By adopting an approach similar to that of the social history of mathematics, this article deals with the mathematical works of Wang Lai (1768-1817) and Li Rui (1769-1817), and attempts to elucidate their academic status and influence against the intellectual background provided by the Ch’ien-Chia school. Discussion will emphasize their personalities, their expository styles and methodologies in mathematical sciences, their affiliations with the Ch’ien-Chia school as well as how their contemporaries thereby appreciated their mathematical achievements. It is, however, the epistemology and methodology – “To search for truth in actual facts” in terms of the “textual criticism” - of the Ch’ien-Chia school, that might be mainly responsible for the dramatically different evaluations of Wang Lai and Li Rui by their contemporaries.