Ouyang Xiu
Mei Yaochen was born in Xuancheng in present-day Anhui Province. His style name was 'Sheng Yu' (). He passed the jinshi exam in 1051 and had a career in the civil service, but was unsuccessful. He was a prolific poet, with around 3000 works extant; he was popularized as a poet by the younger Ouyang Xiu.