Yang Xiong (author)

In this Chinese name, the family name is Yang.
Yang Xiong
Medieval representation of Yang Xiong
Traditional Chinese揚雄
Simplified Chinese扬雄
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinYáng Xióng
Wade–GilesYang2 Hsiung2
IPA[jǎŋ ɕjʊ̌ŋ]
Yue: Cantonese
Yale RomanizationYèuhng Hùhng
JyutpingJoeng4 Hung4
IPA[jœŋ˩ hʊŋ˩]
Southern Min
Tâi-lôIông Hiông
Middle Chinese
Middle ChineseYang Ɣiong
Old Chinese
Baxter–Sagart (2014)*lang ɢʷəng

Yang Xiong (Chinese: 揚雄; 53 BCE – 18 CE), courtesy name Ziyun (子雲), was a Chinese philosopher, poet, linguist and politician of the Western Han dynasty known for his philosophical writings and fu poetry compositions.

Bibliography

Together with Sima Xiangru, Yang was one of the most famous and illustrious figures of the entire Han dynasty. The Book 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.[1]

Yang's most famous work is the Fayan, a philosophical work modeled on the Analects, in which Yang criticizes fu writers for focusing on ornate, esoteric language while ignoring more important issues of morality. Yang's other works include the Taixuanjing, a divination text based on the I Ching, "Justification Against Ridicule" (解嘲; Jiě cháo), one of the best known examples of the "fu of frustration" subgenre, and the Fangyan, a dictionary documenting regional vocabulary from throughout China at the time.[2]

Portrait of Yang Xiong (National Palace Museum)

Hanshu contents

Knechtges divided the Hanshu's Yang Xiong biography as consisting of two elements, being lengthy "autobiographical" excerpts, and added commentaries by Ban Gu, the Hanshu's author, including introductory commentary on his personality and character and an appraisal of him at the end.[3] It follows the format of other dynastic history biographies, with Knechtges considering the included autobiographical content "potentially more reliable".[4]

The larger part of the biography includes and discusses poetry and rhapsody, including seven of Yang Xiong's fu and essays, critique of the fu genre, and introductions to poems, including their dating, purpose and circumstances of composition. The biography otherwise includes an introductory genealogy, a personal outline of his cosmological Taixuanjing work, and personal chapter summaries of his famous philosophical work the Fayan.[5]

Seven of Yang Xiong's fu poems or rhapsodies and essays make up the largest portion of the biography. Of the seven, three essays not named as rhapsodies are still composed much like rhapsodies. Knechtges translates the seven as Refuting Sorrow, Sweet Springs Palace Rhapsody, Hedong Rhapsody, Barricade Hunt Rhapsody, Tall Poplars Palace Rhapsody, Justification Against Ridicule, and Justification Against Objection.[6]

Philosophy

Yang did not believe human nature was inherently good as Mencius (fl. 4th century BCE) had written, nor inherently bad as Xunzi (c. 300–230 BCE) had written, but came into existence as a mixture of both. He was a close associate of the official and philosopher Huan Tan (d. 28 CE), an Old Texts realist who may have heavily influenced the works of Wang Chong (27–c. 100 CE). He was hailed by Huan Tan as the "Confucius from the western parts".

Yang is also known for his protest against the verbosity of fu poetry. Although fu "stimululated writing as a craft", the Confucian propriety of fu's form was earlier questioned by Emperor Xuan of Han.[7]

Life and career

Like a number of the other well-known writers of the Han dynasty, Yang was from Shu (modern Sichuan province), specifically the suburban Pi (Pi County) area of the Chengdu provincial capital.[8] Yang claimed that his family had moved south from the state of Jin during its civil infighting in the 6th century BCE.[9]

As a youth, Yang studied under master Zhang Zun, contributing to his wide range of interests.[10] He became an admirer of the Warring States period Chu poet Qu Yuan, and an imitator of his own Shu forebear Sima Xiangru. His ability and success in fu composition earned him a summons to the imperial capital at Chang'an to serve as an "Expectant Official", responsible for composing poems and fu for the emperor.[11]

Yang's position required him to praise the virtue and glory of Emperor Cheng of Han and the grandeur of imperial outings, but he was disturbed by the wasteful extravagance of the imperial court.[11] Yang attempted to return the fu genre to a focus of "suasive admonition" (諷; fèng), which he believed was the original purpose of the earliest fu-type writings of Qu Yuan, but his couched admonitions against extravagance went unnoticed and unheeded by Emperor Cheng.[12]

References

Citations

  1. ^ Knechtges (1982): 1.
  2. ^ Knechtges (1982): 1.
  3. ^ Knechtges (1982): iv.
  4. ^ Knechtges (1982): iv.
  5. ^ Knechtges 1982, p. iv.
  6. ^ Knechtges 1982, p. v.
  7. ^ Ho (1986), p. 51 references Knechtges 1976.
  8. ^ Knechtges 2014, p. 1837; Ho 1986, p. 913.
  9. ^ Knechtges (2014), p. 1837.
  10. ^ Farmer (2007), p. 13.
  11. ^ a b Ho (1986), p. 913.
  12. ^ Knechtges (1982): 1.

Works cited

  • Chen, Keming and Zhang, Shancheng, "Yang Xiong" Archived 2007-09-29 at the Wayback Machine. Encyclopedia of China (Philosophy Edition), 1st ed.
  • Farmer, J. Michael (2007). Ames, Roger T. (ed.). The Talent of Shu: Qiao Zhou and the Intellectual World of Early Medieval Sichuan. SUNY series in Chinese Philosophy and Culture. Albany: State University of New York Press. ISBN 978-0-7914-7163-0.
  • Ho, Kenneth Pui-Hung (1986). "Yang Hsiung 揚雄". 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. ISBN 978-0939252107.
  • ——— (2014). "Yang Xiong 揚雄". In Knechtges, David R.; Chang, Taiping (eds.). Ancient and Early Medieval Chinese Literature, A Reference Guide: Part Three. Leiden: Brill. pp. 1837–46. ISBN 978-90-04-27216-3.
  • Zhu, Binjie, "Yang Xiong" Archived 2007-09-29 at the Wayback Machine. Encyclopedia of China (Chinese Literature Edition), 1st ed.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.