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Wei Yuan (1794-1857) was a famous thinker and historian during the Daoguang period of Qing Dynasty. The word is silent and deep, a native of Shaoyang, Hunan Province, and a Daoguang Jinshi. In his early years, he worked as a cabinet book, and successively supervised salt administration and shipping in several shogunates of governors of Liangjiang. In 1842, he directly participated in the Anti-British War in the shogunate of Yuqian, the governor of Liangjiang. In August, 1841, Lin Zexu was dismissed from his post and sent to Yili. He passed by Jingkou and delivered the manuscript of Four Continents, a western historical and geographical data compiled by him in Guangzhou, to Wei Yuan, and asked him to further collect data to study foreign situations and complete this book. On January 3, 1843, Wei Yuan compiled 50 volumes of Hai Guo Tu Zhi and published it. The 1847 engraved edition was enlarged to 60 volumes. In 1852, it was added to 100 volumes and published in Yangzhou. "Hai Guo Tu Zhi" is a famous book that systematically introduces the history and geography of countries around the world in the late Qing Dynasty in China. The author claims that it is a book "written for attacking barbarians, for paying for barbarians, and for learning from barbarians and developing skills to control barbarians", which had a great impact on Chinese society at that time. In 1854, Japan reprinted the "Hai Guo Tu Zhi". Politicians and thinkers during the Meiji Restoration period, such as Saigo Takamori, were all influenced by this book.

He resides in Wei.