Writers › Writer / Poet
Wang Bao (Western Han)
Western Han fu writer from Shu, courtesy name Ziyuan, summoned to the capital under Emperor Xuan and made a remonstrance counsellor; known for the Rhapsody on the Panpipe.
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 Wang Bao (variant character)
Wang Bao, courtesy name Ziyuan, was a fu writer from Zizhong in Shu (modern Ziyang, Sichuan). Under Emperor Xuan of Han he was recommended by Wang Xiang, Inspector of Yizhou, summoned to Chang'an to wait in attendance at Jinma Gate, and promoted to remonstrance counsellor; he died of illness on the road while sent to sacrifice to the Golden Horse and Jade Rooster deities. The Han History's bibliography lists sixteen of his fu; the Rhapsody on the Panpipe and Ode to a Sage Ruler Gaining Worthy Ministers survive, and the Tongyue is traditionally attributed to him. He is a different man from the Northern Zhou Wang Bao of the same name.
Life and times
Dates Dates unknown; active in the reign of Emperor Xuan of Han (74-49 BCE)