Jin Dynasty West Jin Dynasty (265-371)

A Corrupted and Short-Lived Regime

51 Ruan Ji

A Great Poet Sending out Taoist Voice

Ruan Ji (210-263) shot to fame after he said a word: “Cao Zhi’s talent was as high as eight dou”. (See piece 44. “Dou” was a measuring container. Ruan meant there were a total of ten dou of talent in the world, and Cao Zhi got a lion share of eight dou.) In fact, the true meaning of the word was that Ruan himself held a talent of one dou, and all other men of letters made up the rest of one dou.

Ruan Ji lived in early West Jin Dynasty (Jin conquered three kingdoms and founded an unified country). The West Jin was a notorious regime for its corrupt politics. After Ruan’s close friend Ji Kang was executed, Ruan turned a way of life pretending cynical or even lunatic. Also in Jin, due to the long-lasting and nationwide violence, there appeared the ebbing of Confucius doctrine and the comeback of Taoist teaching among intellectuals. The literary clique “Seve Men in Bamboo Forest” with Ruan Ji and Ji Kang as their foremen was the representative group sending out Taoist voice. In his iconic work Bare Heart, Ruan voiced out for the first time in history the Taoist philosophy seeking withdrawal and seclusion from everyday life. The work had pioneered the trend of rhyme style for following pastoral poets, including Tao Yuanming (piece 54) and poets in Tang Dynasty.

Ruan Ji had once visited the ruin of Guang Wu Battlefield in Anhui Province where a decisive war between Liu Bang and Xiang Yu took place (piece 28). On the spot, Yuan said with a sigh: “This person with little means could win, only because there was no hero in the time.” (Here, the person with little means referred to Liu Bang.) Was Liu Bang a man of little means? Wasn’t Xiang Yu a great hero? Ruan’s lunatic word had raised hot debates in history.