Yang Wan

Yang Wan (; died August 27, 777 ), courtesy name Gongquan (公權), was a Chinese historian, poet, and politician during the Tang dynasty, serving briefly as chancellor during the reign of Emperor Daizong. He was known for his frugality, and it was said that his becoming chancellor caused a number of other officials to change their wasteful ways.

Background It is not known when Yang Wan was born, but it is known that his family was from Hua Prefecture (華州, in modern Weinan, Shaanxi). His family traced its ancestry to the Han dynasty official Yang Zhen (楊震) and a line that included a number of officials of Northern Wei. His granduncle Yang Zaisi served as a chancellor during the reign of Wu Zetian, and his grandfather Yang Wenyu (楊溫玉) was a prominent official at the time, receiving the title of Duke of Hucheng. His father Yang Kan (楊侃) served as a county magistrate during the Kaiyuan era (713–741) of Wu Zetian's grandson Emperor Xuanzong, and both Yang Wenyu and Yang Kan were known for their knowledge of Confucianism.

During Emperor Xuanzong's reign Eventually, at the urging of his relatives and friends, Yang Wan stood for the imperial examinations and passed them, and he was made a scribe to Emperor Xuanzong's crown prince. In 754, on one occasion when Emperor Xuanzong ascended Qinzheng Tower (勤政樓), he ordered that the examinees who had passed the examinations be further offered four special examinations on that day – deep knowledge of the Confucian classics, understanding of Taoist writings, ability to write beautifully, and capability in military strategies – giving them one day to complete the examination. Yang was one of the three selected for writing beautiful poems, and he was promoted to be You Shiyi (右拾遺), a low-level official at the legislative bureau of government (中書省, Zhongshu Sheng). Yang's proposal drew much debate, although it was ultimately rejected on the account that it was overly radical of a change to the examination system. However, in 764, when he proposed that two other special examinations – for those known for their devotion to family and for children under 10 who already were knowledgeable in one of the classics – be abolished, as they did not test true abilities either, Emperor Daizong agreed and abolished them. He was later made the deputy minister of civil service affairs (吏部侍郎, Libu Shilang), and was known for his fairness in selecting officials. Eventually, Emperor Daizong made Yang, known for his frugality, the minister of worship (太常卿, Taichang Qing), hoping that he could help to change the wasteful customs among the officials at the time. The officials in charge of posthumous names proposed that he be given the posthumous name Wenjian (文簡, meaning "civil and undiscriminating"), which Emperor Daizong agreed. When an official jealous of Yang, Su Duan (蘇端), was induced by Chang (who was also jealous of Yang) to argue that that was an overly praiseful posthumous name, Emperor Daizong was enraged and exiled Su. Those who praised Yang for his frugality and his understanding of Buddhist and Taoist philosophical principles compared him to the Han dynasty officials Yan Zhen and Bing Ji (丙吉) and the Jin dynasty (266–420) officials Shan Tao and Xie An.

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