Yang Xiong (author)

Yang Xiong
Medieval representation of Yang Xiong
Traditional Chinese	揚雄
Simplified Chinese	扬雄
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Yáng Xióng Gwoyeu Romatzyh Yang Shyong Wade–Giles Yang2 Hsiung2 IPA [i̯ǎŋ ɕi̯ʊ̌ŋ] Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Yèuhng Hùhng Jyutping Joeng4 Hung4 Southern Min Tâi-lô Iông Hiông Middle Chinese Middle Chinese Yang Ɣiong Old Chinese Baxter-Sagart *lang ɢʷəng

Yang Xiong (Chinese: 揚雄; 53 BCE–18 CE) was a Han dynasty scholar, poet, and author known for his philosophical writings and fu poetry compositions.

Like a number of the other great writers of the Han dynasty, Yang was from Shu (modern Sichuan province), specifically the area of Pi 郫 (modern Pi County, Sichuan). Yang claimed that his family had moved south from the state of Jin during its civil infighting in the 6th century BCE. As a youth Yang was an admirer and imitator of his elder Shu compatriot Sima Xiangru and the "grand fu" style of the early Han period. 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.

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. Yang attempted to return the fu genre to a focus of "suasive admonition" (fèng 諷), 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.

Yang's most famous work, Exemplary Sayings (Fa yan 法言) is a philosophical work modeled on the Analects of Confucius (Lunyu), in which Yang criticizes fu writers for focusing on ornate, esoteric language while ignoring more important issues of morality. Yang's other works include Great Mystery (Tai xuan 太玄), a divination text based on the Classic of Changes (Yijing), "Justification Against Ridicule" (Jie chao 解嘲), one of the best known of the "fu of frustration" category of fu, and Fangyan, a collection of regional dialectal terms from the various parts of China in his era.