Yang Wanli (1127–1206)

Yang once said that he loved literature the way other men loved beautiful women, and he spent his life pursuing that love, mainly in his prolific writing of poetry. Though he did pass the metropolitan examinations in 1154, his career was more typical than outstanding. His highest post was Director show more of the Imperial Library, which he achieved in 1189. Like others of his time, he watched the advance of the Jurchen Tartar armies with unease and advocated a stronger defense against them, as did his contemporaries Lu Yu and FanCh'eng-ta. A native of Chi-chou (Kiangsi), Yang titled himself "The Rustic Man from Sincerity Studio," and he studied the works of other great poets of the Kiangsi school early in his writing career. However, in 1162 he burned his early poems, and by 1178 he felt he had achieved a kind of enlightenment and that he no longer needed to emulate poets of the past. From that time on, he advocated individuality as the key to successful poetic style. He is noted for his extensive use of colloquial language, which some have criticized as vulgar, but others find a part of his rough and honest charm. (Bowker Author Biography) show less