| Occupation | ROfficial · Staff Official NOfficial · Registrar | Faction | Shu |
|---|---|---|---|
| Appears | RN | Biography in | |
| Born | Native place | Xiangyang Commandery Unverified | |
| Existence | Historical | Mentions | R7 |
Yang Yong was a man of Jing Province and a staff official (yuanshu) in Zhuge Liang's headquarters. Chen Shou's main text has no biography of him; his name appears once, in a letter of Zhuge Liang, among the explanations Chen Shou appended to Yang Xi's Eulogies of the Supporting Ministers of Ji Han, included in the Biographies of Deng Zhi, Zhang Yi, Zong Yu and Yang Xi in Records of Shu 15. Records, Shu 15 §33 · 50
When Zhuge Liang was in Hanzhong, he wrote to Zhang Yi (張裔), Chief Clerk of the Rear Headquarters, and the Army Adviser Jiang Wan that among the clerks they had lost Lai Hong and among the staff officials they had lost Yang Yong, and that this was a great loss to the court. He does not appear in Chen Shou's assessment. In the Romance he appears only in Chapter 103, in 1 of its 120 chapters, and his name is in no chapter title. At Wuzhang Plains, as Registrar, he remonstrates with Zhuge Liang, who personally examines the registers and documents, that government has its proper structure. Records, Shu 15 §50 · 85Romance, Ch. 103 §41–43
Yang Xi composed the Eulogies of the Supporting Ministers of Ji Han in the 4th year of Yanxi (241), and Chen Shou transcribed it into Records of Shu 15, appending explanations about the people who appear in the eulogies. Yang Yong's name appears in the explanation appended after the eulogy of Wang Yuantai (Wang Mou) and others. Records, Shu 15 §33 · 49–50
The First Sovereign, Liu Bei, having become King of Hanzhong, made Lai Gong of Lingling Minister of Ceremonies. Lai Gong's son Lai Hong became Clerk of the Western Bureau of the Chancellor and was with Zhuge Liang in Hanzhong, but he died young. Zhuge Liang grieved for him deeply and wrote to Zhang Yi (張裔), Chief Clerk of the Rear Headquarters, and the Army Adviser Jiang Wan that among the clerks they had lost Lai Hong and among the staff officials they had lost Yang Yong, and that this was a great loss to the court. Chen Shou then added that Yang Yong too was a man of Jing Province. Records, Shu 15 §49–50
Zhang Yi, who received this letter, served as Colonel of Archers Who Shoot at a Sound and concurrently as Chief Clerk of the Rear Headquarters when Zhuge Liang went out to garrison Hanzhong, and he died in the 8th year of Jianxing (230). Chen Shou's main text does not record Yang Yong's courtesy name, offices or year of death; all it leaves about him is his name in this letter and the single line saying he was a man of Jing Province. Records, Shu 11 §25–26Records, Shu 15 §50
In Chapter 103 of the Romance, Zhuge Liang, encamped at Wuzhang Plains, challenges the Wei army to battle, but it does not come out, so he sends Sima Yi a woman's headdress and white silk clothes along with a letter. Sima Yi accepts them with a laugh and asks the envoy only about Zhuge Liang's sleep and meals and whether his work is heavy or light. When the envoy says that the Chancellor rises early and goes to bed late, personally reviews every punishment of twenty strokes or more, and eats no more than a few sheng a day, Sima Yi says that he eats little and works much and cannot last long. Romance, Ch. 103 §38–40
When the envoy returns and reports this, Zhuge Liang sighs that Sima Yi knows him well. The Registrar Yang Yong remonstrates that there is no need for the Chancellor always to examine the registers and documents himself. Government has its proper structure, he says, and superiors and inferiors must not encroach on each other's work; if a household has its manservants till the fields and its maidservants handle the cooking, the master need only rest on a high pillow, eating and drinking, but if he does every task himself, his body will be worn out and his spirit exhausted, and in the end he will accomplish nothing. Romance, Ch. 103 §41–42
Yang Yong goes on to cite the old saying that those who sit and discuss the Way are called the Three Excellencies and those who rise and carry it out are called the gentlemen-officials, along with the stories of Bing Ji, who worried only about an ox panting, and of Chen Ping, who said that the amounts of money and grain had their own officials in charge, and he says that Sima Yi's words are truly the most apt. Zhuge Liang weeps and replies that it is not that he does not know this, but having received the weighty charge of the late emperor's entrusting of the young ruler, he only fears that others will not give their whole hearts as he does, and all present shed tears. Romance, Ch. 103 §42–43
This scene is the only place Yang Yong appears in the Romance. After this, Zhuge Liang feels that his spirits are uneasy. Romance, Ch. 103 §44
Remonstrance: In Chapter 103 of the Romance, Yang Yong remonstrates with Zhuge Liang, who personally examines the registers, by citing the proper structure of government. Chen Shou's main text has no record of Yang Yong remonstrating; his name appears only in Zhuge Liang's letter. Romance, Ch. 103 §41–43Records, Shu 15 §50
Office: In Chapter 103 of the Romance, Yang Yong appears as Registrar. Chen Shou's main text calls him only a staff official (yuanshu), in Zhuge Liang's letter. Romance, Ch. 103 §41Records, Shu 15 §50
Time and place: The Romance places this remonstrance at Wuzhang Plains, after Sima Yi has asked about Zhuge Liang's meals and work. In the Records, Zhuge Liang went out to Wuzhang Plains in the spring of the 12th year of Jianxing (234). Yang Yong's death is already mentioned in the letter Zhuge Liang sent from Hanzhong to Zhang Yi (張裔), Chief Clerk of the Rear Headquarters, and Zhang Yi died in the 8th year of Jianxing (230). Romance, Ch. 103 §40–41Records, Shu 5 §38Records, Shu 15 §50Records, Shu 11 §26
Sima Yi's words: In Chapter 103 of the Romance, Yang Yong remonstrates by calling Sima Yi's remark that Zhuge Liang eats little and works much the most apt of words. Sima Yi does not appear in Chen Shou's main-text record of Yang Yong. Romance, Ch. 103 §43Records, Shu 15 §50
Death: In the Romance Yang Yong does not appear after Chapter 103, and his death is not recorded. In the Records, Zhuge Liang says in his letter that they had lost Yang Yong, which shows that he had already died. Romance, Ch. 103 §41Records, Shu 15 §50
Written by 3KDEX (not yet reviewed) — The tags at the end of each paragraph link to the exact passage in the Records volume or Romance chapter it is based on.
The Records score (Chen Shou’s Records of the Three Kingdoms, main text) is the baseline. Each ability compares how the Romance redrew the same person, and the evidence from both sources explains the difference.
RNo direct record — estimated from his role as a staff official in the Chancellor's officeShu 15 §50
NAt Wuzhang Plains, citing the proper division of duties in government, remonstrated with Kongming not to handle petty matters himselfCh. 103 §41Ch. 103 §43
RNo direct record — estimated from his role as a staff official in the Chancellor's officeShu 15 §50
NRemonstrated with the Chancellor, who examined the registers himself, to spare himselfCh. 103 §41
RNo direct record — estimated from his role as a staff official in the Chancellor's officeShu 15 §50
NArgued by citing Bing Ji, Chen Ping and the old saying about the Three Excellencies and the gentlemen-officialsCh. 103 §42Ch. 103 §43
RNo direct record — estimated from his role as a staff official in the Chancellor's officeShu 15 §50
NNo direct record — estimated from his role as Registrar in the Chancellor's officeCh. 103 §41
RNo direct record — estimated from his role as a staff official in the Chancellor's officeShu 15 §50
NNo direct record — estimated from his role as Registrar in the Chancellor's officeCh. 103 §41
RNo direct record — estimated from his role as a staff official in the Chancellor's officeShu 15 §50
NCalled Sima Yi's words the most apt and pointed out the danger of overworkCh. 103 §43
RZhuge Liang said that losing the staff official Yang Yong was a great loss to the courtShu 15 §50
NArgued that government has its proper structure and that superiors and inferiors must not encroach on each other's workCh. 103 §41Ch. 103 §42
RNo direct record — estimated from his role as a staff official in the Chancellor's officeShu 15 §50
NNo direct record — estimated from his role as Registrar in the Chancellor's officeCh. 103 §41
RNo direct record — estimated from his role as a staff official in the Chancellor's officeShu 15 §50
NNo direct record — estimated from his role as Registrar in the Chancellor's officeCh. 103 §41
RNo direct record — estimated from his role as a staff official in the Chancellor's officeShu 15 §50
NNo direct record — estimated from his role as Registrar in the Chancellor's officeCh. 103 §41
Records Romance Unverified No direct record; scored from their actions (evidence grade C)
3KDEX scoring — the Records use the main text of Chen Shou’s Records of the Three Kingdoms; the Romance uses the 120-chapter Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Click a source tag to open that passage in the reader.
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