The Chinese family and its networks are central to late imperial Chinese history and biography. Key to this are the five cardinal relationships (ruler-subject/ruler-minister, father-son, husband-wife, elder brother-younger brother, friend-friend) which are important in understanding how an individual was part and parcel of a group. Using these relationships and their variations, the author examines the Yang family of Xindu, Sichuan, a nationally prominent family from the 1470s to 1530s: Yang Tinghe (1459–1529) who served as Senior Grand Secretary under the Zhengde Emperor (r. 1505–1521) and the Jiajing Emperor (1522–1567), his eldest son Yang Shen (1488–1559) who was exiled for his role in the Great Rites Controversy, and Shen’s wife, Huang E (1488–1559), an important poet in her own right. Through this examination, a paradigm is offered for reassessing biography as a mode of inquiry into late imperial Chinese history.