Yang Zhishui

Yang Zhishui, whose original name is Zhao Liya, was born in 1954 in Zhuji, Zhejiang. She is a researcher at the Institute of Literature of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and has long been engaged in the study of ancient material culture and nomenclature. A former editor of the magazine Dushu, she is the author of works such as A New Study of Names and Things in the Book of Songs, Ancient Chinese Gold and Silver Jewelry, and Chinese Gold and Silver Ware. She is known for a method that combines textual sources, physical objects, and images, and she enjoys a special government allowance from the State Council. Her works span theory, Eastern philosophy, history, culture, literary appreciation, and art. Representative titles include Once the West Wind Carried a Hint of Fragrance, The History of Pre-Qin Poetry and Prose, Twelve Topics in the Study of Names and Things, Naming and Understanding: Notes on Museum Visits, Volume Two, A Study of Li Xu's Four Seasons Pleasure Scroll, and Seeing Painting in Things. She is skilled at tracing ancient life and aesthetics through details of objects and images, writing with rigor and elegance, and building a bridge between scholarly research and general reading.