Wang Fanzhi, or Brahmacarin Wang was a Chinese Buddhist poet

Poet

A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...

 born in Hebi, Henan

Hebi

Hebi is a prefecture-level city in northern Henan province, People's Republic of China. Situated in mountainous terrain at the edge of the Shanxi plateau, Hebi is about 25 miles south of Anyang, 40 miles northeast of Xinxiang and 65 miles north of Kaifeng....

 during the Tang Dynasty

Tang Dynasty

The Tang Dynasty was an imperial dynasty of China preceded by the Sui Dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period. It was founded by the Li family, who seized power during the decline and collapse of the Sui Empire...

. He is the putative author of two collections of early Tang vernacular poetry. The language can be dated to the 8th century. Very few of the poems were known until the Dunhuang manuscripts

Dunhuang manuscripts

The Dunhuang manuscripts is a cache of important religious and secular documents discovered in the Mogao Caves of Dunhuang, China during the early 20th century. Dating from the 5th to early 11th centuries, the manuscripts include works ranging from history and mathematics to folk songs and dance...

 were discovered in the early 20th century.

The first collection of moralistic verse, "the 92 poems collection", exists in 5 complete manuscripts.

The second collection, "the three-juan collection", has not been found in a complete copy, but has been reconstructed from seven manuscripts. These manuscripts contain poems of a higher artistic value. The content can be compared with the poems in the Hanshan collection. Wang's language is marked by the use of more colloquial Medieval Vernacular Sinitic than almost any other Tang poet.