[2] Starting in childhood, he was taught by his grandfather to read Confucian classics such as the Analects, the Book of Poetry, and the Zuo zhuan.

[1][3] In 1926, he passed the examination to enter the Chinese department of Peking University, where he studied under prominent scholars such as Qian Xuantong, Chen Yuan, and the philologist Huang Kan.

He began writing Lunyu Yizhu (论语译注, "Translation and Annotation of the Analects"), which was published in 1958 by Zhonghua Book Company.

[2] Yang was transferred to Lanzhou University in remote Gansu province, where he continued to teach in the Chinese department.

In Lanzhou he wrote Mengzi Yizhu (孟子译注, "Translation and Annotation of the Mencius"), which was published by Zhonghua Book Company in 1960.