Wang Wei

700-761 A.D.

From a Wang Wei silk painting Source: EduNet

Wang Wei, close on the heels of masters Du Fu and Li Bai, was a true Renaissance man. Reknowned not only as one of the great Tang poets, he was also well known as a painter, musician and calligrapher. He had a more successful political career than his fellows, but despite his wordly, Confucian success he had a bent for Zen. Deer Park, below, is among the most classic of Chinese poems, owing to Wang's ability to weave complex Buddhist themes into simple verse.

Bamboo Pavillion

I sit by myself, hidden in bamboo
Strumming my lute, I can only sigh
Deep grove, no one knows
The bright moon comes, we shine...
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Xiang Ji Temple

Xiang Ji Temple is...
God knows how far up that cloudy peak.
Those old trees harbor no human path,
But the deep mountains keep, somewhere, a bell.
Spring's rustling swallowed up by jagged stones,
The sun's fire frozen on the evergreens,
Hollow twilight drains the pool of song,
And quiet Zen quells the dragon's venom.

Deer Park

Empty mountain, no sight of men
But I hear their speech in murmurs.
A waning sun pierces the deep grove,
Again alighting off lichen's green.