At the age of ten, after the death of his father, Yang Jisheng spent the winter managing the finances of a wealthy household, replacing his brother Jichang in that job.

[6] He was successful in passing both the metropolitan and palace examinations with high marks in 1547 along with such notables as the future statesman Zhang Juzheng and the renowned writer Wang Shizhen (zh:王世贞), the latter of whom became a lifelong friend.

After factional struggle that led to the ouster and execution of war hawks Zeng Xian and Xia Yan, official policy focused on diplomatically engaging with the Mongol nomads by opening horse markets which would hopefully lead to a long-term trade relationship.

[8] Upon achieving the jinshi degree, Yang Jisheng was posted to the Ministry of Personnel in Nanjing, where he studied with the elderly statesman and music theorist Han Banqi.

[2] Shortly after his arrival, he submitted a memorial to the throne highlighting ten reasons why the opening of horse markets was bad for the state, and five fallacies in the common arguments supporting rapprochement with Altan Khan.

Consequently, Yang Jisheng was arrested by the Embroidered Uniform Guard and beaten before being demoted and sent to Didao (狄道, now Lintao, Gansu province) to serve as a low-ranking judicial official.

His wife, Madame Zhang, approached him to ask about his thoughts; Yang responded by declaring his intention to somehow repay the state for all of the good things which it had bestowed upon him.

Versions of this scene by different writers often portray Madame Zhang as expressing more passive sentiments by simply urging her husband to retire, as Yan Song's position was seemingly unassailable.

Regardless, this conversation galvanized Yang Jisheng into action, as he resolved to submit a second memorial to the throne, this time specifically impeaching the behavior of Yan Song.

[12] Although he listed specific examples of crimes and abuses committed by Yan Song which he wished to expose, Yang Jisheng made the unfortunate mistake of advising the emperor to consult with his two sons, the imperial princes, in order to independently confirm the truth.

According to Yang's old friend Wang Shizhen, there were so many copies of the famous memorial condemning Yan Song being circulated that it caused the cost of paper to rise.

[5] These recommendations were probably heeded; the literary tradition of Zhang Zhen killing herself in order to join her husband is not uncommon in fictional accounts but is entirely unsupported by historical documents.

Following his official posthumous rehabilitation, Yang Jisheng was the subject of laudatory biographies by former allies Wang Shizhen and Xu Jie, who generally praised his conduct, and was memorialized in an elegy by his wife, who addressed him as a "hero of eternity.

The new play, published in 1657 was officially titled Biaozhong ji (表忠記, "Record of Manifesting Loyalty") but was better known as Ranshe dan (蚺蛇膽, "The Python's Gall") after the climactic scene in which Yang Jisheng refuses the offered medicine.

[13] Popular veneration and remembrance of Yang Jisheng took place at multiple shrines and temples across the country, including in his former Beijing home and in his natal village of Beihezhao.

In Beijing, the Songyun'an (松筠庵, "Bamboo and Pine Cloister"), where Yang lived, briefly passed into obscurity but received a boost in popularity after a 1786 survey of the city revealed its historical significance.

Its quality, and the fact that it was possibly owned at some point by the artist Zheng Xie, led the Rongbaozhai art dealers to estimate its value as between 600,000 and 1,000,000 yuan.