Yang Weizhen
Bold, unconventional Yuan-Ming poet and scholar
Yang Weizhen(杨维桢) (1296–1370), courtesy name Lianfu(廉夫), also known as Tieya(铁崖) and Tiedi Daoren(铁笛道人), and by other names like Tiexin Daoren(铁心道人), Tieguan Daoren(铁冠道人), Tielong Daoren(铁龙道人), and Meihua Daoren(梅花道人), called himself Lao Tie(老铁), Baoyi Laoren(抱遗老人), and Dong Weizi(东维子) in his later years. He was from Quantang, Fengqiao, Zhuji Prefecture, Shaoxing Road (present-day Quantang Village, Fengqiao Town, Zhuji City, Zhejiang Province). He was a poet, writer, and painter during the late Yuan and early Ming periods. Yang Weizhen was intelligent from a young age, and his father, Yang Hong, had high expectations for him. In the fourth year of Taiding (1327), he passed the imperial examination and became the county magistrate of Tiantai. However, he was dismissed for punishing corrupt local officials and facing retaliation from other corrupt officials. He later worked at the Qianqing Salt Works and was reprimanded for requesting a reduction in salt taxes, leading to ten years without appointment. Eventually, he rose to the post of Judicial Officer at Jiande Road and was then promoted to oversee Confucian Schools in Jiangxi. At the end of the Yuan dynasty, he avoided turmoil by living in Fuchun Mountain, later moving to Qiantang (present-day Hangzhou). When Zhang Shicheng controlled western Zhejiang, he repeatedly summoned Yang, but Yang refused. Later, he moved to Songjiang and devoted himself to enjoying life through nature and leisure, attracting talented scholars from the southeast who often came to study under him. Yang Weizhen’s poetry is especially known for his ancient-style yuefu poems, which are both graceful and moving, yet bold and natural. This style was historically called the “Tieya Style” and was highly respected by literati of all generations. Some called him “the poet of his generation,” or praised him for “creating new trends and standing out with unique talent,” while contemporary scholar Yang Lian referred to him as “a leading figure of the Jiangnan poetry scene at the end of the Yuan dynasty.” He was a prolific writer, with nearly twenty surviving works including *Chunqiu Heti Zhushuo*, *Shiyi Shiyu*, *Dong Weizi Wenji*, *Tieya Ancient Yuefu*, *Lize Yiyin*, and *Fugu Shiji*. In calligraphy, he excelled at running and cursive scripts, with strokes that are bold and energetic, described as having the momentum of a general returning from battle, troops celebrating victory, or a broken axe swinging through a window. Surviving works include his regular script *Epitaph for Zhou Shangqing*, running script *Zhang Family Tongbo Qianbiao*, *Zhenjing’an Muyuanshu Scroll*, *Yuzhiwo Inscription*, *Southern City Correspondence Poems*, *Poems Drinking with Wife on Lantern Festival Night*, and cursive script *Dreaming While Traveling in Haitang City Scroll*, *Bamboo West Cottage Record Scroll*, *Zhili Zhai Letters*, *Late Season Hall Poems*, and *Preface to Shen Sheng Yuefu*. Most of his other ink works are found in letters and inscriptions on paintings and calligraphy pieces.