Ruan Xian

Also known as Zi Zhongrong

Ruan Xian, courtesy name Zhongrong, came from Weishi in Chenliu and was the nephew of Ruan Ji, with whom he joined the gatherings of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove. When the northern Ruans aired their silks on the Double Seventh festival, Ruan Xian hung a coarse pair of shorts on a bamboo pole in his yard, saying he could not quite escape custom either. Shan Tao proposed him for the personnel office, but Emperor Wu of Jin rejected him as a drunkard. He knew music and played the pipa so well that Xun Xu, who was setting new standard pitches, felt outmatched and had him sent away as governor of Shiping; he died of old age. According to the New Tang History, a bronze lute was later dug from an old tomb, Yuan Xingchong identified it as Ruan Xian's instrument, and musicians named it after him.