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Qin Biographies     Qin Shi Bu
Wang Wei
- Qin Shi Bu #72		 王維 1
琴史補 #82 2

Wang Wei (701 - 761) was one of China's most famous poets. One of his poems provided lyrics for one of the most popular of all qin melodies, Yangguan Sandie.)

Ronald Egan in his article "Music, Sadness and the Qin"3 writes that Wang Wei mentions the qin four times in his poetry. However, Qinshu Daquan does not seem to include any of these.

Qinshu Daquan references Wang Wei as follows.

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

The Qinshi Bu biography is as follows,4

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 輞川 Wangchuan (at 藍田 Lantian, southeast of Chang'an) 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 that said,

獨坐幽篁裏，彈琴復長嘯。
深林人不知，明月來相照。

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.

More to be added.

 
Footnotes (Shorthand references are explained on a separate page)

1 21295.1668 王維，祁人，字摩詰...also called 王右丞 Wang Youcheng (Return)

2 (Return)

3 HJAS, #57, p.53. (Return)

4 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 . (Return)

5 (Return)

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