Zheng Yang 正楊

Zheng Yang 正楊 "Corrections of Yang [Shen]" is a "brush-notes"-style book (biji 筆記) written during the Ming period 明 (1368-1644) by Chen Yaowei 陳耀文 (fl. 1569), courtesy name Huibo 晦伯, from Yueshan 確山, Henan. He obtained the jinshi degree during the Jiajing reign-period 嘉靖 (1522-1566) and held the office of surveillance vice commissioner (anchasi fushi 按察司副使). Apart from the Yang Zheng, Chen also wrote the book Jidian jiyi 紀典稽疑 and Xuelin jiuzheng 學林就正 and compiled the encyclopaedia Tianzhongji 天中記.

The Zheng Yang of 4 juan length is a collection of notes on the writings of Yang Shen 楊慎 (1488-1559), mainly his Danqianlu 丹鉛錄, with many commentaries and corrections, spread over 150 entries. The book was finished in 1569 and has a preface by Li Gun 李蓘 (1531-1608). The main reason for the many errors in Yang's books was that he was exiled to Yongchang 永昌, Yunnan, where no library was available which Yang could consult. Therefore, many of his notes were based on memory and not on reliable sources. However, Chen's criticism is not fair in all cases and must thus be consulted with some caution. Zhu Guozhen 朱國禎 (d. 1632) in his Yongchuang xiaopin 湧幢小品 mentions a book called Zheng Zheng Yang 正正楊 which apparently aimed at correcting Chen's Zheng Yang.

The text is found in the series Siku quanshu 四庫全書.