| Yang Xiong | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Medieval representation of Yang Xiong | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 揚雄 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 扬雄 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Yang Xiong (Chinese:揚雄; 53 BCE – 18 CE) was a Chinese philosopher, poet, linguist and politician of theWestern Han dynasty known for his philosophical writings andfu poetry compositions.
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Like a number of the other well-known writers of the Han dynasty, Yang was fromShu (modernSichuan province), specifically the area of Pi (modernPi County, Sichuan). Yang claimed that his family had moved south from thestate of Jin during its civil infighting in the 6th century BCE.[1] As a youth Yang was an admirer and imitator of his elder Shu compatriotSima Xiangru and the "grandfu" style of the early Han period. His ability and success infu composition earned him a summons to the imperial capital atChang'an to serve as an "Expectant Official", responsible for composing poems andfu for the emperor.[2]
Yang's position required him to praise the virtue and glory ofEmperor Cheng of Han and the grandeur of imperial outings, but he was disturbed by the wasteful extravagance of the imperial court.[2] Yang attempted to return thefu genre to a focus of "suasive admonition" (諷;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 criticizesfu writers 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" (解嘲;Jiě cháo), one of the best known examples of the "fu of 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 Han devotes a full two-part chapter to both Yang and Sima, an honor surpassing that of even the most famous generals and ministers.[3]
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 Texts realist 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".
