Ruan Xian (
fl.
''Floruit'' (; abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for "they flourished") denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicatin ...
3rd century),
courtesy name Zhongrong, was a Chinese scholar who lived in the
Six Dynasties period. One of the
Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove, he was a skilled player of the Chinese lute, an old version of
pipa
The pipa, pípá, or p'i-p'a () is a traditional Chinese musical instrument, belonging to the plucked category of instruments. Sometimes called the "Chinese lute", the instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body with a varying number of frets rang ...
which has been called ''
ruan'' after his name since the
Tang dynasty. His achievement in music reached such high as to be described as "divine understanding" in the ''
Book of Jin''. Ruan Xian had a
Xianbei slave who gave birth to his son, Ruan Fu.
References
Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove
Year of death unknown
Pipa players
Cao Wei musicians
Jin dynasty (266–420) musicians
Jin dynasty (266–420) politicians
Political office-holders in Shaanxi
Musicians from Henan
Politicians from Kaifeng
Year of birth unknown
3rd-century Chinese musicians
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