Yáo Miǎn 姚勉 (1216–1262), zì Shùzhī 述之, also styled Chéngyī 成一, sobriquet Xuěpō 雪坡 (“Snow-Slope”). A native of Gāo’ān 髙安 in Ruìzhōu 瑞州 (modern Jiāngxī 江西). One of the most celebrated zhuàngyuán of the late-Lǐ-zōng court.
Examination and early career. In Bǎoyòu 1 (1253), at age 38, Yáo was selected as top candidate by his cífù 詞賦; his tíngduì wànyán cè 廷對萬言策 — the ten-thousand-word palace-audience policy essay — won him the zhuàngyuán 狀元 first rank of the entire examination cohort. He was thereupon appointed Proofreader of the Imperial Library (Jiàoshūláng 校書郎) with concurrent appointment as Crown Prince’s Companion (Tàizǐ shèrén 太子舍人) — the standard early-career posts for top-ranked jìnshì.
Court career. Yáo was conspicuous for his outspoken political memorials. He attacked the chancellor Dīng Dàquán 丁大全 in confidential memorials during Dīng’s tenure (c. 1257–1259), which led to his temporary removal from office; after Dīng’s fall in 1259 he was recalled. In Jǐngdìng 1 (gēngshēn 庚申, 1260) he composed a congratulatory qǐ to Jiǎ Sìdào 賈似道 on the latter’s purported relief of Èzhōu 鄂州 — a piece the Sìkù editors single out as the one ethical flaw (“flaw in the white jade”) in his otherwise upright official record, although the qǐ’s closing passages contain admonitory exhortation. He died in office in 1262 at age 46 (47 suì).
Poetic training. Yáo Miǎn received his poetic training from Lè Léifā 樂雷發, the late-Sòng Jiāngxī circle of poet-teachers. His verse, characterized by the Sìkù editors as “dropping-and-spacious” (làolào yǒu qì 落落有氣) and free of the late-Sòng yǔlù vulgarity, was held in respect by his contemporaries.
Sources. The Sòngshǐ contains no biography of Yáo Miǎn, and the Sòngshǐ yìwén zhì does not record his collection. The principal documentary sources are therefore (a) the prefaces by Wén Jíwēng 文及翁 (1264) and Fāng Féngchén 方逢辰 (Jiāofēng 蛟峰; 1263) prefixed to the Xuěpō jí; (b) the collection itself; and (c) the Yǒnglè dàdiǎn fragments collated by the Sìkù editors. CBDB person 27644 gives 1216–1262.
Works in the Kanripo corpus. KR4d0364 Xuěpō jí 雪坡集, 50 juàn, compiled posthumously by his nephew Yáo Lóngqǐ (姚龍起).