Wang Wei
Encyclopedia
| Names Chinese name Personal names in Chinese culture follow a number of conventions different from those of personal names in Western cultures. Most noticeably, a Chinese name is written with the family name first and the given name next, therefore "John-Paul Smith" as a Chinese name would be "Smith John-Paul"... |
|
| Chinese Chinese language The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages... : |
|
| Pinyin Pinyin Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into... : |
Wáng Wéi |
| Wade-Giles Wade-Giles Wade–Giles , sometimes abbreviated Wade, is a romanization system for the Mandarin Chinese language. It developed from a system produced by Thomas Wade during the mid-19th century , and was given completed form with Herbert Giles' Chinese–English dictionary of 1892.Wade–Giles was the most... : |
Wang Wei |
| Middle Chinese Middle Chinese Middle Chinese , also called Ancient Chinese by the linguist Bernhard Karlgren, refers to the Chinese language spoken during Southern and Northern Dynasties and the Sui, Tang, and Song dynasties... (reconstructed): |
Iυαng Ui |
| Courtesy name Chinese style name A Chinese style name, sometimes also known as a courtesy name , is a given name to be used later in life. After 20 years of age, the zì is assigned in place of one's given name as a symbol of adulthood and respect... (字, zì): |
Mojie |
| Traditional Chinese: | 摩詰 |
| Simplified Chinese: | 摩诘 |
| Pinyin Chinese Pinyin Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into... : |
Mójié |
| Nickname Nickname A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name.... (外號/外号/wàihào): |
"Poet Buddha" |
| Traditional Chinese: | 詩佛 |
| Simplified Chinese: | 诗佛 |
| Pinyin Chinese Pinyin Pinyin is the official system to transcribe Chinese characters into the Roman alphabet in China, Malaysia, Singapore and Taiwan. It is also often used to teach Mandarin Chinese and spell Chinese names in foreign publications and used as an input method to enter Chinese characters into... : |
Shī Fó |
Wang Wei , was a 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...
Chinese
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
poet
Chinese poetry
Chinese poetry is poetry written, spoken, or chanted in the Chinese language, which includes various versions of Chinese language, including Classical Chinese, Standard Chinese, Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese, Yue Chinese, as well as many other historical and vernacular varieties of the Chinese language...
, musician
Music of China
Chinese Music has been made since the dawn of Chinese civilization with documents and artifacts providing evidence of a well-developed musical culture as early as the Zhou Dynasty...
, painter
Chinese painting
Chinese painting is one of the oldest continuous artistic traditions in the world. The earliest paintings were not representational but ornamental; they consisted of patterns or designs rather than pictures. Early pottery was painted with spirals, zigzags, dots, or animals...
, and statesman. He was one of the most famous men of arts and letters of his time. Many of his poems are preserved, and twenty-nine were included in the highly influential 18th century anthology Three Hundred Tang Poems
Three Hundred Tang Poems
The Three Hundred Tang Poems is an anthology of poems from the Chinese Tang Dynasty first compiled around 1763 by Sun Zhu , the Qing scholar also known as Hengtang Tuishi . Various later editions also exist...
.
Name Variants
His family name was Wang, his given name Wei. The linguistic reconstruction of Wang Wei's name in Middle ChineseMiddle Chinese
Middle Chinese , also called Ancient Chinese by the linguist Bernhard Karlgren, refers to the Chinese language spoken during Southern and Northern Dynasties and the Sui, Tang, and Song dynasties...
, according to Hugh M. Stimson, in terms of historical phonetics is "Iυαng Ui". Wang chose the style name Mojie, and would sign his works Wang Weimojie because Wei-mo-jie was a reference to Vimalakirti, the central figure of the Buddhist sutra
Sutra
Sūtra is an aphorism or a collection of such aphorisms in the form of a manual. Literally it means a thread or line that holds things together and is derived from the verbal root siv-, meaning to sew , as does the medical term...
by that name. In this holy book of Buddhism, layman
Upasaka
Upāsaka or Upāsikā are from the Sanskrit and Pāli words for "attendant". This is the title of followers of Buddhism who are not monks, nuns, or novice monastics in a Buddhist order, and who undertake certain vows...
partly in the form of a debate with Mañjuśrī (the Bodhisattva of Wisdom), Vimalakīrti expounds the doctrine of Śūnyatā, or emptiness, to an assembly which includes arhats and bodhisattva
Bodhisattva
In Buddhism, a bodhisattva is either an enlightened existence or an enlightenment-being or, given the variant Sanskrit spelling satva rather than sattva, "heroic-minded one for enlightenment ." The Pali term has sometimes been translated as "wisdom-being," although in modern publications, and...
s, and culminating with the wordless teaching of silence.
Life
Wang Wei is especially known as a poet and painter of nature. Of his poems some four-hundred survive, first collected in a corpus which Wang JinWang Jin
Wang Jin , courtesy name Xiaqing , was an official of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty who served as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Daizong...
, his next-youngest brother, originally edited, by imperial command. Of his paintings, no authenticated specimens survive, although there is evidence of his work through influences on later paintings and descriptive accounts of his paintings. His musical talents were also regarded very highly, however of this only reports survive. He was also known for his talent as a calligrapher. Wang Wei had a successful career as an official as well as achieving eminence as a poet and a painter; eventually, he became a devout Zen
Zen
Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...
Buddhist
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
and a vegetarian. Wang Wei spent ten years studying with Chán
Chan
-People:* Chan Marshall, American musician better known as Cat Power* Chan , Chinese surname; Mandarin transcription of the same name is Chen ** Agnes Chan , Hong Kong singer, also famous in Japan...
master Daoguang.
Early years
Han Chinese
Han Chinese are an ethnic group native to China and are the largest single ethnic group in the world.Han Chinese constitute about 92% of the population of the People's Republic of China , 98% of the population of the Republic of China , 78% of the population of Singapore, and about 20% of the...
ethnicity, originally from Qixian
Qi County, Shanxi
Qi County, Shanxi is a county of Shanxi, China. It is under the administration of Jinzhong city.-References:*...
(present-day Qi County in Shanxi
Shanxi
' is a province in Northern China. Its one-character abbreviation is "晋" , after the state of Jin that existed here during the Spring and Autumn Period....
province), Wang Wei's father moved east of the Yellow River
Yellow River
The Yellow River or Huang He, formerly known as the Hwang Ho, is the second-longest river in China and the sixth-longest in the world at the estimated length of . Originating in the Bayan Har Mountains in Qinghai Province in western China, it flows through nine provinces of China and empties into...
to Puzhou, part of the historic Hedong Commandery
Hedong Commandery
Hedong Commandery was a historical region in ancient China.During the Qin and Han Dynasties, the Hedong Commandery was located in the area to the east of the Yellow River in Shanxi province . In Chapter one of Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Guan Yu states that he is from Xieliang County in the...
(today's Yongji, Shanxi). Known for his youthful precocity, Wang Wei, the eldest of five brothers, set off for the imperial capital at the age of nineteen, in order to study and take the jinshi
Imperial examination
The Imperial examination was an examination system in Imperial China designed to select the best administrative officials for the state's bureaucracy. This system had a huge influence on both society and culture in Imperial China and was directly responsible for the creation of a class of...
civil service entrance examination. In the period while residing in Chang'an, before taking the test, Wang's proficiency at poetry and his musical music ability upon the pipa
Pipa
The pipa is a four-stringed Chinese musical instrument, belonging to the plucked category of instruments . Sometimes called the Chinese lute, the instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body with a varying number of frets ranging from 12–26...
helped him to achieve a certain level of popularity at the royal court. He eventually passed the jinshi examination, in 721, with the first class award (Zhuangyuan). This helped to lead to the beginnings of a potentially successful civil service career. Wang Wei's career as an official had its ups and downs. His first appointment was as a court musician, or "Deputy Master of Music"; however, he was then demoted to a position of being in charge of a granary in the former province of Jizhou
Jizhou
Jìzhōu is a city in Hengshui, Hebei province, China. It shares its name with a province of old, Jizhou , which covered parts of Hebei, Henan, and Shandong Provinces.-Administrative Divisions:Towns:...
(now the name of a different town Jizhou, in Hebei
Hebei
' is a province of the People's Republic of China in the North China region. Its one-character abbreviation is "" , named after Ji Province, a Han Dynasty province that included what is now southern Hebei...
). The reason for this demotion, according to tradition, was Wang's breach of ettiquette by performing a lion dance
Lion dance
Lion dance is a form of traditional dance in Chinese culture, in which performers mimic a lion's movements in a lion costume. The lion dance is often mistakenly referred to as dragon dance. An easy way to tell the difference is that a lion is operated by two people, while a dragon needs many people...
. In any case, this was only a minor setback to his career, and it had a compensation in that it did allow him to travel. Then, a promotional sequence following this demotion was apparently initiated and sustained through a relationship with the prominent governmental minister, poet, and literary scholar Zhang Jiuling
Zhang Jiuling
Zhang Jiuling , courtesy name Zishou , nickname Bowu , formally Count Wenxian of Shixing , was a prominent minister, noted poet and scholar of the Tang Dynasty, serving as chancellor during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong.- Background :Zhang Jiuling was born in 673, during the reign of Emperor Gaozong...
, at least until Zhang's 737 demotion to a post in Jingzhou
Jingzhou
Jingzhou is a prefecture-level city in Hubei Province, People's Republic of China. The city is located on the banks of the Yangtze River.Its population is 5,691,707 at the 2010 census whom 1,154,086 in the built up area made of 3 urban districts.-Geography:Jingzhou occupies an area of...
. By 728, Wang Wei was back in Chang'an, where he entertained the poet Meng Haoran
Meng Haoran
Meng Haoran was a Chinese poet during the Tang Dynasty. Unsuccessful in his official career, he mainly lived in and wrote about his birthplace....
, who was to become a close friend and poetic colleague. At this point, Wang seems to have achieved the rank of Assistant Censor, and then a subsequent governmental promotion, but then later being demoted back to Assistant Censor, with the loss in imperial favor of Zhang Jiuling and the rising political ascendency of Li Linfu
Li Linfu
Li Linfu , nickname Genu , formally the Duke of Jin , was an official of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty, serving as a chancellor for 18 years , during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong—one of the longest terms of service for a chancellor in Tang history, and the longest during Xuanzong's reign.Li...
. After his wife's death in 731, he never remarried. It was in his role as a government official that Wang Wei was dispatched to Liangzhou, which was then the northwestern frontier of the Chinese empire, and the scene of constant military conflicts. By invitation of the local commander, Wang served in this location until returning to Chang'an in 738 or early 739.
Middle Years
After his return to Chang'an from Liangzhou, Wang Wei took the opportunity of the lack of official posting to explore the countyside to the south of the capital, in the LantianLantian County
Lantian County is a county of Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.-Transport:*China National Highway 312...
area of the Zhongnan Mountains
Zhongnan Mountains
The Zhongnan Mountains , sometimes called the Taiyi Mountains or Zhounan Mountains , are a branch of the Qin Mountains located in Shaanxi Province, south of Xi'an, China that extend from Wugong County in the east of the province to Lantian County. At 2604 meters the range's highest point is the...
. As well, Wang Wei then made friends with Pei Di
Pei Di
Pei Di was a Chinese poet of the Tang Dynasty, and a contemporary of Wang Wei, although younger by fifteen years. The poet's name is also rendered into English as "Pei Ti". the close personal friendship between Wang Wei and Pei Di is preserved in a letter by Wang Wei inviting him for a Springtime...
. In 740-741 Wang resumed his successful governmental career, including an inspection tour of Xiangyang
Xiangyang
Xiangzhou District is a district of Xiangyang, Hubei, China. The district itself was formerly known as Xiangyang. It was a city famous for the Siege of Xiangyang by invading forces of the Mongol-founded Yuan Dynasty...
, Hubei, and afterwards serving in various positions in Chang'an. Besides the official salary connected with this government work, he had received financial rewards as an artist; thus he was able to acquire a sizable estate in Lantian, formerly owned by the poet Song Zhiwen
Song Zhiwen
Song Zhiwen was a Chinese poet considered to be of the Tang poetry tradition of the Tang Dynasty, although technically his poetic career was largely within the anomalous dynastic interregnum of Wu Zetian...
, known as Wang Chuan. Upon his Lantian estate Wang Wei established a shrine for sake of his Buddhist mother, and after his mother died, in 747-748, he spent the traditional three-year morning period for the death of a parent in this location, apparently so afflicted by grief as having been reduced almost to a skeleton. However, by 751-752 Wang Wei had resumed official duties. However, at this time the historical record at this point begins to be somewhat problematic in terms of certain details due to the affects of the An Shi disorders upon record keeping.
War
The events of the An-Shi rebellion, which took place between 755-763, profoundly affected Chinese social culture in general and Wang Wei in particular. In 756, Wang Wei was residing in the capital of Chang'an, where he was captured by the rebels when they took the city. Although the emperor Xuanzong
Xuanzong
Xuanzong can be the name of the following Chinese emperors:* Emperor Xuánzong of Tang * Emperor Xuānzong of Tang...
and his court and most of the governmental officials had already evacuated to Sichuan
Sichuan
' , known formerly in the West by its postal map spellings of Szechwan or Szechuan is a province in Southwest China with its capital in Chengdu...
, Wang Wei had come down with dysentery and at that time was an invalid and thus unable to travel, especially not on this notoriously mountainous and difficult passage. The rebels then took their prize captive to their capital at Luoyang
Luoyang
Luoyang is a prefecture-level city in western Henan province of Central China. It borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the southeast, Nanyang to the south, Sanmenxia to the west, Jiyuan to the north, and Jiaozuo to the northeast.Situated on the central plain of...
., where the government of the rebellion sought for his cooperation and collaboration. According to some sources, he attempted to avoid actively serving the insurgents during the capital's occupation by pretending to be deaf; other sources state that, in an attempt to destroy his voice, he drank medicine which created cankers on his mouth and feigned sickness. In any case, at Luoyang, Wang Wei was unable to avoid becoming officially one of the rebels, with an official title. In 757, with the ascendency of Suzong, and the Tang recapture of Luoyang from the rebel forces, Wang Wei was arrested and imprisoned as a suspected traitor by the Tang government. In Wang Wei's case, the charges of disloyalty were eventually dropped, partly by the intervention of his brother, Wang Jin
Wang Jin
Wang Jin , courtesy name Xiaqing , was an official of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty who served as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Daizong...
, who held high government rank (as Undersecretary of the Board of Punishments)and whose loyal efforts in the defense of Taiyuan
Taiyuan
Taiyuan is the capital and largest city of Shanxi province in North China. At the 2010 census, it had a total population of 4,201,591 inhabitants on 6959 km² whom 3,212,500 are urban on 1,460 km². The name of the city literally means "Great Plains", referring to the location where the Fen River...
were well known. Furthermore, the poems which he had written during his captivity were produced, and accepted of evidence in favor of his loyalty. Following his pardon, Wang Wei spent much of his time in his Buddhist practice and activities. Then, with the further suppression of the rebellion, he again received a government position, in 758, at first in a lower position than prior to the rebellion, as a Taizi Zhongchong (太子中充), in the court of the crown prince rather than that of the emperor himself. Later, Wang Wei was not only restored to his former position in the emperors court, in 759, but eventually promoted beyond this. Over time, he was moved to the secretarial position of Jishizhong (给事中) and his last position, which he held until his death in 761, was Shangshu Youcheng (尚书右丞), or as a Deputy Prime Minister. As these positions were in the city of Chang'an, they were not too far from his private estate to prevent him from visiting the place and fixing it up. He also continued in his artistic endeavors through it all.
Later years
Wang Wei never lived to see the empire return to peace, as the An-Shi disturbances and their aftermath continued beyond his lifetime. However, at least he could enjoy a relative return to stability compared to the initial years of the rebellion, especially when he had the opportunity to spend time in the relative seclusion of his Lantian estate, which allowed him both a poetic and a Buddhist retreat, as well as a place to spend time with his friends and with nature, painting and writing. But, finally, his writing came to an end, and in the seventh month of 759, or in 761, Wang Wei requested writing implements, wrote several letters to his brother and to his friends, and then died. He was then buried at his Lantian estate.Works
He was famous for both his poetry and his paintings, about which Su ShiSu Shi
Su Shi , was a writer, poet, artist, calligrapher, pharmacologist, gastronome, and statesman of the Song Dynasty, and one of the major poets of the Song era. His courtesy name was Zizhan and his pseudonym was Dongpo Jushi , and he is often referred to as Su Dongpo...
coined a phrase: "The quality of Wang Wei’s poems can be summed as, the poems hold a painting within them. In observing his paintings you can see that, within the painting there is poetry." He is especially known for his compositions in the Mountains and Streams (山水诗) genre, the landscape school of poetry, along with Meng Haoran
Meng Haoran
Meng Haoran was a Chinese poet during the Tang Dynasty. Unsuccessful in his official career, he mainly lived in and wrote about his birthplace....
; their family names were combined and they are commonly referred to as "Wang Meng" due to their excellence in poetic composition at that time. In his later years Wang Wei lost interest in being a statesman and became more involved in Buddhism and his poems reflected his focus on Zen
Zen
Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...
/Ch'an practice, therefore he was posthumously referred to as the “Poet Buddha”. His works are collected in Secretary General Wang's Anthology, which includes 400 poems. He excelled in painting images of people, bamboo forests and scenery of mountains and rivers. It is recorded that his landscape paintings have two different genres, one of the Father and Son of the Li Family (李氏父子) and the other being of strong brush strokes; his work of Picture of Wang River is of the latter, but unfortunately the original no longer exists. His works of Scenery of Snow and Creek and Jinan’s Fusheng Portrait are both realistic in their representation of the subjects.
Poetry
Wang Wei was a "very great master" of the juejuJueju
Jueju is a style of jintishi, or "Modern form poetry", that grew popular among Chinese poets in the Tang Dynasty , although traceable to earlier origins...
: many of his quatrain
Quatrain
A quatrain is a stanza, or a complete poem, consisting of four lines of verse. Existing in various forms, the quatrain appears in poems from the poetic traditions of various ancient civilizations including Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, and China; and, continues into the 21st century, where it is...
s depict quiet scenes of water and mist, with few details and little human presence. The Indiana Companion comments that he affirms the world's beauty, while questioning its ultimate reality. It also draws a comparison between the deceptive simplicity of his works and the Chan path to enlightenment
Bodhi
Bodhi is both a Pāli and Sanskrit word traditionally translated into English with the word "enlightenment", but which means awakened. In Buddhism it is the knowledge possessed by a Buddha into the nature of things...
, which is built on careful preparation but is achieved without conscious effort.
One of Wang Wei's famous poems is "One-hearted" ("Xiang Si"):
-
- ONE-HEARTED
- When those red beans come in springtime,
- Flushing on your southland branches,
- Take home an armful, for my sake,
- As a symbol of our love.
Wang River collaboration
|
Some of Wang Wei's most famous poetry was done as a series of couplets written by him to which his friend Pei Di
Pei Di
Pei Di was a Chinese poet of the Tang Dynasty, and a contemporary of Wang Wei, although younger by fifteen years. The poet's name is also rendered into English as "Pei Ti". the close personal friendship between Wang Wei and Pei Di is preserved in a letter by Wang Wei inviting him for a Springtime...
wrote replying couplets. Together, these form a group titled the Wang River Collection. Inspired by Wang's retirement home and features found in its neighborhood and their correspondences with other places and features, the collection includes such pieces as the poem often translated "Deer Park" (literally, "Deer Fence"). (Note that "Wang" as in the river is a different character that the "Wang" of Wang Wei's name. It literally refers to the outside part of a wheel.) The real life location of Wang Wei's retirement home was in the foothills of the Qinling Mountains
Qinling Mountains
The Qin Mountains are a major east-west mountain range in southern Shaanxi province, China. The mountains provide a natural boundary between the North and South of the country, and support a huge variety of plant and wildlife, some of which is found nowhere else on Earth.To the north is the...
, south of the Tang capital city of Chang'an
Chang'an
Chang'an is an ancient capital of more than ten dynasties in Chinese history, today known as Xi'an. Chang'an literally means "Perpetual Peace" in Classical Chinese. During the short-lived Xin Dynasty, the city was renamed "Constant Peace" ; yet after its fall in AD 23, the old name was restored...
, in what is now Lantian County
Lantian County
Lantian County is a county of Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.-Transport:*China National Highway 312...
, of Xi'an
Xi'an
Xi'an is the capital of the Shaanxi province, and a sub-provincial city in the People's Republic of China. One of the oldest cities in China, with more than 3,100 years of history, the city was known as Chang'an before the Ming Dynasty...
Sub-provincial city, of Shaanxi
Shaanxi
' is a province in the central part of Mainland China, and it includes portions of the Loess Plateau on the middle reaches of the Yellow River in addition to the Qinling Mountains across the southern part of this province...
. They record a poet's journey, ostensibly that of Wang Wei and his close friend Pei Di
Pei Di
Pei Di was a Chinese poet of the Tang Dynasty, and a contemporary of Wang Wei, although younger by fifteen years. The poet's name is also rendered into English as "Pei Ti". the close personal friendship between Wang Wei and Pei Di is preserved in a letter by Wang Wei inviting him for a Springtime...
. They are far more universal than a simple journey and have inspired generations of poets since, including recent adaptations such as Pain Not Bread's and
Eliot Weinberger
Eliot Weinberger
Eliot Weinberger is a contemporary American writer, essayist, editor, and translator. His work regularly appears in translation and has been published in some thirty languages...
and Octavio Paz
Octavio Paz
Octavio Paz Lozano was a Mexican writer, poet, and diplomat, and the winner of the 1990 Nobel Prize for Literature.-Early life and writings:...
's 19 Ways of Looking at Wang Wei is an essay concerning more than 19 translations of Wang Wei's "Deer Park". Furthermore, the imaginary series of views inspired subsequent series of "Twenty Views of Wang Chuan" paintings or panoramas including the twenty views (actually the painting tradition for some reason contains a variant set of the twenty scenes of the poems).
Painting
Wang Wei has historically been regarded as the founder of the Southern SchoolSouthern School
-Brief:The Southern School of Chinese painting, often called "literati painting" , is a term used to denote art and artists which stand in opposition to the formal Northern School of painting...
of Chinese landscape art, a school which was characterised by strong brushstrokes contrasted with light ink washes.
Influence east
Wang Wei was of extensive influence in China and its area of cultural influence, particularly in terms of monochrome ink painting and in terms of his deceptively simple and inciteful Buddhist-influenced poetry. Wang ShiminWang Shimin
Wáng Shímǐn ; ca. 1592-1680 was a Chinese landscape painter during the Qing Dynasty .Born in the Kiangsu province, Wang grew up in an artistic, scholarly environment...
and the other Six Masters of the early Qing period
Six Masters of the early Qing period
The Six Masters of the early Qing period was a group of major Chinese artists who worked in the 17th and early 18th centuries . Also known as orthodox masters, they continued the tradition of the scholar-painter, following the injunctions of the artist-critic Dong Qichang late in the Ming...
explicitly made some paintings after the style of Wang Wei, or specifically copying particular paintings of his. In the Ming Dynasty
Ming Dynasty
The Ming Dynasty, also Empire of the Great Ming, was the ruling dynasty of China from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol-led Yuan Dynasty. The Ming, "one of the greatest eras of orderly government and social stability in human history", was the last dynasty in China ruled by ethnic...
, Dong Qichang
Dong Qichang
Dong Qichang , courtesy name Xuanzai , was a Chinese painter, scholar, calligrapher, and art theorist of the later period of the Ming Dynasty.-Painter:...
included Wang Wei's style in his paintings after the old masters.
Influence west
- One of Wang Wei's poems, called Weicheng Qu or "Song of the City of Wei" has been adapted to the famous music melody, Yangguan Sandie or "Three Refrains on the Yang PassYangguanYangguan, or Yangguan Pass , is a mountain pass that was fortified by Emperor Wu during the Western Han Dynasty and used as an outpost in ancient China. It is located approximately 43 to southwest of Dunhuang, in the Gansu province of Northwest China, which was in ancient times China's westernmost...
". The most famous version of this melody is that of the guqinGuqinThe guqin is the modern name for a plucked seven-string Chinese musical instrument of the zither family...
, which Wang Wei probably played.
- Wang-Wei's poetry, in translation, formed the inspiration for the final Der Abschied movement of the Austrian composer Gustav MahlerGustav MahlerGustav Mahler was a late-Romantic Austrian composer and one of the leading conductors of his generation. He was born in the village of Kalischt, Bohemia, in what was then Austria-Hungary, now Kaliště in the Czech Republic...
's penultimate completed work, Das Lied von der ErdeDas Lied von der ErdeDas Lied von der Erde is a large-scale work for two vocal soloists and orchestra by the Austrian composer Gustav Mahler...
.
- Wang-Wei's poetry, found in the works of Ernest FenollosaErnest FenollosaErnest Francisco Fenollosa was an American professor of philosophy and political economy at Tokyo Imperial University...
, also provided inspiration for the American poet Ezra PoundEzra PoundEzra Weston Loomis Pound was an American expatriate poet and critic and a major figure in the early modernist movement in poetry...
in the creation of Pound's Ideogrammic MethodPound's Ideogrammic MethodThe Ideogrammic Method was a technique expounded by Ezra Pound which allowed poetry to deal with abstract content through concrete images. The idea was based on Pound's reading of the work of Ernest Fenollosa....
.
General links
- Abe no Nakamaro
- Chinese poetryChinese poetryChinese poetry is poetry written, spoken, or chanted in the Chinese language, which includes various versions of Chinese language, including Classical Chinese, Standard Chinese, Mandarin Chinese, Cantonese, Yue Chinese, as well as many other historical and vernacular varieties of the Chinese language...
- Classical Chinese poetryClassical Chinese poetrythumb|right|300px|Attributed to [[Han Gan]], Huiyebai , about 750CE .Classical Chinese poetry is that type of poetry that is the traditional Chinese poetry written in Classical Chinese. It is typified by certain traditional forms, or modes, and certain traditional genres...
- Das Lied von der ErdeDas Lied von der ErdeDas Lied von der Erde is a large-scale work for two vocal soloists and orchestra by the Austrian composer Gustav Mahler...
- Dong YuanDong YuanDong Yuan was a Chinese painter.He was born in Zhongling . Dong Yuan was active in the Southern Tang Kingdom of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms Period...
- Double Ninth FestivalDouble Ninth FestivalThe Double Ninth Festival , observed on the ninth day of the ninth month in the Chinese calendar, is a traditional Chinese holiday, mentioned in writing since before the East Han period ....
- Han GanHan GanHan Gan was a Tang Dynasty painter.He came from a poor family in either Chang'an, modern day Xi'an, Shaanxi; Lantian, modern day Shaanxi; or Daliang, modern day Kaifeng, Henan. As a young man, Han Gan was recognized by Wang Wei, a prominent poet, who sponsored Han in learning arts...
- Ink and wash paintingInk and wash paintingInk and wash painting is an East Asian type of brush painting also known as ink wash painting. Only black ink — the same as used in East Asian calligraphy — is used, in various concentrations....
- JuejuJuejuJueju is a style of jintishi, or "Modern form poetry", that grew popular among Chinese poets in the Tang Dynasty , although traceable to earlier origins...
- List of National Treasures of Japan (writings: Chinese books)
- QuantangshiQuantangshiThe Quantangshi , and also translated as the Complete Tang Poems, is a collection of Tang poetry...
- St. John's College (United States)#Eastern Classics program
- Shan shuiShan shuiShan shui refers to a style of Chinese painting that involves or depicts scenery or natural landscapes, using a brush and ink rather than more conventional paints. Mountains, rivers and often waterfalls are prominent in this art form.-History:...
- Shen KuoShen KuoShen Kuo or Shen Gua , style name Cunzhong and pseudonym Mengqi Weng , was a polymathic Chinese scientist and statesman of the Song Dynasty...
- Shi (poetry)Shi (poetry)Shi is the Chinese word for "poetry" or "poem", anciently associated with Chinese poetry. In modern times, shi can and has been used as an umbrella term to mean poetry in any form or language, whether or not Chinese; but, it may imply or be used to refer certain classical forms of poetry, for...
- Tang poetryTang poetryTang poetry refers to poetry written in or around the time of and in the characteristic style of China's Tang dynasty, and/or follows a certain style, often considered as the Golden Age of Chinese poetry...
- Timeline of Chinese historyTimeline of Chinese historyThe following is a timeline of the history of China. Between the changing of the dynasties, most dates overlap as ruling periods do not transfer immediately...
- Wang JinWang JinWang Jin , courtesy name Xiaqing , was an official of the Chinese dynasty Tang Dynasty who served as a chancellor during the reign of Emperor Daizong...
- Wang YuanqiWang YuanqiWang Yuanqi was a Chinese painter of the Qing dynasty.Wang was born in Taicang in the Jiangsu province and tutored in painting by his grandfather Wang Shimin . His style name was 'Mao-ching ' and his sobriquet was ' Lu-t'ai'. Wang is a member of the Four Wangs and Six Masters of the early Qing...
- YangguanYangguanYangguan, or Yangguan Pass , is a mountain pass that was fortified by Emperor Wu during the Western Han Dynasty and used as an outpost in ancient China. It is located approximately 43 to southwest of Dunhuang, in the Gansu province of Northwest China, which was in ancient times China's westernmost...
Categories and lists links
- Tang Dynasty poets (list)
- List of Chinese language poets
- List of Chinese painters