Yuan Kewen

Who was Yuan Kewen?

Yuan Kewen, courtesy name Baocen, sobriquet Hanyun, was the second son of Yuan Shikai, and the younger brother of Yuan Keding. His mother was Yuan's third concubine, Jin, a Korean born in Seoul.

Yuan was an expert of Chinese traditional literature and a master of calligraphy and Chinese ink painting. He excelled in poetry and lyrics and was obsessed in collecting fine arts and antiques. He was against his father's revival of monarchy and also lived a promiscuous life, which irritated his father. Yuan fled to Shanghai and joined the gang of thugs. He recruited many disciples in Shanghai and Tianjin. He died in 1931 in Tianjin.

Besides his original wife, Liu Meizhen, Yuan had five concubines, Qingyunlou, Xiaotaohong, Tang Zhijun, Yu Peiwen, and Yaxian, in addition to other numerous mistresses.

Yuan had four sons and three daughters, and all of them were scholars. His third son, Yuan Jialiu, was a renowned high energy physicist. Jialiu's wife was Chien-Shiung Wu, a prominent nuclear physicist.

He is also known for research 葉子戲 and wrote 《雀谱》.