Taiwanese opera
Yang was born into a family with a strong theatrical background in Yuanshan, Yilan County, the original hometown of Taiwanese opera. Her grandfather was organiser of an amateur "peikuan orchestra group". And she was thoroughly imbued with what she had heard and seen from childhood, since her mother, Hsiao Chang-sou (stage name), was herself a famous male role-player with a Taiwanese opera group in Yilan County. During that time, it was common for actors and actresses in Taiwan Opera troupes to bring their children with them on tour. As the troupes moved from place to place, these children often played behind the stage, or watched their parents acting. As Yang became her mother's loyal fan, she vowed at the early age of four to devote her own life to Taiwanese opera.