Yang Pu (1371–1446) was a Ming dynasty official and man of letters. His courtesy name was Hongji (弘濟), also written 宏濟, and he was known by the art names Nanyang (南楊) and Nanyang Xiansheng (南楊先生); his posthumous name was Wending (文定). He was a native of Shishou (石首), in present-day Hubei. His birth year is also given as 1372.
Life
His great-grandfather was Yang Tianyou, his grandfather Yang Zheng, and his father Yang Wenxian; his mother was of the Zhan family, and he married a woman of the Peng family. He began as a student in the Shishou county school, became a provincial graduate, and in 1400, the second year of the Jianwen era, took the jinshi degree, ranking eighteenth in the second class.
After passing the examination he was appointed a compiler in the Hanlin Academy. In 1404 he was moved to the post of xima (洗馬) in the Bureau of Classics of the Heir Apparent while continuing as a compiler, holding both until 1414, and in 1406 he served as an examiner at the metropolitan examination. In 1424 he was promoted to academician of the Hanlin Academy, and in 1425, the first year of the Hongxi era, he was made chief minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices while retaining his Hanlin post, and was appointed chief compiler, an office he held until 1430.
In 1427 he again served as a metropolitan examiner, in 1434 he was promoted to Minister of Rites, and from 1435 to 1438 he served once more as chief compiler. He read the palace examination papers in 1436 and 1439, became Grand Secretary of the Wuying Hall (武英殿大學士) in 1438 and took his place in the Grand Secretariat, served as a deputy envoy in 1442, and died in 1446.
He sat in the Grand Secretariat for many years and was counted among those known as the Three Yangs of the Grand Secretariat (內閣三楊). He studied under Hu Yan and Gao Xunzhi, and Shi Pan was his pupil; he recommended Shi Yancheng as fit for a post among the emperor's close attendants on account of his sound scholarship, and also recommended Han Yang. Sun Yuegong, a colleague, was highly regarded by the three Yangs, and Li Shimian and Yang Yu wrote parting pieces for him. After his death, Peng Shao wrote his biography, Li Shimian and Xi Jing composed sacrificial addresses, and Zhang Bi wrote a postscript to his conduct record.
Writings
He took part in the compilation of the Veritable Records of Taizong, Renzong and Xuanzong, and in the preparation of the Wenxian dacheng (文獻大成). His writings include a collection of prose in twelve juan, a collection of verse in four juan, and a posthumous collection of prose and verse in sixteen juan. Among his epigraphic works were spirit-way steles for Yang Rong, Wang Bozhen and Li Xian, tomb inscriptions for Zhang Sheng, Li Yu, Li Fan and Hu Yu, grave-table inscriptions for Zhang Ying, Zhou Cong, Hu Guan and Xu Yongda, and a biography of Zhang Chang.
References
- CBDB Yang Pu (66746)
- Wikidata Yang Pu (Q1092630)