[1] His birth name was Yang Chengzan (Chinese: 楊承瓚).

[2] Yang was born into a family of farming background in the village of Shitang (Chinese: 石塘村), in the town of Jiangyu (Chinese: 姜畬镇), Xiangtan in Hunan province.

[3] His grandfather, Yang Litang (Chinese: 楊禮堂), was a soldier of the Xiang Army.

[3] Yang studied under Wang Kaiyun (Chinese: 王闿運).

[3] In 1902, Yang went to Japan, studying in Hongwen Academy (Chinese: 弘文學院).