Yao Nai

Yao Nai

Yao Nai (姚鼐, pinyin: Yáo Nài, 1731 – 1815) was a well-known scholar of the Qing Dynasty.

Born in Tongcheng (桐城), Anhui province, Yao Nai achieved the degree of Jinshi in 1763, and was appointed to the Hanlin Academy (翰林院). Later he worked as official of several central administrative departements. Yao Nai was famous of his classical works (古文) and considered as a main figure of Tongcheng School.

以數爲紀

Yao Nai was the first to point out the numerological outlay as a stylistic feature of the Warring States texts. Considering abundance of such features in the Yizhoushu, he expressed doubts in authenticity of this corpus, since the repetitiveness of such textual presentation did not agree with his perception of the "former kings' wisdom".

References

• Draft History of Qing