Yan was born on 25 December 1942 in Wujin District, Changzhou, Jiangsu, during the Chinese Civil War. In 1959, he entered the University of Science and Technology of China, and then became the director of the Institute of Political Research of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, where he published several essays and papers on political reform.
Yan was born on December 25, 1942, in Wujin District, Changzhou, Jiangsu Province, during the Chinese Civil War. He then attended the University of Science and Technology of China in 1959 and later took charge of the Institute of Political Research at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, where he authored several essays and papers on political reform.