Ruan Yuan And Epigraphy In Zhejiang During The Jiaqing-Daoguang Era

Ruan Yuan(1764-1849)served in Zhejiang for a total of eleven years,once as Education Commissioner,and twice as Governor.During his terms,Ruan combined administrative and academic interests.He collected and studied ancient inscriptions on objects of stone and bronze,compared them with historical records to determine their meaning,and then used them to correct errors in historical literature that had been widely circulated for many centuries.He named one of his studios Yanjing(Study Classics)and another Jigu(Probe Antiquities).Out of Yanjing and Jigu came a number of magnificent academic accomplishments that established Ruan as the most important scholar of his time,and that enormously enhanced the study of epigraphy in Zhejiang.This dissertation takes Ruan Yuan’s epigraphic(jinshi)activities in Zhejiang as the research object,and aims to explore Ruan’s role and significance in the change and spread of epigraphy in Zhejiang during the Jia-Dao Period(the first half of the 19th century).Of all Ruan’s academic projects in Zhejiang four were to have profound influences on later generations:1.Reproducing the Song-Dynasty rubbings from Inscriptions on Drum-shaped Stone Blocks collected in the Tianyi Ge Library;2.Reproducing the rubbings of "Zhong Ding Kuan Zhi"(Inscriptions on Ancient Bronzes)collected by the Southern-Song scholar Wang Fuzhai;3.Interpreting inscriptions on ancient bronze vessels in local private collections,and compiling them into the book "Jigu Zhai Zhong Ding Yi Qi Kuan Zhi";4.Collecting inscriptions on stones,bronzes and historical monuments scattered in Zhejiang and compiling them into the book "Liang Zhe Jinshi Zhi"(Inscriptions on Stone and Bronze Objects from eastern and western Zhejiang).Using the above-mentioned rubbings and scholarly writings as main sources,this dissertation attempts to make up a systematic study of Ruan’s concept and purpose in epigraphy in their historical contexts,and to investigate these activities from the perspectives of their interpersonal,geographical,and iconographical relationships.The dissertation consists of the following parts:Chapters One&Two trace the formation of Ruan Yuan’s jinshi academic circle,the collections in his Jigu Studio and the publication of his academic writings.Chapter Three discusses how Ruan Yuan promoted the revival of the study of sacrificial vessels.Chapter Four examines Ruan Yuan’s collection of paintings,stone rubbings and other ancient objects,and the specific relationship between his collecting and researching of jinshi objects and the shift of interest in jinshi studies during the middle of the Qing Dynasty.Chapter Five analyzes the significance of Ruan’s jinshi studies to the development of Zhejiang’s local culture through the analysis of jinshi tablets and stele that were used as essay topics for students at local schools or Confucian temples,and even for examinations of Gujing Jingshe.Ruan Yuan’s attitudes,concepts and related activities of identificating and appraising stone and bronze objects played a vital role in the transformation of the style of poetry,scholars,and learning during the Jia-Dao period.It laid a solid foundation for "the study of epigraphy is most prosperous in Zhejiang",and profoundly affected the evolution of the historical context of the collection and research of epigraphy in the middle and late Qing Dynasty.