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Wang Wei

High Tang poet, painter and musician whose quiet landscape verse came from his Wangchuan estate, and who ended his career as assistant director of the Department of State Affairs

Also known as Zi Moji · Hao Mo Ji Ju Shi · Wang Youcheng · Shi Fu

Wang Wei, courtesy name Mojie, had family roots near Taiyuan, but his father settled in Puzhou. Passing the jinshi examination in the Kaiyuan reign, he became an assistant director of court music but was soon demoted to a granary post in Jizhou; under Zhang Jiuling he was promoted to Reminder of the Right, and later served on the Hexi frontier staff. Captured when An Lushan's rebels took Chang'an, he was forced to accept a post in their government, but a poem on Ningbi Pond expressing longing for the Tang court, and his brother Wang Jin's offer to give up his own rank, won him a light demotion after the war. In later years he kept an estate at Wangchuan in Lantian, where he and Pei Di wrote the poems of the Wangchuan Collection. He rose to assistant director of the Department of State Affairs and died in 761. Su Shi wrote that there are paintings in his poems and poems in his paintings.

Life and times

  1. c. 701 CEBornTangbirth by another account 699
  2. 761 CEDied

Works

  1. Literature · Poetry22
    1. Autumn Twilight in the Mountain DwellingTangWang Wei's five-character regulated verse on a mountain retreat in autumn dusk after rain
    2. Mission to the FrontierTangWang Wei's regulated verse from a mission to the northwest frontier, picturing the desert
    3. Thinking of My Brothers East of the Mountains on the Double NinthTangWang Wei's quatrain at seventeen, in Chang'an on the Double Ninth, missing his brothers
    4. Deer EnclosureTangWang Wei's quatrain from the Wangchuan Collection: an empty hill, distant voices, late light
    5. Seeing Off Yuan the Second on a Mission to AnxiTangWang Wei's farewell to a friend bound for Anxi, sung as the Three Refrains of Yang Pass
    6. +17 more
      1. The Lodge in the Bamboo GroveTangWang Wei's quatrain from the Wangchuan sequence: alone with a zither in a moonlit bamboo grove
      2. LongingTangWang Wei's quatrain on the red beans of the south, a token of longing said to be sung in Tang
      3. Miscellaneous PoemTangWang Wei meets someone from home and asks one thing only: had the plum by his window bloomed?
      4. Autumn Night SongTangA boudoir lament traditionally credited to Wang Wei: a woman dreading her empty room
      5. FarewellTangWang Wei sees off a friend who leaves for the southern hills, where the white clouds never end
      6. Seeing Off Prefect Li of ZizhouTangWang Wei's regulated verse for a friend going to govern in Shu: its hills, rains and people
      7. Mount ZhongnanTangWang Wei's regulated poem on the vast Zhongnan range and its ever-shifting clouds and haze
      8. My Retreat at ZhongnanTangWang Wei on his late life below Mount Zhongnan, wandering alone wherever the mood leads
      9. Written on Returning to Mount SongTangWang Wei's regulated poem of an autumn dusk on the road home to Mount Song
      10. In Reply to Assistant Magistrate ZhangTangWang Wei in old age answers a friend with pine wind and mountain moon, not worldly reasons
      11. Visiting Xiangji TempleTangWang Wei seeks out a temple deep in the mountains, its stillness leading him to meditation
      12. Gazing Out over the Han RiverTangWang Wei looks out over the Han River, sketching a vast, misty landscape as if in ink wash
      13. Living at Leisure at Wangchuan: To the Scholar Pei DiTangWang Wei sends his friend Pei Di an autumn evening at Wangchuan and the ease of a hermit's life
      14. Farm Households by the Wei RiverTangWang Wei watches farm families come home at dusk by the Wei River and longs for a quiet life
      15. Replying to Secretary Jia's Poem on the Morning Audience at Daming PalaceTangWang Wei answers Jia Zhi's poem with the grandeur of a dawn audience at Daming Palace
      16. Written at the Wangchuan Estate after Long RainTangWang Wei's farmland after long rain at Wangchuan and his quiet, unguarded life in the hills
      17. For Supervising Secretary GuoTangWang Wei praises a diligent court official and admits he is too old and ill to follow him
  2. Literature · Sayings8
    1. A Lone Plume of Smoke Over the Great DesertTangAphorism from Wang Wei's Envoy to the Frontier: the stark grandeur of the desert
    2. Going West Beyond Yang PassTangLine from Wang Wei's farewell to Yuan the Second: no old friends beyond Yang Pass
    3. Everyone Wears Dogwood but OneTangLine from Wang Wei's Double Ninth poem: the brothers wear dogwood, one short
    4. The Round Sun Setting over the Long RiverTangLine from Wang Wei's On a Mission to the Frontier: a round sun over the long river
    5. One More Cup Before You Go West: Wang Wei's FarewellTangFamous line from Wang Wei's farewell to Yuan Er: one more cup before the road west
    6. +3 more
      1. Bright Moonlight Shining Down Through the PinesTangFamous line from Wang Wei's Autumn Evening in the Mountains: a quiet moonlit night after rain
      2. Missing One's Family Twice as Much on Every FestivalTangFamous line from Wang Wei's Double Ninth poem for his brothers: longing for family at festivals
      3. Clear Spring Water Flowing Over the Mountain StonesTangFamous line from Wang Wei's Autumn Evening in the Mountains: a spring over the rocks