Yang Wenguang

Yang Wenguang
Family name: Yáng (楊) Given name: Wénguǎng (文廣) courtesy name: Zhòngróng (仲容)
from the 1815 novel Complete Legends of Later Song Crown Prince Ciyun's Flee from Disaster and Travels in the Country (後宋慈雲太子逃難走國全傳)
Died	1074 Dingzhou, Hebei
Parent(s)	Yang Yanzhao, father
Relatives	Yang Chuanyong (楊傳永), brother Yang Dezheng (楊德政), brother

Yang Wenguang
Traditional Chinese	楊文廣
Simplified Chinese	杨文广
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Yáng Wénguǎng Wade–Giles Yang2 Wen2-kuang3 Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Yeung4 Man4-gwong2 Jyutping Joeng4 Man4-gwong2

Yang Wenguang (楊文廣) (died 1074) was a general in ancient China's Northern Song Dynasty.

In history, Yang Wenguang was the son of Yang Yanzhao, however, he is the grandson of Yang Yanzhao in the popular fictionalized stories of Yang clan warriors.

Biography

In 1044, Fan Zhongyan was dispatched to the Shaanxi area and met with Yang Wenguang. He was impressed and took Yang as his subordinate. In 1052, Yang Wenguang followed Di Qing in the expedition to Guangxi and helped defeat Nong Zhigao's rebellion. Afterwards he was promoted by Emperor Yingzong. Later, he built several forts in Shaanxi and successfully resisted several Western Xia invasion attempts. During Emperor Shenzong's reign, he was stationed in Dingzhou. He offered the emperor his strategy on recovering lost territories from the Khitans shortly before he died at the frontier.

In fiction

In fiction, Yang Wenguang is the son of Yang Zongbao and Mu Guiying.

References

• (in Chinese) Toqto'a et al., History of Song, vol. 272 (Wenguang, grandson of Yang Ye)
• (in Chinese) Mei Yi (梅毅), The Unknown Generals of the Yang Family (鮮為人知的楊家将), Nanchang: Jiangxi People's Press, 2011. ISBN 9787210048084