- Wei Yuan
Wei Yuan (zh-cpw|c=魏源|p=Wèi Yuán|w=Wei Yüan,
April 23 1794 —August 26 1856 ), born Wei Yuanda (魏远达),courtesy name s Moshen (默深) and Hanshi (汉士), was a Chinesescholar from Shaoyang, Hunan. He moved toYangzhou in 1831, where he remained for the rest of his life. Wei obtained the provincial degree ("juren ") in theImperial examinations and subsequently worked in the secretariat of several prominent statesmen, such asLin Zexu . Wei was deeply concerned with the crisis facing China in the early 19th century; but, while he remained loyal to theQing Dynasty , he also sketched a number of proposals for the improvement of the administration of the empire.From an early age, Wei espoused the New Text school of
Confucianism and he also became a vocal member of the statecraft school, which advocated practial learning in opposition to the allegedly barren evidentiary scholarship as represented by scholars likeDai Zhen . Among other things, Wei advocated sea transport of grain to the capital instead of using the Grand Canal and he also advocated a strengthening of the Qing Empire's frontier defense. In order to alleviate the demographic crisis inChina proper , Wei also spoke in favor of large scale emigration ofHan Chinese intoXinjiang .Later in his career he became increasingly concerned with the threat from the Western powers and maritime defense. "Military history of the Qing Dynasty" (聖武記, "Shèngwu Ji") and a narrative work on the
Opium War (道光洋艘征撫記, "Daoguang Yangsou Zhengfu Ji" ). Today, he is mostly known for his work from 1844, "Illustrated Treatise on the Maritime Kingdoms" (海國圖志, "Haiguo Tuzhì"), which consisted of Western material collected by Lin Zexu during and after theFirst Opium War .References
* Hummel, Arthur William, ed. "Eminent Chinese of the Ch'ing Period (1644-1912)." 2 vols. Washington: United States Government Printing Office, 1943.
*Leonard, Jane Kate. "Wei Yüan and China's Rediscovery of the Maritime World." Cambridge, MA: Council on East Asian Studies, 1984.
*Tang, Xiren, [http://203.72.198.245/web/Content.asp?ID=75219&Query=1 "Wei Yuan"] . "Encyclopedia of China ", 1st ed.
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