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 {{China-academic-bio-stub