Wang Wei (8th century poet)

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This article is about the 8th century Chinese poet and painter; for other people whose names are rendered "Wang Wei" when romanized, see Wang Wei (disambiguation).
This is a Chinese name; the family name is 王 (Wang).
Wang Wei

A portrait of Fu Sheng, allegedly painted by Wang Wei
Born c. 701
Died 761
Occupation Poet, Painter, Chancellor

Wang Wei (traditional Chinese: 王維; simplified Chinese: 王维; pinyin: Wáng Wéi, 701–761), sometimes titled the Poet Buddha, was a Tang Dynasty Chinese poet, musician, painter and statesman.

From a high family, he passed the civil service entrance examination in 721 and had a successful civil service career, rising to become Chancellor in 758. During the An Lushan Rebellion he avoided actively serving the insurgents during the capital's occupation by pretending to be deaf.

He spent ten years studying with Chán master Daoguang. After his wife's death in 730, he did not remarry and established a monastery on part of his estate.

He is best known for his quatrains depicting 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, which is built on careful preparation but is achieved without conscious effort.

None of his original paintings survive, but copies of works attributed to him are also landscapes with similar qualities. He influenced what became known as the Southern school of Chinese landscape art, which was characterised by strong brushstrokes contrasted with light ink washes.

Wang Wei's most famous poetry, such as the poem "Deer Park," form a group titled Wang River Collection. They record a poet's journey, ostensibly that of Wang Wei and his close friend, Pei Di. 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 Introduction to the Introduction to Wang Wei (ISBN 1-894078-09-8), Barry Gifford's Replies to Wang Wei (ISBN 0-88739-441-8) and Gary Blankenship's A River Transformed (ISBN 1-4116-6227-X).

Eliot Weinberger and Octavio Paz's 19 Ways of Looking at Wang Wei (ISBN 0-918825-14-8) is an essay concerning more than 19 translations of Wang Wei's "Deer Park."

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 Pass". The most famous version of this melody is that of the guqin, which Wang Wei probably played.

Wang-Wei's poetry, in translation, formed the inspiration for the final Das Abschied movement of the Austrian composer Gustav Mahler's penultimate completed work, Das Lied von der Erde.

[edit] Poetry sample

《竹里館》 "Hut in the Bamboos"
"Sitting alone, in the hush of the bamboo;
I thrum my zither, and whistle lingering notes.
In the secrecy of the wood, no one can hear;
Only the clear moon, comes to shine on me."

[edit] References

  • Wang Wei:Poems, translated with an introduction by G W Robinson.Penguin Books, Harmondsworth 1973
  • The Poetry of Wang Wei,New translations and Commentary, Pauline Yu. Indiana University Press 1980-extensive comments ,with Chinese texts.
  • Nienhauser, William H (ed.). The Indiana Companion to Traditional Chinese Literature. Indiana University Press 1986. ISBN 0-253-32983-3

[edit] External links

Persondata
NAME Wei, Wang
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wáng Wéi; 王維 (Traditional Chinese)
SHORT DESCRIPTION Chinese poet, painter
DATE OF BIRTH 701
PLACE OF BIRTH
DATE OF DEATH 761
PLACE OF DEATH