Chapter 22 Ruan Xian/There is a musical instrument named after him

Ruan Xian (year of birth and death unknown), courtesy name Zhongrong. One of the "Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove".Poet and qin player in Wei and Jin Dynasties. Ruan Xian's grandfather, Ruan Yu, was one of the famous "Seven Sons of Jian'an" during the Jian'an period.Ruan Yu is not only a famous poet, but also learned from Cai Yong since he was a child, and can play the piano well.Later, many of the descendants of the Ruan family were masters at playing the guqin.Ruan Ji, the son of Ruan Yu, was a great poet as famous as Ji Kang in the Zhengshi period, one of the "Seven Sages of the Bamboo Forest", and he was also good at playing the piano.Ruan Xian is Ruan Ji's nephew. He has admired Ruan Ji since he was a child and became one of the "Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove".

It is said that Ruan Xian's poems are well written, but none of them have been handed down.He also despises etiquette and is unruly. During the Six Dynasties, on June 6th, everyone had to take out their clothes to dry in the sun, and some wealthy families took the opportunity to show off and compete for grandeur.Ruan Xian also picked a tattered dress onto a tall bamboo pole and took it out to dry.Someone asked curiously: "Why did you expose these broken things to the sun?" Ruan Xian replied: "Everyone is like this, and I am not exempt." In fact, it was a small joke on the wealthy family at that time.

Like Ruan Ji, he was born at the age of ten.He once had a private relationship with a Xianbei servant girl in his aunt's house.When the mother died, according to the etiquette, the aunt had to return home, but Ruan Xian asked to keep the maid, which was not tolerated by the etiquette at that time.Later, my aunt left with her maid. When Ruan Xian heard about it, she rode on a donkey to chase after her. Finally, she chased the maid back and gave birth to a son with her. He doesn't make friends casually, he only drinks with relatives and friends.Once, his relatives and friends were drinking together, and he also came to participate. Instead of a wine glass, he used a big basin to hold wine, and got drunk.At that time, a large group of pigs also came to drink, and Ruan Xian drank with the pigs.He had a great time drinking and playing the piano at the same time, so "drinking with pigs" became a joke.

Ruan Xian is good at playing the qin, and he is also good at composing. It is said that he composed the popular qin piece "Three Gorges Flowing Spring" in the Tang Dynasty, but his fame in the history of music is related to a musical instrument. According to ancient records, when Wu Zetian was in Tang Dynasty, someone excavated an ancient tomb and got a copper musical instrument with a very special shape, a bit like the plucked stringed instrument "Xiantao" handed down from the Han Dynasty.However, the "Xiantao" is covered on both sides, which is the predecessor of the current sanxian, and this instrument has no skin.Some people imitate it with paulownia wood, and the sound is very beautiful.At that time, there was a picture of "Seven Sages in the Bamboo Grove", in which Ruan Xian was playing with a musical instrument in his hand, and this musical instrument was very similar to the unearthed Qin, so everyone called this musical instrument "Ruan Xian". ", referred to as "Ruan".Now, Ruan can be divided into big Ruan, middle Ruan and small Ruan, and they are already important plucked string instruments in modern national bands.

Ruan Xian's son, Ruan Zhan, is also good at playing the qin. As long as someone asks him to play the qin, he will play for them, no matter how old or young he is.