JīnYuán transition poet, celebrated by Yuán Hǎowèn 元好問 (1190–1257) as one of the principal poetic talents of the post-1214 (Zhēnyòu southern crossing) Jīn generation. Zì Shūnéng 叔能. Native of Zīchuān 淄川 (modern Shāndōng).
Career. A treble-transition figure: under the Jīn Xuānzōng’s Xìngdìng end (c. 1220) first met Yuán Hǎowèn at the southern Jīn capital; Jīn Āizōng Zhèngdà 1 (1224) served as Línyóu jiǔshuì (wine-tax inspector at Línyóu). Under the Southern Sòng: Lǐzōng Duānpíng 1 (1234) appointed Xiāngyáng fǔxué jiàoyù; Duānpíng 2 (1235) drafted as Tángzhōu sīhù. After the Yuán capture of Tángzhōu (1235.7), returned north to settle at Jǐyuán 濟源 (modern Hénán) and lived out his remaining decades quietly. By the yǐyǒu year (1249, per his Mén-tiē-zi) Yáng was about sixty years old, with sideburns not yet white — suggesting birth c. 1190 or shortly before. CBDB 35368 records fl. 1224 only; no firm lifedates established.
Poetic reception. Yuán Hǎowèn’s preface to the Xiǎohēng jí names Yáng alongside Xīn Yuán 辛愿 (Jìngzhī 敬之), Lǐ Fén 李汾 (Chángyuán 長源), Léi Yuān 雷淵 (Bówēi 伯威), and Wáng Yún 王惲 (Zǐzhèng 子正) as the principal Jīn poetic-tradition specialists of the post-1214 generation. Yuán’s Zèng Hóngdào shī opens “Within-the-seas Yáng sīhù — name reputation thirty years” — one of the most-cited YuánHǎowèn presentation pieces. Zhào Bǐngwén 趙秉文 compared Yáng’s verse to jīngāo shuǐbì (gold-fat water-jade) — extra-mundane rare-treasure. Liú Qí’s 劉祁 Guīqián zhì 歸潛志 paired Yáng with Yuán Hǎowèn, 李汾, and Dù Rénjié 杜仁傑 as Jīn-end contemporaries.
Poetic doctrine. Yuán Hǎowèn records Yáng’s position: “After the Jīn’s southern crossing those who learned poetry [were] only Xīn Jìngzhī and Yáng Shūnéng — taking Táng-men as their guide.” Yáng’s principle: “for jìntǐ take Táng [as master]; for gǔtǐ take the Wénxuǎn [as master]” — anticipating the analogous later position of Qiú Yuǎn 仇遠.
Within the Kanripo corpus. KR4d0451 Xiǎohēng jí 小亨集 (撰).