In 1943, Ruan went to the Jin-Cha-Ji Border Region to join the revolution from the Girls' High School of Beijing Normal University.
[5] After the founding of the People's Republic of China, she served as director of the first division of the Rural Work Department of the CCP Jiangxi Provincial Committee, executive director of the Jiangxi Writers' Association, and then vice president of the Party School of the Guangzhou Municipal Party Committee.
[9] In 1979, she went to Japan for a study tour and introduced the animated film Astro Boyfrom Japan,[10] and in 1983, she founded and served as the director of the China Television Drama Production Center, and the vice-director of the Artistic Committee of the China Television Arts Council (Chinese: 中国电视艺术委员会艺委会).
She organized and participated in the production of more than 500 episodes of CCTV dramas such as Dream of the Red Chamber, Journey to the West, The Last Emperor, The Search for the Returned World, Song Qingling and Her Sisters, and The Ordinary World, as well as the large-scale documentaries Silk Road and The Yangtze River.
[12] Her father, Ruan Muhan, joined the CCP in 1931 and served as a member of the CPC's Northern Special Branch[13] and secretary-general of the 8th Route Army's Jizhong Military Region Command.