A native of Chixi, Guangdong, Yang studied art in Japan in his early years. After returning to China, he served as committee member of the Society for the Promotion of Chinese Culture. In 1970 he founded the Chunfeng Painting Society to teach students. Yang Shanshen excels in painting animals, flowers, figures and has devoted himself to painting landscapes in his later years. He is also a noted calligrapher and a representative painter of the Lingnan School.