Nguyễn An (Chinese 阮安; 1381 - 1453), known in Chinese as Ruan An (

pinyin Hanyu Pinyin, or simply pinyin, officially the Chinese Phonetic Alphabet, is the most common romanization system for Standard Chinese. ''Hanyu'' () literally means 'Han Chinese, Han language'—that is, the Chinese language—while ''pinyin' ...

) or Juan An ( Wade-Giles), was a

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

architect and

hydraulics Hydraulics () is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counterpart of pneumatics, which concer ...

specialist between the first and fifth decades of the 15th century. According to some sources, he was a key architect in designing, planning and constructing of the

Forbidden City The Forbidden City () is the Chinese Empire, imperial Chinese palace, palace complex in the center of the Imperial City, Beijing, Imperial City in Beijing, China. It was the residence of 24 Ming dynasty, Ming and Qing dynasty, Qing dynasty L ...

during the Ming dynasty. Born in Vietnam, he was taken as tribute to China and later became a eunuch and architect in service to the Chinese emperors. He, along with other architects, such as master designers and planners Cai Xin (蔡信),

Kuai Xiang Kuai Xiang (; 1377–1451) was a Chinese architect and engineer widely known as designer of the Forbidden City and originator of the Xiangshan carpenters. He was born in Xukou (Xiangshan), Wu County, Suzhou, during the Ming dynasty. When the Yongl ...

(蒯祥), Chen Gui (陳珪), and Wu Zhong (吳中), was a builder of the

in Beijing. Under the reign of the

Zhengtong Emperor , succession = Emperor of the Ming dynasty , reign-type = First reign , reign = 31 January 1435 – 22 September 1449 , coronation = 7 February 1435 , cor-type = Enthronement , regent = , reg-type = Regents , ...

, Nguyen An also had a role in the reconstruction of the wall of Beijing. He was also a

specialist, and was involved in at least three hydraulic projects and had a flawless record. He died in 1453.

References

Chinese people of Vietnamese descent Ming dynasty eunuchs 1381 births 1453 deaths 15th-century Chinese artists 15th-century architects Chinese architects Vietnamese architects Year of birth unknown {{Vietnam-architect-stub

See also

References