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Yang Xiong (author)

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Yang Xiong
Medieval representation of Yang Xiong
Traditional ChineseDương hùng
Simplified ChineseDương hùng
In thisChinese name,thefamily nameisYang.

Yang Xiong(Chinese:Dương hùng;53 BCE – 18 CE) was a Chinese philosopher, poet, and politician of theWestern Han dynastyknown for his philosophical writings andfupoetrycompositions.

Life and career[edit]

Like a number of the other well-known writers of the Han dynasty, Yang was fromShu(modernSichuanprovince), specifically the area of Pi (modernPi County,Sichuan). Yang claimed that his family had moved south from thestate of Jinduring its civil infighting in the 6th century BCE.[1]As a youth Yang was an admirer and imitator of his elder Shu compatriotSima Xiangruand the "grandfu"style of the early Han period. His ability and success infucomposition earned him a summons to the imperial capital atChang'anto serve as an "Expectant Official", responsible for composing poems andfufor the emperor.[2]

Yang's position required him to praise the virtue and glory ofEmperor Cheng of Hanand the grandeur of imperial outings, but he was disturbed by the wasteful extravagance of the imperial court.[2]Yang attempted to return thefugenre to a focus of "suasive admonition" (Phúng;fèng), which he believed was the original purpose of the earliestfu-type writings ofQu Yuan,but his couched admonitions against extravagance went unnoticed and unheeded by Emperor Cheng.

Yang's most famous work is theFayan,a philosophical work modeled on theAnalects,in which Yang criticizesfuwriters for focusing on ornate, esoteric language while ignoring more important issues of morality. Yang's other works include theTaixuanjing,a divination text based on theI Ching,"Justification Against Ridicule" (Giải trào;Jiě cháo), one of the best known examples of the "fuof frustration "subgenre, and theFangyan,a dictionary documenting regional vocabulary from throughout China at the time.

Together withSima Xiangru,Yang was one of the most famous and illustrious figures of the entire Han dynasty. TheBook of Handevotes a full two-part chapter to both Yang and Sima, an honor surpassing that of even the most famous generals and ministers.[3]

Philosophy[edit]

Yang did not believe human nature was inherently good asMencius(fl. 4th century BCE) had written, nor inherently bad asXunzi(c. 300–230 BCE) had written, but came into existence as a mixture of both. He was a close associate of the official and philosopherHuan Tan(d. 28 CE), anOld Textsrealist who may have heavily influenced the works ofWang Chong(27–c. 100 CE). Yang is also known for his protest against the verbosity of thefu.He was hailed by Huan Tan as the "Confucius from the western parts".

References[edit]

Citations[edit]

  1. ^Knechtges (2014),p. 1837.
  2. ^abHo (1986): 912.
  3. ^Knechtges (1982): 1.

Works cited[edit]

  • Chen, Keming and Zhang, Shancheng,"Yang Xiong".Encyclopedia of China(Philosophy Edition), 1st ed.
  • Ho, Kenneth Pui-Hung (1986). "Yang Hsiung dương hùng". In Nienhauser, William (ed.).The Indiana Companion to Traditional Chinese Literature, Volume 1.Bloomfield: Indiana University Press. pp. 912–913.
  • Knechtges, David R.(1982).The Han Shu Biography of Yang Xiong (54 BC – AD 18).Tempe: Center for Asian Studies, Arizona State University.ISBN978-0939252107.
  • ——— (2014). "Yang Xiong dương hùng". In Knechtges, David R.; Chang, Taiping (eds.).Ancient and Early Medieval Chinese Literature, A Reference Guide: Part Three.Leiden: Brill. pp. 1837–46.ISBN978-90-04-27216-3.
  • Zhu, Binjie,"Yang Xiong".Encyclopedia of China(Chinese Literature Edition), 1st ed.

External links[edit]

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