Mid-Qīng scholar from Wúxīng 吳興 (Guī’ān 歸安), Zhèjiāng, younger brother of 姚衡 Yáo Héng and uncle of 姚覲元 Yáo Jìnyuán. CBDB id 514458 (index year 1788). Wrote one of the two introductory prefaces (the 姚序 dated Dàoguāng 21, leap third month / 1841) to KR3em029 Yānhóu màizhèng tōnglùn; his signature reads 吳興姚晏芳林北堂書, identifying his zì / studio-name as 芳林 Fānglín and his tángmíng as 北堂. His preface uses the strategic-geography metaphor (the throat as Sword-Pass 劍閣, or as the iron-chain river-barrier broken by Wáng Jùn 王浚) to frame Qīng laryngology and singles out 許槤’s editorial recovery of the Tōnglùn as a major contribution to public health.