Deng Yang 鄧颺

Chen Shou's main text does not record Deng Yang's courtesy name or family. The Biography of Cao Shuang records that He Yan, Deng Yang and Li Sheng of Nanyang, Ding Mi of Pei State and Bi Gui of Dongping all enjoyed a reputation and sought advancement by following the fashions of the time, but that Emperor Ming, regarding them as all show and no substance, suppressed and dismissed them all. Records, Wei 9 §73

In the time of Emperor Ming, Dong Zhao memorialised that young men these days did not take learning as their foundation but made socialising their business and formed cliques, and Emperor Ming issued a stern edict driving out and dismissing Zhuge Dan, Deng Yang and others. The Biography of Lu Yu also records that Zhuge Dan, Deng Yang and others chased after reputation and were mocked as the 'Four Windows and Eight Penetrations', and that Emperor Ming hated this. Records, Wei 14 §78–81Records, Wei 22 §100

When Cao Shuang took control of the government he employed these men again and made them his confidants. At first Cao Shuang served Sima Yi like a father and did not act on his own, but He Yan and the others persuaded Cao Shuang that power was weighty and must not be entrusted to others. And so He Yan, Deng Yang and Ding Mi became Masters of Writing, and affairs seldom passed through Sima Yi. He Yan and the others divided among themselves several hundred qing of mulberry fields belonging to the agricultural colonies of Luoyang and Yewang, and embezzled government property. Records, Wei 9 §73 · 76

Deng Yang and the others urged Cao Shuang to attack Shu in order to establish his prestige and fame throughout the realm, and Sima Yi tried to dissuade him but could not stop it. In the 5th year of Zhengshi (244) Cao Shuang raised 60,000 to 70,000 troops and entered the Luo Valley, but supplies could not keep up, many oxen and horses died, and the enemy held the mountains, so he could not advance. When the Army Adviser Yang Wei said they must hurry back, Deng Yang argued with him in front of Cao Shuang, and Yang Wei said, 'Deng Yang and Li Sheng are about to ruin the affairs of the state; they should be beheaded.' Cao Shuang was displeased but turned his army back. Records, Wei 9 §74–75

The Master of Writing Deng Yang, as Cao Shuang's aide, tried a case against Gui Tai of Nanyang, who had offended him with his words, and meant to impose a heavy punishment. When Sima Qi rebuked him, saying that a minister at the centre of government was wrongly condemning an innocent man out of private anger, Deng Yang withdrew in shame and anger. Jiang Ji memorialised that Ding Mi, Deng Yang and others were lightly altering the laws and institutions, and Wang Su said that He Yan, Deng Yang and the others whom Cao Shuang employed were of the same kind as Hong Gong and Shi Xian of the Han. Yuan Liang also detested He Yan, Deng Yang and the others and wrote an essay criticising them. Records, Wei 12 §96–97Records, Wei 14 §138Records, Wei 13 §91Records, Wei 11 §13

On the 28th day of the 12th month of the 9th year of Zhengshi (248), when He Yan, Master of Writing for Personnel, invited Guan Lu, Deng Yang was also present. When He Yan asked whether he would reach the rank of the Three Excellencies and about a dream of bluebottle flies gathering on his nose, Guan Lu answered that those in high position fall and the frivolous and arrogant perish, and told him to be humble. When Deng Yang said, 'This is the usual talk of an old scholar,' Guan Lu replied that the old scholar sees one who will not live, and the one who gives the usual talk sees one who will no longer talk. Guan Lu told his maternal uncle that he had only been talking with dead men, and a little more than ten days later He Yan and Deng Yang were both put to death. Records, Wei 29 §74–77

In the 1st month of the 1st year of Jiaping (249), when the Son of Heaven went out to pay homage at the Gaoping Mausoleum, Sima Yi had Cao Shuang and his brothers dismissed from office. Then, when the eunuch of the Yellow Gate Zhang Dang testified that Cao Shuang, He Yan and others had been secretly plotting rebellion and meant to act in the 3rd month, the court's deliberation declared that Cao Shuang, together with He Yan, Deng Yang, Zhang Dang and others, had coveted the sacred vessel of the throne, which was high treason. Deng Yang was executed together with Cao Shuang, He Yan, Ding Mi, Bi Gui, Li Sheng, Huan Fan, Zhang Dang and others, and his three sets of kin were exterminated. Records, Wei 4 §28Records, Wei 9 §87–88

Later Zhuge Dan, who had been very close to Xiahou Xuan, Deng Yang and others, grew fearful and could not feel at ease when Wang Ling and Guanqiu Jian were exterminated one after another. Chen Shou wrote no separate assessment of Deng Yang. Records, Wei 28 §34Records, Wei 9 §132