This paper examines the biography of Yang Shen (1488–1559) and how it changed
through the writings of five key intellectuals of the late imperial period and the
official history of the Ming dynasty. The main argument is that biographers, even
when working with similar materials, molded their subject into a person close to
their own time and interests, thus transforming the early life story into a much
more malleable form. The paper also examines the tropes and means of reading
these scholars writings in the analysis of their work.