Yang Ningshi (楊凝式) (873 AD – 957 AD) was a Chinese calligrapher who lived and worked in the 9th and 10th centuries. He has been described as the most famous calligrapher of the chaotic Five Dynasties period (906 – 960 AD).
Contents
Life
His Chinese name was 楊凝式.
He belonged to the Yang clan of Hongnong. His father Yang She was a well known government official who served as a chancellor during the reigns of Tang's final emperor Emperor Ai.
He was born in 873 AD in Huayin, China during the late Tang dynasty (618 – 907).
He died in 957 AD in China.
Career
Bureaucratic career
He qualified in the imperial examination (jinshi) in 905 AD, when he was around 32 or 33 years old.
He then went on to serve in his country's government as a financial inspector, secretary, and censor.
Calligraphy career
His talent as a skilled calligrapher of the Chinese language was noticed by powerful politicians, including Zhang Quanyi (852 AD – 926 AD) and the then prime minister Zhao Guangyin.
Zhao Guangyin appointed him to the position of Upright Scholar.