Wei Yuan

Wei Yuan
19th-century portrait
Viceroy of Liangjiang
In office
28 January 1825 – 7 July 1825
MonarchDaoguang Emperor
Preceded bySun Yuting
Succeeded byQishan
Personal details
Born23 April, 1794
Died26 March, 1857
Hangzhou, Qing Dynasty
Relations
  • Chen Weiduo (son)
  • Chen Weiyi (son)
  • Chen Weilin (son)
  • Chen Wei'ao (son)
Children10, including four sons and six daughters
EventsFirst Opium War
Self-Strengthening Movement
Tongzhi Restoration

Wei Yuan (Chinese: 魏源; pinyin: Wèi Yuán; April 23, 1794 – March 26, 1857), born Wei Yuanda (魏遠達), courtesy names Moshen (默深) and Hanshi (漢士), was a Chinese scholar-official from Shaoyang, Hunan. He lived during the reigns of the Qianlong, Jiaqing, Daoguang, and Xianfeng emperors. He moved to Yangzhou, Jiangsu in 1831, where he remained for the rest of his life. Wei obtained the provincial degree (juren) in the Imperial examinations and subsequently worked in the secretariat of several statesmen such as Lin Zexu. Wei was deeply concerned with the crisis facing China in the early 19th century; while he remained loyal to the Qing dynasty, he also sketched a number of proposals for the improvement of the administration of the empire.