Life and career

Like a number of the other well-known writers of the Han dynasty, Yang was from Shu (modern Sichuan province), specifically the area of Pi 郫 (modern Pi County, Sichuan). Yang claimed that his family had moved south from the state of Jin during its civil infighting in the 6th century BCE. As a youth Yang was an admirer and imitator of his elder Shu compatriot Sima Xiangru and the "grand fu" style of the early Han period. His ability and success in fu composition earned him a summons to the imperial capital at Chang'an to serve as an "Expectant Official", responsible for composing poems and fu for the emperor.

Yang's position required him to praise the virtue and glory of Emperor Cheng of Han and the grandeur of imperial outings, but he was disturbed by the wasteful extravagance of the imperial court. Yang attempted to return the fu genre to a focus of "suasive admonition" (fèng 諷), which he believed was the original purpose of the earliest fu-type writings of Qu Yuan, but his couched admonitions against extravagance went unnoticed and unheeded by Emperor Cheng.

Yang's most famous work, Exemplary Sayings (Fa yan 法言) is a philosophical work modeled on the Analects of Confucius (Lunyu), in which Yang criticizes fu writers for focusing on ornate, esoteric language while ignoring more important issues of morality. Yang's other works include Great Mystery (Tai xuan 太玄), a divination text based on the Classic of Changes (Yijing), "Justification Against Ridicule" (Jie chao 解嘲), one of the best known of the "fu of frustration" category of fu, and Fangyan, a collection of regional dialectal terms from the various parts of China in his era.

Together with Sima Xiangru, Yang was one of the most famous and illustrious figures of the entire Han dynasty. The Book of Han devotes a full two-part chapter to both Yang and Sima, an honor surpassing that of even the most famous generals and ministers.

Philosophy

He did not believe human nature was inherently good as Mencius (fl. 4th century BCE) had written, nor inherently bad as Xunzi (c. 300–230 BCE) had written, but came into existence as a mixture of both. He was a close associate of the official and philosopher Huan Tan (d. 28 CE), an Old Texts realist who may have heavily influenced the works of Wang Chong (27–c. 100 CE). Yang is also known for his protest against the verbosity of the fu. He was hailed by Huan Tan as the "Confucius from the western parts".

生平

揚雄為人口吃，相貌平平，身高偏矮，不能劇談，專心于潛心思考，早年傾慕司馬相如，模仿司馬相如的《子虛》、《上林》等賦，常作辭賦，名聲遠播，如《蜀都賦》，此賦開啟了京都一派題材，班固《兩都賦》、張衡《二京賦》以及晉代左思《三都賦》皆受其影響。

大司馬車騎將軍王音召為門下史。後經蜀人楊莊推薦，漢成帝命他隨侍左右。前11年正月與成帝前往甘泉宮，作《甘泉賦》諷刺成帝鋪張。十二月又作《羽獵賦》仍然以勸諫為主題。被封黃門侍郎，與王莽、劉歆等為同僚。前10年揚雄作《長楊賦》，繼續對成帝鋪張奢侈提出批評。

揚雄後來認為辭賦為「雕蟲篆刻」，「壯夫不為」，轉而研究哲學。仿《論語》作《法言》，模仿《易經》作《太玄》。提出以「玄」作為宇宙萬物根源之學說。有人笑他，於是他寫了一篇《解嘲》。為了寬慰自己，又寫了一篇《逐貧賦》。王莽當政，拉攏揚雄，任他為中散大夫。他寫過《劇秦美新》美化王莽，但此文是主動投靠還是避禍之作，還有爭論。

後在天祿閣校書，寫作，進行語言學研究。曾著《方言》，敘述西漢時代各地方言，為研究古代語言的重要資料。但是因弟子劉棻牽連，有人前來逮捕揚雄，揚雄恐懼而跳樓，未死，後得免，京師諺曰：「惟寂寞，自投閣。」後召為大夫，默默無聞而終。

思想

他提出以「玄」作為宇宙萬物根源的學說，強調如實的認識自然現象，並認為「有生者必有死，有始者必有終」，駁斥了方士的學說。

在人性論上，揚雄於《法言·修身》說：「人之性也，善惡混，修其善，則為善人；修其惡，則為惡人。」他以氣稟言人的實然之性，採告子、荀子「化性起偽」的思路，謂善惡相混的人性有待後天外鑠性的教化。他標準「君子」為教育的目標，教學的內容是禮義，「視、聽、言、貌、思」的導正是陶塑品德的必要重點。其中「思」是心的發用所在，揚雄稱心的難測之用為「神」，為教化的關鍵所在。

評價

• 張衡稱他「妙極道術」。

• 顏之推：「然而自古文人，多陷輕薄：。。。；揚雄德敗《美新》；。。。」（《顏氏家訓》）

• 朱熹認為他「拙底工夫」。

文學形象

揚雄的形象常作為潛心于學術，不慕名利，不諳世故的學者的典型出現在後世的文學作品中。

• 左思《詠史·濟濟京城內》（八首其四）:「寂寂揚子宅，門無卿相輿。寥寥空宇中，所講在玄虛。言論准仲尼，辭賦擬相如。悠悠百世後，英名擅八區。」

• 盧照鄰《長安古意》:「寂寂寥寥揚子居，年年歲歲一床書。獨有南山桂花發，飛來飛去襲人裾。」

• 李白《古風·咸陽二三月》（五十九首其八）:「子云不曉事，晚獻《長楊》辭。賦達身已老，草《玄》鬢若絲。投閣良可嘆，但為此輩嗤。」

• 李白《古風·一百四十年》（五十九首其四十六）:「獨有揚執戟，閉關草《太玄》。」

• 李白《俠客行》：「誰能書閣下，白首《太玄》經？」

• 李賀《綠章封事》：「金家香衖千輪鳴，揚雄秋室無俗聲。」

• 戴叔倫《行路難》：「揚雄閉門空讀書，門前碧草春離離。」

主要著作

• 《法言》

• 《太玄》

• 《方言》

遺址

• 子雲亭，在今中國四川省綿陽市西山。

• 揚雄墓，又稱子云墳，在今中國四川省成都市郫都區友愛鎮子云村。