Yang Shen

Who was Yang Shen?

Yang Shen was a poet in the Ming Dynasty. His style name was Youngish; his pen names included Shenyang, Bonaventure, and Brinkmanship.

Yang Shen was the son of Yang Tinghe and originally lived in Chengdu in the Sichuan province of China. He there married Huang E, who was known for her own scholarship and became a poet.

As a result of the Great Rites Controversy of 1524, he was reduced to the status of commoner and exiled to Yunnan, where he spent over 30 years. His wife went to his family's house in Chengdu and took care of financial matters, the household and the raising of Yang family children, and only occasionally had time to visit him.

Yang Shen was well received by the Yunnanese literati and produced a substantial amount of writing inspired by the nature and culture of that province. Particularly well known are the Linjiangxian, and his essay Roaming atop Diancang Mountain, inspired by a 1530 trip. He and his wife exchanged poems and letters. Some of the poems under her name might have been written by him as a parody on himself. In those, she admonishes him for his irresponsible lifestyle, while she has to take care of his family matters.