[1] According to imperial reports, Yang was a charcoal burner with some education who later organized a convoy system used to protect merchandise that was being transported through the area from bandits.

[3][better source needed] In April 1848, while Feng Yunshan and Hong Xiuquan were in a neighboring province, Yang assumed a leadership role in the God-Worshipping Society.

[5] He began to claim that he could enter trances in which he would be possessed by the Holy Spirit (Fei Lian), allowing God the Father (Shangdi) to speak through him.

[6] It does not appear that Yang truly believed that this was occurring, but that he instead acted as such in service of his own ambitions, as while speaking as God Feng necessarily possessed greater authority than even Hong Xiuquan.

He was an early participant in the rebellion and rose quickly to prominence; in 1851, when Hong Xiuquan took the title of Heavenly King for himself, he made Yang, in spite of having no military knowledge or experience, commander-in-chief of the army.

Shrewd, ruthless, and ambitious, Yang ultimately proved himself to be a brilliant strategist and organizer, as well as the administrative mastermind of the Taiping Movement.

Hong, however, rejected this notion and believed that Confucianism ought to be eradicated, considering that the belief system is irredeemable after centuries of corruption by the Manchus, used to oppress the Han majority.

Shortly before seeking a title equivalent to Hong Xiuquan's, Yang dispatched Wei Changhui, Shi Dakai, and Qin Rigang to separate provinces.