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He was one of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove, ranked first in achievement and influence. He was a devout believer in the teachings of Laozi and Zhuangzi, and he was the first literati to devote himself to writing pentasyllabic poems.

His poems are full of majestic and magnificent scenes, capturing the sun, moon, stars, flowers, plants, insects, fish, wind, frost, clouds, etc.

He was highly praised by Mr. Lu Xun, who said that his poems were passionate and his poetic meaning was hidden. He was Ruan Ji.

"Ruan Ji's father, Ruan Yu, was a prime minister under Cao Cao in the late Eastern Han Dynasty. He was also one of the Seven Sages of the Jian'an Period and was well-known in his time."

"Ruan Ji lost his father when he was three years old, and lived with his widowed mother in his early years. He was precocious in literary talent and could write at the age of eight."

"Ruan Ji loved reading since he was young and was determined to establish a career with Confucianism."

"Although Ruan Ji had an unruly personality, he never showed his emotions on his face."

"He would often stay indoors for months at a time, reading books."

"Sometimes I go out to climb mountains, and linger among the mountains, forests and rivers."

"Ruan Ji read widely and liked to study Zhuangzi and Laozi."

"In addition, Ruan Ji liked to drink, often whistled, and was good at playing the qin."

"Whenever I learn something, I often forget myself and completely disregard worldly etiquette."

"Many people at the time said that Ruan Ji was crazy, but his cousin Ruan Wenye praised Ruan Ji highly and believed that his talent was better than his own."

"Therefore, people began to praise Ruan Ji's peculiarity."

"In the seventh year of Huangchu, Ruan Ji followed his uncle to Dongjun."

"Yanzhou Governor Wang Chang requested Ruan Ji to meet him, but Ruan Ji did not say a word when he met him. Wang Chang therefore thought that Ruan Ji was a difficult person to figure out."

"In the third year of Jingchu, Emperor Ming of Wei, Cao Rui, died of illness, and the eight-year-old Cao Fang succeeded to the throne, assisted by Cao Shuang, a member of the royal family, and Sima Yi, an old minister."

"In order to fight for power, the Cao family and the Sima family formed two major groups and fought against each other."

"In this turbulent political environment, Ruan Ji no longer had any hope of pursuing his ambition to become an official and practicing his Confucian political ideals as a teenager."

"He politely declined requests from both the Cao and Sima clans to serve as an official."

"In the early Zhengshi period, He Yan and Wang Bi incorporated Taoism into Confucianism, advocating the combination of orthodox teachings and nature, which set off a trend of studying metaphysics."

"Ruan Ji, who lived in seclusion in the countryside, also followed the development of this trend of thought and wrote his own metaphysical works, "Tong Yi Lun" and "Tong Lao Lun."

"In the third year of Zhengshi, Jiang Ji, the Grand Commandant who was politically inclined towards the Sima clan, heard that Ruan Ji was outstanding in talent and reputation, so he prepared to recruit him to serve as his subordinate."

"When Ruan Ji heard about it, he wrote a memorial, claiming that he was not talented and had little knowledge and moral integrity, and politely declined the offer. He then personally delivered the memorial to Duting outside Luoyang City."

Du Fu: One of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove, Ruan Ji's poems are passionate and their meanings are hidden.

During the time when Ruan Ji lived, the ruling class implemented a dark, terrifying and high-pressure policy in order to consolidate their power and status.

In the literary world, the generous, sad, and majestic poetic style of Jian'an literature has completely disappeared.

Therefore, writers no longer fully display their rich inner world, but are more lyrical and implicit in their expressions.

Among them, Ruan Ji is the most representative poet, and his poems can represent the mood and thoughts of contemporary literati.

Metaphysics influenced Ruan Ji's poetry creation, and the content of his poems is more or less intrinsically related to metaphysics.

His metaphysical slogan of worshipping nature came into being against the backdrop of cruel reality.

He seemed to be firm, or perhaps confident, in metaphysics.

But in fact, it is because as literati, they are unable to reverse the contradiction between ideals and reality.

The hesitation, sense of crisis and tragic letting go are just a kind of inner relief.

Among Ruan Ji's 82 poems, 27 are about traveling to the immortal world, and 16 express his envy of the immortals.

In his poems, he expressed his longings, fantasies, and expectations, but he was also clearly aware of the slim chance of becoming an immortal and the difficulty of reaching the fairyland, so in his poems he longed to transcend the mundane world and suffering.

In addition, Ruan Ji would also quote metaphysical words or allusions in his poems, mixing rational thoughts with lyricism, presenting a metaphysical and speculative color.

Furthermore, Ruan Ji admired nature in his heart and opposed rites and ethics. He made sharp ridicule and criticism on those who were hypocritical and law-abiding.

This is essentially an act of protest against the current society, and thus indirectly reflects the poet's pursuit of ideals.

This creative style that integrates metaphysical thought with poetry highlights the historical status of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove and also makes him the most accomplished poet among the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove.

From the perspective of the content of the poems, Ruan Ji's poems are tortuous and euphemistic, expressing the loneliness and anxiety of the times, the precarious situation of life, and the uncertainty about the future.

But he was unwilling to be subordinate to the forces of darkness. This contradictory psychology is clearly reflected in his poems.

Under the contradictory mentality full of metaphysics, let the heart tend to be peaceful.

The poetry is also expressed in a peaceful manner, with the poems highlighting the clear and majestic artistic conception, as well as the lonely and resentful emotions.

In terms of poetry writing techniques, Ruan Ji is good at using irony to express his own attitude.

The poems contain the intention of using the past to satirize the present in response to Sima's betrayal of his former master.

But the meaning is not obvious, and you need to use divergent thinking to associate in order to truly understand the author's original intention.

In Ruan Ji's poems, landscapes can be seen everywhere.

He used landscapes to create an atmosphere and denounced the Sima family's infringement on Cao Wei's power.

He used landscapes to express his lonely and desolate heart, and at the same time revealed his desire and ambition to pursue seclusion.

He used landscapes to express his heroic spirit and reflect his broad mind and vision.

This type of poetry seems to swallow up the mountains and rivers, and is the work with the best artistic charm.

Imagery of flowers, plants and trees can be found everywhere in Ruan Ji's poems.

Flowers, plants and trees are symbols of life. For example, tall trees represent perseverance and integrity.

Fragrant flowers and grass represent freshness, fragrance, warmth and elegance, showing another side of life.

The sun, moon, and stars in nature also appear frequently in Ruan Ji's writings.

In particular, the vast universe and the twinkling stars are the images that can most stimulate readers' imagination.

In addition, Ruan Ji likes to use birds to highlight the original meaning of loneliness and imply the sad emotions of literati in the dark reality.

Ruan Ji was a great poet during the Wei and Jin Dynasties. He was one of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove and the most accomplished poet.

"Jiang Ji was originally worried that Ruan Ji would not accept the appointment, but later learned that he had already arrived at Duting, so he mistakenly thought that the refusal in the memorial was just Ruan Ji's self-deprecation."

"Jiang Ji happily sent people to greet him, but he did not expect that Ruan Ji had already gone back."

"Jiang Ji was furious, and the villagers went to persuade Ruan Ji, who reluctantly took the position. But not long after, he returned home on the pretext of illness."

"After that, Ruan Ji accepted the imperial decree and served as a minister, but he resigned again due to illness not long after."

"When General Cao Shuang was assisting the government, he summoned Ruan Ji to serve as a military officer."

"But Ruan Ji claimed to be ill and did not take up an official post, living in seclusion in the countryside, and began writing "On Da Zhuang" in that year."

"At the end of the Zhengshi period, the conflict between the Cao and Sima groups intensified."

"General Cao Shuang monopolized government affairs and excluded the Sima clan."

"The Sima clan seized the opportunity to launch a counterattack and launched the Gaopingling Incident."

"The killing of Cao Shuang dealt a heavy blow to the Cao clan."

"They basically controlled the political situation and carried out a bloody crackdown on Cao's followers."

"Ruan Ji was spared from disaster because he did not align himself with Cao Shuang and his political inclinations were not obvious, but he had to respond to the call and serve as a military officer under the Grand Tutor Sima Yi."

"Ruan Ji had the ambition to support the country and save the world in his early years."

"But he knew that in the chaotic times between the Wei and Jin dynasties, few famous scholars in the world could protect themselves."

“So I just stopped caring about worldly affairs and took an evasive attitude towards politics.”

"During the Jiaping period, he lived with Ji Kang, Shan Tao, Liu Ling, Wang Rong, Xiang Xiu, and Ruan Xian in Shanyang County, Henei Prefecture."

"We often make appointments to get together, drink, talk, and debate ideas."

"They traveled together in the bamboo forest, and history called them the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove."

"Ruan Ji's thoughts matured during this period, and most of his representative works were completed during this period."

"In the fourth year of Jiaping, after Sima Yi's death, Sima Shi succeeded his father as General of the Army and Recorder of the Secretariat."

"Ruan Ji had a high reputation among the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove. In addition, he had once refused Cao Shuang's invitation to serve as an official, so Sima Shi was interested in winning him over."

"Under such political pressure, Ruan Ji could only serve as a military officer under Sima Shi."

Li Bai: When I reached middle age, I looked at Ruan Ji again, understood him, and had to bow my head.

In fact, Ruan Ji's family background was much higher than Ji Kang's.

The reason for this favor is that Ruan Yu was one of the famous Seven Scholars of the Jian'an Period during the Cao Wei period. In his early years, he studied under the famous writer Cai Yong, so his articles were of course brilliant.

Cao Cao was suffering from a headache, and Ruan Yu's article happened to be presented to him. After reading it, Cao Cao's headache was gone.

Ruan Yu was such a talented person, but of course he also had the arrogant temper of a scholar.

The story about Ruan Yu's debut that is circulating in the martial arts world is that Cao Hong was attracted by his talent and wanted him to work as a secretary for him, but Ruan Yu refused and only came after Cao Cao invited him.

But after Ruan Yu came out of seclusion, he was still arrogant and rude to Cao Cao.

Cao Cao was very angry, and just in time for the celebration of the capture of Chang'an, a meeting was held.

Cao Cao deliberately insulted Ruan Yu by arranging him to sit in the seat of a kabuki and asking him to play music.

Ruan Yu was good at music and could sing while playing the piano.

A man will die for the one who understands him, and a woman will dress up for the one who pleases her.

If the kindness between the ruler and his subjects is unimpeded, who can alienate them?

The lyrics and music were both excellent, and the whole audience was amazed, and Cao Cao was very pleased.

If you carefully ponder the meaning of this passage, you will find that it is soft yet firm, and firm yet soft, but it is a compromise after all.

The meaning of this piece of music has set the tone for the sense of proportion in Ruan Ji's future performance art.

As one of the two spiritual pillars of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove, Ruan Ji was 14 years older than Ji Kang.

Of course, he is still tall, handsome, and heroic.

Regardless of temperament or knowledge, he also loves to act cool.

Another point similar to Ji Kang is that it is said that Ruan Ji also had political ambitions.

Ruan Ji once went to see the scene of the Chu-Han War and lamented that there were no heroes at the time, which led to the fame of a young man.

However, considering that there were many troubles in the world at that time, there were few famous people left.

Therefore, he deliberately pretended to be crazy by getting drunk, escaped from the world, and took Laozi and Zhuangzi as his spiritual sustenance.

Even Liu Bang and Xiang Yu were not taken seriously. Ruan Ji's arrogance was so great that it could really break the sky.

Throughout the dynasties, which great politician did not experience life-and-death experiences?
A person with a true nature is not afraid of death and does not care about his personal safety when it comes to what he likes.

So, whether it is Ji Kang or Ruan Ji.

By nature, I am not one who enjoys or is comfortable with a career in politics; I am just one who likes it.

Their real interest and place of settlement are not in politics.

"In the sixth year of Jiaping, the Sima family deposed Cao Fang, the Prince of Qi, and established Cao Mao, the Duke of Gaogui, as the emperor."

"After that, Sima Shi conferred many titles and honors on Ruan Ji in order to win over the people's hearts, and Ruan Ji was also granted the title of Guannei Hou."

"But Ruan Ji always had a negative attitude towards the Sima family politically."

"In the second year of Zhengyuan, Sima Shi suddenly became ill with his eyes while attacking his mother Qiu Jian and Wen Qin. He returned to the capital Xuchang in February of the same year and died of the disease."

"After that, his younger brother Sima Zhao succeeded him as the general and recorded the affairs of the minister of state."

"During this period, Ruan Ji said that he liked the customs and places of Dongping County and hoped to be transferred there to serve."

"Sima Zhao also agreed, and later appointed him as the Prime Minister of Dongping."

"After Ruan Ji took office, he demolished the barrier between the government office and his residence, allowing the inside and outside to be visible."

"At the same time, Ruan Ji also streamlined local laws."

"But only ten days later, Ruan Ji returned home."

"After Ruan Ji returned to the capital Luoyang from Dongping, he continued to serve as Sima Zhao's assistant."

"In the third year of Zhengyuan, in order to escape the power struggle between the Sima and Cao families, Ruan Ji used the fact that the barracks were good at brewing wine to request to be appointed as the infantry captain."

"But after taking office, Ruan Ji simply ignored his duties, often reveling in the general's mansion and indulging in court banquets."

"In order to win over Ruan Ji, Sima Zhao initially wanted his son Sima Yan to marry Ruan Ji and become in-laws."

"Ruan Ji drank continuously for sixty days because of this."

"Since Sima Zhao never had the chance to speak, he had no choice but to give up."

"In May of the fourth year of Jingyuan, Sima Zhao was granted the title of Duke of Jin, the position of Prime Minister, and the nine gifts."

"This was also an important step for Sima Zhao to formally implement his usurpation of power."

"According to the routine procedure, Cao Wei's puppet emperor Cao Huan issued an edict to confer the title of Jin, Sima declined, and then the ministers persuaded him to take the throne."

"The ministers all submitted petitions to persuade him to ascend the throne. Since Ruan Ji was a brilliant writer, the Minister of Works Zheng Chong asked him to write a petition to persuade him to ascend the throne."

"Ruan Ji had no choice but to write "Letter to Zheng Chong to Advise the King of Jin" under urging and after drinking."

"Because the article was completed in one go and the language was clear, beautiful and majestic, it was admired by people at the time."

"In the winter of the fourth year of Jingyuan, Ruan Ji died at the age of fifty-four."

Bai Juyi: Ruan Ji said frankly that he could kill his father, but he calmly played chess after hearing about his mother's death.

Ruan Ji also wrote a lot of things. What he left behind include 82 poems of nostalgia and an article "Biography of Mr. Da Ren".

As for "The Biography of Mr. Da Ren", it is actually based on a fable of Zhuangzi, mocking the scholars who use orthodox teachings as their code of conduct.

What they pursue deep down is nothing but fame, wealth and power, which is very hypocritical.

However, this passage from Ruan Ji points out that the main battlefield of Ruan Ji's competition was precisely the war with the hypocrites of the orthodox teachings.

Although I cannot be a hero like Liu Bang and Xiang Yu, it is more than enough for me to be a performance artist who creates a trend of an era.

Ji Kang was a reserved and arrogant person who rarely moved around in society.

Ruan Ji, on the other hand, was outgoing, cold and arrogant, and specialized in wandering around in society.

This means that Ruan Ji's achievements in performance art are much greater than Ji Kang's, because Ruan Ji had a larger stage.

Ruan Ji's performance art can be divided into two categories: official performance art and social life performance art.

When Ruan Ji was following his father in his early years, he met an official, the governor of Yanzhou.

Seeing that he was curious, people wanted to get close to him and chat with him, but Ruan Ji remained silent.

It was so mysterious and profound that it became famous all of a sudden.

The Grand Commandant heard of his reputation, admired him, and wanted to recruit him into the government, but Ruan Ji hesitated to respond.

Just when the Taiwei was disappointed, Ruan Ji wrote another talented reply and then ran to the Taiwei's office to deliver it.

The Taiwei was overjoyed when he read it, thinking that this meant Ruan Ji agreed to come out of seclusion, so he quickly sent someone to the door to greet him, but Ruan Ji stood him up again.

Later, after much persuasion from his relatives and friends, Ruan Ji was afraid that he would be played to death if he played too much, so he agreed to come out of retirement. After doing a few random things, he resigned again.

In addition, when Cao Shuang, He Yan, Xiahou Xuan and others were successful, they also invited Ruan Ji to help them, but Ruan Ji ignored them.

After the Gaopingling Incident, Ruan Ji was recruited by Sima Yi and became a Zhonglang official.

After Sima Yi died, Sima Shi hired him as a Zhonglang Officer, and later conferred him the title of Guannei Hou.

After Sima Shi died, Sima Zhao promoted him again.

Under Sima Zhao, Ruan Ji's performance art reached its climax, and Sima Zhao became the best supporting actor in Ruan Ji's performance art.

As a politician, Sima Zhao certainly had the ruthlessness of a politician.

But compared to his father and his brother, Sima Zhao's personality is more gentle.

Therefore, Sima Zhao could appreciate Ruan Ji's arrogance as a scholar.

Ruan Ji also heard that there was good wine in the infantry warehouse and expressed his intention.

Sima Zhao was delighted again and immediately appointed Ruan Ji as the commander of the infantry.

But Ruan Ji did nothing when he got there. He just took Liu Ling and went to the wine cellar to drink.

Ruan Ji often wandered around Sima Zhao's mansion, and when Sima Zhao held a banquet, Ruan Ji would attend every meal.

When he went there, he acted as if no one was around, sat cross-legged, and ate and drank to his heart's content.

All officials were disgusted and even hated him, but Sima Zhao always defended him.

The most outrageous thing is that during the mourning period, Ruan Ji still ate and drank lavishly at the court banquet, as if no one was around.

The court officials came to Sima Zhao to file complaints and demand punishment.

Sima Zhao said that Ruan Ji had true feelings for his mother, but he was no longer a man after losing her. (End of this chapter)