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Yan Song | |
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| 41st and 43rdSenior Grand Secretary | |
| In office 1544–1545 | |
| Monarch | Jiajing Emperor |
| Preceded by | Zhai Luan |
| Succeeded by | Xia Yan |
| In office 1548–1562 | |
| Monarch | Jiajing Emperor |
| Preceded by | Xia Yan |
| Succeeded by | Xu Jie |
| Minister of Rites | |
| In office 1536–1543 | |
| Monarch | Jiajing Emperor |
| Preceded by | Xia Yan |
| Succeeded by | Zhang Bi |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1480-03-03)March 3, 1480 Fenyi County, Jiangxi |
| Died | May 29, 1567(1567-05-29) (aged 87) Fenyi County, Jiangxi |
| Relations | Yan Shifan (son) |
Yan Song (simplified Chinese:严嵩;traditional Chinese:嚴嵩;pinyin:Yán Sōng;Wade–Giles:Yen Sung; 1480–1567),courtesy nameWeizhong (惟中),pseudonymJiexi (介溪), was a Chinese politician and regent of theMing dynasty. He was notorious for being corrupt and for dominating the Ming government for two decades asGrand Secretary during the reign of theJiajing Emperor.
Yan Song was born inFenyi, modern-dayJiangxi province, with ancestral roots inShaowu. His father, a scholar who had repeatedly failed theimperial examination, while put great effort into educating his son from childhood. A talented scholar, he passed the village examinations at the age of 10, and acquired thejinshi degree at the age of 25, being inducted into the imperial secretariat (Hanlin Academy) as an editor.
His early career was quickly cut short by a severe illness which forced Yan Song to return to his hometown, though this proved to be a blessing in disguise, since it kept him away from the imperial court just as it was under the domination of powerfuleunuchLiu Jin.
Yan Song returned toBeijing not long after the fall of Liu Jin, returning to work in theHanlin Academy in both Beijing and auxiliary capital Nanjing.
Yan Song was the Senior Grand Secretary under theJiajing Emperor from 1544 to 1545 and from 1548 to 1562. Yan was a close ally ofZhao Wenhua.[1] During his second term as Senior Grand Secretary, he and his sonYan Shifan [zh] dominated court politics with the tacit consent of the fatuous monarch who shirked his responsibilities as emperor and devoted much of his time to sensual pleasures andTaoist practices. Yan Song's wealth is said to have been so great as to have been comparable to that of the emperor. He is also well known for his corruption and had been known to openly sell government positions for cash during the Jiajing Emperor's reign, but his corruption and treachery created many political opponents. In order to suppress dissent, he had prominent critics such asYang Jisheng imprisoned and executed. Yan Song was finally disgraced in his later years and died in poverty not long after that, while his son, Yan Shifan, was executed for collaborating with thewokou pirates who invaded Chinese coastal provincesat the time.
He was the subject of theChinese opera calledBeating Yan Song (打嚴嵩 Dǎ Yán Sōng).
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| Preceded by | Senior Grand Secretary 1548 – 1562 | Succeeded by |
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