. The women in the immediate family of Ruan Yuan can be used as examples to personalize ‘talented’ (educated) women in the mid-Qing. Topics to be noted here include marriage, concubinage, adoption, and female suicide. I have already touched upon how his mother moulded the personality of Ruan Yuan and here...

In 1835, when Ruan Yuan was seventy-two sui, he was recalled to Bejing, whereby ending a career of more than thrity years in the provinces. Until 1838 when he retired to Yangzhou he remained in the capital, enjoying the life and status of a first rank senior official. His schedule was not demanding, and, although not in the inner court, his offices were in or near the Forbidden City. He held the title Grand Secretary, with the portfolio of Superintendent of the Board of War, concurrently also Senior President of the Censorate and Senior Professor of the Hanlin Academy. Meanwhile,...

After repeated requests to the Daoguang Emperor, Ruan Yuan was finally permitted to retire on 4 July 1838. An imperial edict was issued, awarding him the honorary title of Grand Tutor to the Heir Apparent (Taizi Taibao 太子太保) and a pension of half-pay.¹

For 50 years Grand Secretary Ruan Yuan has served competently and with integrity for the benefit of the country as well as the foreigners who had come to trade and reside within these shores. Now in poor health, he has repeatedly requested to be relieved of his government responsibilities. Permission is hereby granted for him to retire...