Writers › Writer / Poet
Wang Ji
Qi and Liang poet, courtesy name Wenhai, from Linyi in Langya, who ended as adviser to the Prince of Xiangdong; his couplet from Ru Ruoye Xi, on cicadas that make the woods quieter and birds that make the hills more secluded, is still quoted.
In a study at night, a desk holds a brush pot, a porcelain vase with a plum branch, a lit red lantern, a folded fan and an unrolled blank scroll, with no one seated there, while through a round window the moon rises over a lake with a sailboat.
Also known as Courtesy name Wenhai
Wang Ji, courtesy name Wenhai, came from Linyi in Langya (modern Linyi, Shandong) and was a descendant of the Eastern Jin chancellor Wang Dao; he was born around 480 and died in the 540s. He could write at seven, admired the poetry of Xie Lingyun, and won Shen Yue's praise for his Ode to a Candle. He served as military adviser, as magistrate of Yuhang and Qiantang, and finally as adviser to Xiao Yi, Prince of Xiangdong. His couplet in Ru Ruoye Xi, written on a trip to Kuaiji, on cicadas that deepen the quiet of the woods and birds that deepen the seclusion of the hills, was thought without equal by his contemporaries. He was also a good calligrapher, and Xiao Yi compiled his works in ten chapters.
Life and times
Dates c. 480–540s CE