Ruan Xian (fl. 3rd century), courtesy nameZhongrong, 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 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.[1]
References
^Zhou, Mi; Weitz, Ankeney (2002). Ankeney; Weitz (eds.). Zhou Mi's record of clouds and mist passing before one's eyes: an annotated translation. Vol. 54 of Sinica Leidensia (illustrated, annotated ed.). Brill. p. 85. ISBN90-04-12605-8. 331 Ruan Fu (278-326) was the son of Ruan Xian (one of the Seven Worthies of the Bamboo Grove) by a Xianbei slave. Ruan Fu's uncommon obsession for wooden clogs (ji) caused him to exhautst himself in waxing his many pairs.
