In this study, we categorized the rhetoric figures employed by the Yuan Dynasty literature compiler and narrator Chen Yizeng for "yongshi" (subject matters) detailed in his books Wenshuo (Narration from Writing) and Wenquan (Guidelines to Writing). Wenshuo, which was written before Wenquan, divided rhetoric figures used for yongshi into nine categories, whereas Wenquan divided them into 13 categories. These rhetoric figures, inherited from the past and subsequently innovated, served a crucial role in the history of Chinese writing. In this study, we carefully investigated the rhetoric figures employed for yongshi from the two aforementioned books as well as the similarities and differences between these figures. The rhetoric figures adopted for yongshi in the Ming Dynasty books Wenshi (Formulas for Writing by Zeng Ding), Dushiwenpu (Writing Guidelines by the Du Family, by Du Jun), and Wenzhangyiguan (Article Consistency by Gao Qi) were derived from the works of Chen Yizeng. In addition, Wenlinliangcai (Good Materials for Writing, written by Japanese author Hayashi Kuhē), classified the rhetoric figures into 14 categories, the content of which also mostly came from the books written by Chen Yizeng. This study thus compiled the rhetoric figures used by the four authors and identified rhetoric figures that were introduced, deleted, and miswritten