Yan Song (Ming Dynasty)

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This is a Chinese name; the family name is Yan.

Yan Song (Chinese: 嚴嵩; pinyin: Yán Sōng; 1481 - 1568), courtesy name: Weizhong (惟中), pseudonym: Jiexi (介溪), was a corrupt Ming Chinese prime minister who became a homeless pauper.

[edit] Biography

Born in Fenyi (分宜), Jiangsu province, Yan was skilled in poetry and whose works are in The Collection at Ling Mountain House (鈐山堂集 Lingshantang Ji).

Yan Song was the prime minister who had served under the emperor Jia Jing. He and his son Yan Shifan had dominated court politics with the tacit consent of the fatuous monarch who shirked his responsibilities as emperor and devoted much of his time to sensual pleasures and Taoist practices. Under Yan Song, the nation fell into an era of moral decadence and corruption, where righteous officers were sidelined and the Ming national strength fell rapidly. Yan Song's wealth is said to be so rich that it is said to be comparable to that of the emperor. He is also well known for his corruption and had been known to openly sell government positions for cash during the Jia Qing reign. However, his corruption and treachery had also incurred the indignation of righteous officers and created many political opponents. Yan Song was finally disgraced in his later years and died in poverty not long after that, while his son, the infamous Yan Shifan, was executed for collaborating with Japanese pirates who invaded Chinese coastal provinces at the time.

He was the subject of the Chinese opera called Beating Yan Song (打嚴嵩 Dǎ Yán Sōng).