⬅️ 唐诗 Tang Poems
Wang Wei (701-761 AD) was a poet and painter of Tang Dynasty. Born into a aristocratic family, Wang Wei became well-known at his early age for his talent of poetry, painting and music. After passing the civil service examination, he held various official positions. Although Wang Wei did not reach a high level position, compared to many his contemporaries, his political career can be said smooth and calm, partly because for most of his life he lived in the prime time of Tang dynasty, and partly because he did not show much enthusiasm for politics.
Wang Wei's mother was a Buddhist. She had profound influence on Wang Wei. Both Wang Wei and his younger brother Wang Jin (王缙, who later became the prime minister of Tang) also believed in Buddhism. After acquiring an estate in Lantian (蓝田), about 50 km from the capital city of Chang'an, Wang Wei spent much of his time there on writing and painting. He built a shrine to honor his mother on his estate. His belief was also reflected in his works. Su Shi,(苏轼, the great poet of Song Dynasty) once summarized that in one phrase:"there is a painting in Wang Wei's poem, and there is a poem in Wang wei's painting." In his later years Wang Wei became a complete vegetarian and no longer wore colorful clothes. After he retreated from emperor's court, he spent his time on writing, playing music and reciting Buddhist sutras. After his wife's death, he never married again and lived alone for 30 years.
Wang Wei and his friend Meng Haoran (孟浩然),together called by their combined family names Wang-Meng, were the representatives of Mountains and Streams (Shanshui, 山水) poetry genre of Tang dynasty. Shanshui poems focused on natural landscape, with few attention given to the presence of human being. Under the simple appearance of the depiction of Shanshui, poets put their aspirations, ideas, values and feelings into the poems. Today about 400 poems are attributed to Wang Wei. Unfortunately none of his paintings survived. 29 of Wang Wei's poems were included in the anthology Three Hundred Tang Poems.
