Yang Wanli 1127-1206

Important poet of the early Southern Song dynasty. Born in Jishui, Jiangxi province, Yang served in a number of minor official posts after obtaining his jinshi degree in 1154. In terms of his poetic development, he began as an imitator of the Jiangxi School of poetry, but in 1178 experienced a form of enlightenment whereupon he wrote according to his own inspiration. For this reason, Yang repudiated artificiality in his writings on poetry, but was not opposed to imitation as a means of learning the basics of the craft. As a poet, his range of interests was very broad, and he produced many pieces dealing with plants and animals.

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