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Lot Essay
The recessed base is carved with two inscriptions. The first with the title in clerical script reading Yanjingshi zhujingyan (inkstone for writing classic for the Studio of the Study of the Classics), followed by Daoguang sinian zhiyu Zhujiang jieshu (placed in the government office of Zhujiang [Canton] in the fourth year of Daoguang), followed by Boyuan zhi (recorded by Boyuan), and a seal reading Ruan Yuan zhi yin (seal of Ruan Yuan).
Native of Yizheng, Jiangsu, Ruan Yuan (1764-1849), zi Boyuan, was an eminent Qing dynasty scholar-official. He was awarded jinshi in the 54th year of Qianlong (1789), and had a brilliant official career spanning over Qianlong to Daoguang reign. Yanjingshiji (Collection of text from the Studio of the Study of the Classics) was a compilation of his personal essays, and the inscription on the present ink stone suggests that this ink stone was intended for the use of writing classics while he was working as a government official in Guangzhou.
The second inscription is a poetic eulogy to Ruan Yuan by Yang Yizeng (1787-1856), which can be translated as followed:
In the jiwei [1799] year, the exemplary [Ruan Yuan] was promoted for the third time,
During the two reigns he served, his reputation for erudition spread far and wide,
His disciples flourished and blossomed,
I shall hope to follow him as a paragon.
Yang Yizeng (1787-1856), zi Yizhi, was a native of Liaocheng, Shandong, and a scholar-official and a prominent book collector during the Qing dynasty. He collected over tens of thousands juan of books during his lifetime, which were housed in several different libraries he built including Haiyuange Library, the collection of which was published in Haiyuange congshu (Haiyuange Book Collection).
Native of Yizheng, Jiangsu, Ruan Yuan (1764-1849), zi Boyuan, was an eminent Qing dynasty scholar-official. He was awarded jinshi in the 54th year of Qianlong (1789), and had a brilliant official career spanning over Qianlong to Daoguang reign. Yanjingshiji (Collection of text from the Studio of the Study of the Classics) was a compilation of his personal essays, and the inscription on the present ink stone suggests that this ink stone was intended for the use of writing classics while he was working as a government official in Guangzhou.
The second inscription is a poetic eulogy to Ruan Yuan by Yang Yizeng (1787-1856), which can be translated as followed:
In the jiwei [1799] year, the exemplary [Ruan Yuan] was promoted for the third time,
During the two reigns he served, his reputation for erudition spread far and wide,
His disciples flourished and blossomed,
I shall hope to follow him as a paragon.
Yang Yizeng (1787-1856), zi Yizhi, was a native of Liaocheng, Shandong, and a scholar-official and a prominent book collector during the Qing dynasty. He collected over tens of thousands juan of books during his lifetime, which were housed in several different libraries he built including Haiyuange Library, the collection of which was published in Haiyuange congshu (Haiyuange Book Collection).