Wei Yuan

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.

In order to alleviate the demographic crisis in China, Wei also spoke in favor of large scale emigration of Han Chinese into Xinjiang.

He wrote A Military History of the Holy Dynasty (《聖武記》, Shèngwǔjì, known at the time as the Shêng Wu-ki), the last two chapters of which were translated by Edward Harper Parker as the Chinese Account of the Opium War.

Today, he is mostly known for his 1844 work, Illustrated Treatise on the Maritime Kingdoms, which contains Western material collected by Lin Zexu during and after the First Opium War.