← Explore on the interactive map

Yang Jisheng

Type Figure Region Ming dynasty China Time 1516–1555 Also known as Yang Jiaoshan、Yang Zhongfang、Yang Zhongmin

Yang Jisheng (1516–1555), courtesy name Zhongfang, style name Jiaoshan, a famed remonstrance official of the Ming dynasty who impeached Grand Secreta…

Timeline

  1. 1516–1549Rongcheng County · RongchengYang Jisheng was born into a poor family in Rongcheng, Northern Zhili; his parents died early and he studied through hardship. In Jiajing 26 (1547) he passed the jinshi examination and was appointed registrar in the Ministry of Personnel at Nanjing, later transferred to vice director in the Ministry of War. He was upright and unpretentious, with a strong sense of moral duty.
  2. 1549–1555Beijing · BeijingIn Jiajing 31 (1552) Yang Jisheng was demoted for opposing the opening of horse markets and peace talks with Altan Khan. In Jiajing 32 (1553), undeterred by danger, he memorialized to impeach Grand Secretary Yan Song, listing his 'five treacheries and ten crimes' and asking the Jiajing Emperor to punish him. Yan Song was furious and had his partisans imprison Yang on charges of 'slandering a great minister,' had him beaten with court rods, and then held him long in the imperial prison under torture. In prison Yang endured severe leg pain, scraping away rotting flesh with a bowl shard, remaining constantly calm. In Jiajing 34 (1555) he was beheaded at the Western Market on charges of being in a 'treasonous clique,' composing a poem calmly as he went to his death.

Sources