Wang Wei

Wang Wei (701 - 761), in addition to being one of China's most famous poets, was also an important painter. No confirmed paintings survive but there are a number said to be in his style. A common theme of such paintings, as at right, was Wangchuan, his villa near Chang'an. ⁴

Wang Wei's poem Seeing Yuan Er off to Anxi provided lyrics for the qin melody Yangguan Sandie, transmitted in both long and short versions. The short version is one of the most popular of all qin melodies.

Four further short poems by Wang Wei have been used as lyrics for parts of the melody Five Melodies of the Cai Clan (Cai Shi Wu Nong), specifically two Spring Travel Tunes and two Spring Travel Lyrics.

In addition, Wang Wei's poem 桃源行 Tao Yuan Xing (Traveling to Peach Blossom Spring; online translation here) was inspired by the same Tao Yuanming story that inspired the qin melody Tao Yuan Chun Xiao (Spring Dawn at Peach Blossom Spring). Wang Wei's own poem is included there.

Further regarding Wang Wei's poetry, although Qinshu Daquan does not seem to have any of his poems, it does have at least one reference to his writing:

Wang Wei Wenji, in Folio 16, #50 (QQJC V, pp. 361).⁵

Ronald Egan in his article "Music, Sadness and the Qin"⁶ writes that Wang Wei mentions the qin eight times in his poetry. A webpage of Jiu Si Ting has five of these.⁷

Seeing of Quan Er.⁸
Seeing Off Bureau of Review member Yang....(it has "qin" in the title as well as in the actual lyrics.⁹)
Replying to Subprefect Zhang, translated online at Chinese Poems.¹⁰
Ku Zuliu Zi Xu, quite a long poem; the qin reference is at the end.¹¹
Zhuli Guan, included in the biography below.¹²

Other poems also refer to qin without directly mentioning the name.¹³

The Qinshi Bu biography of Wang Wei is as follows,¹⁴

Wang Wei, style name 摩詰 Mojie, was from 河東 Hedong, the Yellow River area in southwestern Shanxi. He was skilled in writing and painting, famous during the period 713 - 756. His retreat at Wangchuan was a marvelous place. Here with his friend 裴迪 Pei Di (b.716) he floated on boats, going about playing the qin, writing poetry and intoning verses all day. He recalled this in a poem (Zhuli Guan) that said,

Sitting alone in a secluded bamboo grove,
Playing qin and intoning at length.

His lofty ideas were like this. In his later years he 長齋禪誦 went on long fasts with meditative chants. One day he suddenly took up his pen and wrote several pages saying goodbye to his younger brother 王縉 Wang Jin (d. 781) and all his close friends, and so he cast aside his pen and died.

Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1. Wang Wei references (see in Wiki)
21295.1668 王維，祁人，字摩詰...also called 王右丞 Wang Youcheng
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2. Entry 72; 5 lines. Sources given: 舊唐書 Jiu Tang Shu; 王右丞集 Wang Youcheng Ji [21295.311 Wang Wei's Collected Works]; 蓴湖漫錄 Chunhu Manlu.
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3. Image of Wang Chuan
This image, in the style of a long handscroll called 輞川圖 Illustration of Wang Chuan, was copied from the internet but the source is not longer there.
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4. Wangchuan (輞川 Wang Chuan, Wang-Chuan)
Wangchuan, Wang Wei's third villa, was at 藍田 Lantian, southeast of Chang'an, Shaanxi province.
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5. 王維文集 Wang Wei Wenji
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6. HJAS, #57, p.53. I don't know if "eight times" in poems means 8 poems or 8 mentions. Egan does not quote any of Wang Wei's poems.
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7. 九思亭: Pavilion of Nine Thoughts.
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8. Seeing off Quan Er 送權二
See end of last line.

高人不可友，清論復何深！
一見如舊識，一言知道心。
明時當薄宦，解薜去中林。
芳草空隱處，白雲餘故岑。
韓侯久攜手，河嶽共幽尋。
悵別千餘里，臨堂鳴素琴。
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9. 酬比部楊員外暮宿琴臺朝躋書閣率爾見贈之作
See title and line one.

舊簡拂塵看，鳴琴候月彈。
桃源迷漢姓，松樹有秦官。
空谷歸人少，青山背日寒。
羨君棲隱處，遙望白雲端。
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10. Replying to Subprefect Zhang 酬張少府
One of the 300 Tang Poems; translation mostly based on that in Chinese Poems (Hucker: 少府 District Defender)

晚年惟好靜，萬事不關心。
自顧無長策，空知返舊林。
松風吹解帶，山月照彈琴。
君問窮通理，漁歌入浦深。

In my latter years I simply enjoy tranquility,
Multifarious affairs no longer concern me.
Reflecting inwardly, I have no grand schemes,
Realizing I should just return to my old forest.
Wind from the pine trees blows my sash undone,
The moon above the hills shines down on me plucking my qin.
Your questions about failure and success concern reason,
A fisherman's song penetrating the riverbanks is profound.
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11. 哭祖六自虛
See last line.

否極當聞泰，嗟君獨不然。憫凶纔稚齒，羸疾至中年。
餘力文章秀，生知禮樂全。翰留天帳寬，詞入帝宮傳。
國訝終軍少，人知賈誼賢。公卿盡虛左，朋識共推先。
不恨依窮轍，終期濟巨川。才雄望羔雁，壽促背貂蟬。
福善聞前錄，懺良昧上玄。何辜鎩鸞翮？何事與龍泉？
鵩起長沙賦，麟終曲阜編。城中君道廣，海內我情偏。
乍失疑猶見，沉思悟絕緣。生前不忍別，死後向誰宣？
為此情難盡，彌令憶更纏。本家清渭曲，歸葬舊塋邊。
永去長安道，徒聞京兆阡。旌車出郊甸，鄉國隱雲天。
定作無期別，寧同舊日旋。候門家屬苦，行路國人憐。
送客哀終進，征途泥復前。贈言為挽曲，奠席是離筵。
念昔同攜手，風期不暫捐。南山俱隱逸，東洛類神仙。
未省音容間，那堪生死遷？花時金谷飲，月夜竹林眠。
滿地傳都賦，傾朝看藥船。群公咸屬目，微物敢齊肩。
謬合同人旨，而將玉樹連。不期先掛劍，長恐後施鞭。
為善吾無矣，知音子絕焉。琴聲縱不沒，終亦斷悲絃。
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12. House in a Bamboo Grove (竹里館 Zhuli Guan) In the style of Li Cheng
The inscription on the image at right says, "仿李成筆意 In the calligraphic style of Li Cheng". Li Cheng (919–967; Wiki) was one of the most famous painters of his time. The illustration, from the Ming edition of Illustrated Tang Poems (明刊本《唐詩畫譜》Tangshi Huapu, edited by 黃鳳池 Huang Fengchi and with illustrations by 蔡汝佐 Cai Ruzuo), accompanies Wang Wei's poem House in a Bamboo Grove, one of the 唐詩三百首 300 Tang Poems. Huang actually did three separate volumes: 五言唐詩畫譜 Wuyan Tangshi Huapu, focused on 5-character line poems; 六言唐詩畫譜 Liuyan Tangshi Huapu, focused on 6-character line poems; and 七言唐詩畫譜 Qiyan Tangshi Huapu, covering 7-character line poems. I am not sure whether or how modern editions combine all three.

The above biographical notes on Wang Wei do not mention the poem's title and only quote the first half. The whole poem, with my translation, is as follows:

獨坐幽篁裡， Sitting alone in a secluded bamboo grove,
彈琴復長嘯。 Playing qin and intoning at length.
深林人不知， Deep in the forest there is anonymity,
明月來相照。 Though moonlight brings mutual illumination.

The first two lines of Wang Wei's poem were also written out in this calligraphy by 陳子慧 David Chan Chi-Wai, accompanying a painting by 方丹 Fang Dan. In honor of that I have linked here this qin setting for the lyrics in Section 8 of Gu Jiao Xing (Engaging with Old Friends). Because that song has the same structure as here it can also be used to sing the present Wang Wei lyrics.
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13. Other Wang Wei references to qin
One example is Wang Wei's poem 送神曲 Song Shen Qu. Although it does not mention qin directly, has what seems to be a reference to tightening qin strings in the third line (see below):

紛進拜兮堂前，目眷眷兮瓊筵。
來不語兮意不傳，作暮雨兮愁空山。
悲急管，思繁絃。
靈之駕兮儼欲旋，倏雲收兮雨歇，
山青青兮水潺湲。
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14. Wang Wei bio
The original Qinshi Bu entry (#72) is as follows,

王維，字摩詰，河東人。工書畫。名盛於開元、天寶間。別墅在輞川，地奇勝，與道友裴迪浮舟往來，彈琴、賦詩、嘯詠終日。詩以紀云：

獨坐幽篁裡，
彈琴復長嘯。
深林人不知，
明月來相照。

其高曠如此。晚年長齋禪誦。一日，忽索筆作書數紙，別弟縉及平生親故，舍筆而卒。.....

See sources.
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