Wang Fanzhi

Dates of birth and death unknown. A Chinese monk and poet of the Tang dynasty. Both his career and poetry collections disappeared early on, but in the early 20th century, several fragments of a manuscript poetry collection were discovered among documents excavated at Dunhuang. He is presumed to have been a preacher active around the time of the prosperous Tang dynasty, and wrote poems to enlighten the common people that explained Buddhist doctrines in simple terms, as well as works that sang of a secular, secluded ideology. His works were widely read from the end of the Tang dynasty to the Northern Song dynasty. His works are characterized by their extensive use of slang and strong folk sensibilities. The poetry collection, which originally consisted of three volumes, can be largely restored by putting the fragments together, but no complete copy has been handed down, and it has not been included in the Complete Tang Poems.

[Tamotsu Sato January 19, 2017]

"Yoshitaka Iriya, "A Study of Wang Fanzhi's Poetry Collection" (included in the Bibliographical Essays in Commemoration of Dr. Kanda's 60th Birthday, 1957, Dr. Kanda 60th Birthday Commemoration Association)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

生没年不詳。中国、唐代の僧侶(そうりょ)、詩人。経歴、詩集とも早くに隠滅し、20世紀初頭、敦煌(とんこう)出土文書のなかから写本詩集の断片が数種発見された。おそらく盛唐期前後に活躍した説教僧と推定され、庶民に仏教の教義を平易に説いた勧世詩、さらには脱俗的な隠遁(いんとん)思想を歌う作品をつくり、唐末から北宋(ほくそう)にかけてかなり広く読まれていた。俗語の多用と、民衆的な感覚を色濃くもつのを特色とする。もと3巻あった詩集は、断片を総合すればかなりの部分は復原可能であるが、完本は伝わらず、『全唐詩』にも未収。

［佐藤　保　2017年1月19日］

『入矢義高「王梵志詩集攷」（『神田博士還暦記念書誌学論集』所収・1957・神田博士還暦記念会）』

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