Ruan Xian (

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for '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 indic ...

3rd century),

courtesy name A courtesy name ( zh, s=字, p=zì, l=character), also known as a style name, is an additional name bestowed upon individuals at adulthood, complementing their given name. This tradition is prevalent in the East Asian cultural sphere, particula ...

Zhongrong, was a Chinese scholar who lived in the

Six Dynasties Six Dynasties (; 220–589 or 222–589) is a collective term for six Han-ruled Chinese dynasties that existed from the early 3rd century AD to the late 6th century AD, between the end of the Eastern Han dynasty and the beginning of the Sui ...

period. One of the

Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove The Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove (also known as the Seven Worthies of the Bamboo Grove, zh, t=, s=竹林七贤, poj=Tiok-lîm Chhit Hiân, p=Zhúlín Qī Xián, first=t) were a group of Chinese scholars, writers, and musicians of the third ce ...

, 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 rangi ...

which has been called '' ruan'' after his name since the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

. His achievement in music reached such high as to be described as "divine understanding" in the ''

Book of Jin The ''Book of Jin'' is an official Chinese historical text covering the history of the Jin dynasty (266–420), Jin dynasty from 266 to 420. It was compiled in 648 by a number of officials commissioned by the imperial court of the Tang dynasty, ...

''. Ruan Xian had a

Xianbei The Xianbei (; ) were an ancient nomadic people that once resided in the eastern Eurasian steppes in what is today Mongolia, Inner Mongolia, and Northeastern China. The Xianbei were likely not of a single ethnicity, but rather a multiling ...

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) government officials Political office-holders in Shaanxi Musicians from Henan Politicians from Kaifeng Year of birth unknown 3rd-century musicians People from Weishi County 3rd-century Chinese people {{China-academic-bio-stub