Yang Shen

Life

Yang Shen was the son of Yang Tinghe, the grandson of Yang Chun, and the great-grandson Yang Wen; his mother was Huang, and Yu was his stepmother. His younger brothers included Yang Dun, Yang Kai, Yang Heng, Yang Xun, Yang Chen, Yang Ti, and Yang Kou; Huang and Wang are both named as wives.

In his early years he studied under Li Dongyang. After coming to the capital, he wrote the “Yellow Leaves Poem,” which impressed Li Dongyang and led him to enter Li’s school; in 1507 he ranked third in the Sichuan provincial examination and became a juren, and in 1511 he placed first in the palace examination, taking the zhuangyuan title.

In 1511 he was appointed a Hanlin Academy compiler and joined the compilation of the Veritable Records of the Wuzong Emperor. His three recorded terms as Hanlin compiler extended across Zhengde 6–8, Zhengde 11–12, and Zhengde 15 to Jiajing 3.

In Zhengde 11 and 16 he served as a lecturer in the imperial lectures, and in Zhengde 12 and 16 he respectively served as palace-examination scroll supervisor and receiving official; in Jiajing 3 he became a Hanlin Academician. In 1517, when the Wuzong Emperor made an incognito journey beyond Juyong Pass, Yang Shen remonstrated by memorial and was forced to return home on grounds of illness; after the Shizong Emperor’s accession, he was recalled to the capital and appointed to the imperial lectures.

In 1524, during the Great Rites Controversy, Yang Shen remonstrated and, with Wang Yuanzheng and other officials, led a mass protest at Zuoshun Gate. He was beaten by imperial order, revived after appearing dead, and was banished to serve at Yongchang Guard in Yunnan. He spent more than thirty years in exile and died at the garrison. After his death, the associated office title appears in two forms, Junior Vice Minister of the Guanglu Court and Junior Vice Minister of the Taichang Court; he received the posthumous name Wenxian in the early Tianqi era.

Scholarship and works

Yang Shen was widely read and became known for his prodigious memory and extensive writings; in the Ming period he was regarded as pre-eminent in these respects. His broad learning also drew criticism for occasional errors of citation, alterations to earlier authors, and fabrication of old texts.

His poetry drew on Six Dynasties and Late Tang models, combining freshness, ornate richness, and breadth; he formed an independent school in Ming poetry. He excelled in ci and also wrote sanqu, drama, and zhugongdiao works.

He wrote extensively in poetry, ci, and sanqu, as well as more than one hundred miscellaneous works. His collected and lyric works include 《升庵全集》, 《升庵外集》, 《陶情樂府》, 《廿一史彈詞》, and 《升庵長短句》; he also compiled 《百琲明珠》 and 《詞林全選》. Other works include 《丹鉛雜錄》 and 《丹鉛續錄》, while later compilers assembled 《升庵集》.