Wang Wei

A Chinese poet and painter from the Tang Dynasty. His pen name was Makittsu. He was a great poet of the prosperous Tang Dynasty, third only to Li Bai and Du Fu, and was known as the "Poet Buddha" because he was a Buddhist. He was considered a leading poet of nature poetry, and excelled in objective and tranquil descriptions of landscapes, as well as in farewell poems and court poetry.

He was born in Puzhou (Shanxi Province) into a small local clan. His mother was a devout Buddhist and had a strong influence on Wang Wei. He went to the capital Chang'an at around the age of 15, where he frequented the residences of the imperial family and nobles. His good looks and talents in poetry, music and art made him a popular figure in social circles in the early reign of Xuanzong and at the height of his Tang dynasty prosperity. However, shortly after passing the Jinshi examination, he was demoted to Jeju (Shandong Province) and suffered misfortune until his early 40s, even living in Liangzhou (Gansu Province) for a time. He lost his wife around this time and never remarried. During the Tianbao period (742-755), he returned to the Chang'an government and was promoted steadily. He built a large villa in Yuanchuan, a suburb south of Chang'an, and won fame as a court poet. On his days off, he spent his days in Yuanchuan devoting himself to art and faith with close friends. The "Yuanchuan Collection," a series of 40 poems, including 20 five-character quatrains and a joint poem by his close friend Pei Di, was born out of this lifestyle. It is a masterpiece of descriptive poetry that likens Yuanchuan Manor to the Pure Land. During the An Lushan Rebellion, he was taken prisoner, but was later released and given a light punishment in recognition of his loyalty to the Tang Dynasty. However, he criticized himself for not taking decisive action, dreamed of world salvation through Buddhism, and lost interest in poetry. He was also known as Wang Right Secretary because he died while serving as the Right Secretary of the Secretariat. He is known for his 10 volumes of "Collection of Writings by Wang Right Secretary." Emperor Daizong, who was a fan of his, called him "the greatest poet of the Tang Dynasty." "He sat alone in a secluded hut, playing the zither and singing long hymns. No one in the deep forest knew about it. The bright moon came and shone on us." (Takerikan)
[Sensuke Iriya]

Wang Wei also excelled in painting, and wrote in his poems that he himself should have been a painter in his previous life. He is known for his white-painted and gold-green landscapes on the walls of temples such as the Ci'en Temple in Chang'an, and was renowned for his landscape paintings, which were already highly praised by some people at the time. It is thought that his style of painting was not uniform, but Wang Wei's noble personality and his attitude as a pastoral poet who enjoys nature led Dong Qichang of the Ming Dynasty to contrast Wang Wei with Li Si-xun of the Northern School of Painting in his essay on the Northern and Southern School of Painting in his "Essays on the Painting and Zen Room," and to consider him the founder of the Southern School of Painting (literati painting) and the founder of ink-wash landscape painting, thereby making Wang Wei a famous painter. It is also well known that Su Dongpo of the Song Dynasty commented on Wang Wei's excellence in poetry and painting, saying, "To appreciate Wang Wei's poetry, there is painting in the poetry; to look at Wang Wei's painting, there is poetry in the painting." However, the style of landscape paintings that Wang Wei painted is not well known, as there are no definite surviving remains, although the "Yi River Scroll," which is said to be modeled after a Wang Wei painting, is at least somewhat known.

[Shinya Hoshiyama]

"Selected Poets of China 6: Wang Wei" by Tsuru Haruo (1958, Iwanami Shoten)" ▽ "Chinese Poetry Series 10: Wang Wei" by Kobayashi Taichiro and Harada Norio (1964, Shueisha)" ▽ "Poetry Collection of Wang Wei, translated by Ogawa Tamaki et al. (Iwanami Bunko)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

中国、唐代の詩人、画家。字(あざな)は摩詰(まきつ)。李白(りはく)、杜甫(とほ)に次ぐ盛唐期の大詩人で、仏教信者であったために、詩仏と称される。自然詩の第一人者とされ、客観的で静寂な叙景に優れるほか、送別詩、宮廷詩などの分野においても一流である。

　蒲州(ほしゅう)（山西省）に生まれ、家は土地の小豪族だったらしい。母は熱心な仏教信者で、王維に強い影響を与えた。15歳ごろに首都長安に上り、皇族貴顕の邸宅に出入、美貌(びぼう)と詩、音楽、美術の多方面の才能で、玄宗初期、最盛期唐代の社交界の人気者となった。しかし、進士及第後まもなく、済州(せいしゅう)（山東省）に左遷されてから、40代の初めまで不遇がちで、一時は涼州（甘粛(かんしゅく)省）にいたこともある。このころ妻を失い、生涯再婚しなかった。天宝年間（742～755）には、長安の官界に返り咲き、順調に昇進し、長安の南の郊外の輞川(もうせん)に広大な別荘を構え、宮廷詩人として盛名をかちえる一方、輞川では休暇の日に親しい友人と、芸術と信仰に明け暮れる毎日を過ごした。その生活のなかから生まれた『輞川集』は、五言絶句20首、親友裴迪(はいてき)の同詠をあわせて40首の連作で、輞川荘を浄土に見立てた叙景詩の傑作である。安禄山(あんろくざん)の乱にあたり、捕虜となり、のちに解放され、唐に対する忠誠を認められて、軽い処分ですんだが、決然たる行動をとりえなかったことを自己批判し、仏教による世界の救済を夢み、詩への関心は後退した。尚書右丞(うじょう)の官にあったときに死んだので、王右丞ともよばれる。『王右丞文集』10巻を伝える。彼のファンだった代宗皇帝が「天下の文宗」とよんだように唐一代、最高の詩人とされた。「独り幽篁(ゆうこう)の裏(うち)に坐(ざ)し、琴を弾じ復(ま)た長嘯(ちょうしょう)す。深林人知らず。明月来たりて相照らす」（竹里館）
［入谷仙介］

　王維は画にも秀(すぐ)れ、自らも前世はまさに画師なるべしと詩に書いている。その画業として長安の慈恩寺など寺院の障壁に白描(はくびょう)や金碧青緑(きんぺきせいりょく)の山水画を描いたことが知られ、山水画に名があり、当時すでに一部の人々から絶賛されていた。画風は一様ではなかったと考えられるが、王維の高潔な人格や自然を楽しむ田園詩人としての態度などから、明(みん)代の董其昌(とうきしょう)はその『画禅室随筆』中の南北画論で王維を北宗画(ほくしゅうが)の李思訓(りしくん)と対置して南宗画（文人画）派の祖とし、水墨山水画の創始者とし、画人王維の名を高からしめた。また宋(そう)の蘇東坡(そとうば)が詩と画に卓越した王維を「摩詰(まきつ)の詩を味わう、詩中に画有り、摩詰の画を観(み)る、画中に詩有り」と評したこともよく知られている。しかし王維がどのような様式の山水を描いたのかは、王維画を模したとする『輞川図巻』が少なからず知られてはいるが、確実な遺品が現存していないため、よくわかっていない。

［星山晋也］

『都留春雄注『中国詩人選集6　王維』（1958・岩波書店）』▽『小林太市郎・原田憲雄著『漢詩大系10　王維』（1964・集英社）』▽『小川環樹他訳『王維詩集』（岩波文庫）』

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