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699–761

Wang Wei

王維

Read Wang Wei through wooded solitude, moonlight, red beans, and farewells before and after departure, with original English translations and notes.

Wang Wei (traditionally 699–761), courtesy name Mojie, 摩詰, is associated with landscape poetry, painting, and Buddhist practice. Those associations can prepare a reader, but the poems here offer a more precise introduction. Some listen and look in wooded places; others address a departing friend or place longing in a small object.

An empty mountain is not a silent one

Deer Enclosure belongs to the Wangchuan sequence, named for places associated with Wang Wei’s estate. The four lines begin with an absence: no person is visible. Human voices are nevertheless heard. In the second half, light enters the deep woods and reaches the moss.

Track the verbs before deciding what the landscape signifies. Seeing, hearing, entering, and shining make a sequence of perceptions. Calling the poem simply “a quiet scene” misses the voice; calling it a painted landscape misses the order in which the scene reaches us.

Wang Wei’s religious interests have informed many readings of the poem. The four lines themselves do not supply a doctrinal explanation. Our notes start with the words and the sensory changes, leaving the reader room to consider a broader context without making it a hidden answer.

A farewell held at the table

Sending Yuan Er to Anxi opens with morning rain and fresh willow color near the lodging place. The final couplet turns to the friend and the offered cup. Beyond the pass lies a journey away from familiar people.

The poem has seven characters per line, compared with Deer Enclosure’s five. More important than that difference is the act of address. The first poem leaves its human figures unseen; this one depends on someone being close enough to receive an invitation. Read them together before treating “nature poet” as a complete description of Wang Wei.

Both works appear in the public transcription of Complete Tang Poems, juan 128: Deer Enclosure within the Wangchuan group, and the farewell under the title 渭城曲, “Weicheng Song.” The source notes on the poem pages identify the readings used here.

The person who stays, the person who is absent

Bamboo Grove is another place in the Wang River sequence. This time the solitary sitter makes the sound: a qin and a long call. The moon comes at the end. Set its known musician beside Deer Enclosure’s unseen voices before calling both poems silent.

Farewell in the Mountains begins after seeing a friend off. A gate closes; the poem asks whether the friend will return with next year’s grass. Red Beans gives remembrance something that can be gathered. Its unnamed addressee could be a friend or a beloved. The notes preserve that openness and explain a textual variant that reverses the advice about gathering.

For another short poem organized through sound, read Meng Haoran’s Spring Dawn. For another cup offered to a friend, try Bai Juyi’s A Question for Liu Nineteen. The latter invites company into a room; Wang Wei’s farewell delays a departure. The nature, farewell, and jueju shelves let you pursue those different connections.

An inhabited retreat and a distant frontier

Autumn Evening in the Mountains begins with an “empty” mountain but includes women returning from washing and a fishing boat. Its quietness accommodates ordinary human activity. In A Retreat at Zhongnan, a solitary walk ends in an accidental conversation: company need not spoil withdrawal.

An Envoy at the Frontier takes the same poet into a different role. A mission, a mounted scout, and a commander belong to its setting; the straight smoke and round sun organize its immense view. For a more intimate distance, turn to A Question about the Plum Tree. A single remembered plant can make home present without describing the whole house.

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Poems in this hub

Wang Wei Deer Enclosure 鹿柴 Wang Wei’s quatrain from the Wangchuan poems: an empty mountain, a voice, and late light on the moss, with gloss and a new English translation. Wang Wei Sending Yuan Er to Anxi 送元二使安西 Wang Wei’s farewell to Yuan Er, with Chinese text, pinyin, and English notes on the last cup, fresh willows, Yang Pass, and the prospect of leaving old friends. Wang Wei Red Beans 相思 Wang Wei’s red beans become a token of longing in twenty characters: Chinese, pinyin, word gloss, an original English translation, and textual notes. Wang Wei Bamboo Grove 竹里館 A qin, a long call, and moonlight enter Wang Wei’s solitary bamboo grove. Read the Chinese with pinyin, character glosses, original translation, and notes. Wang Wei Farewell in the Mountains 山中送別 Wang Wei closes a gate after a friend leaves, then asks about next spring. Chinese, pinyin, word gloss, original translation, and notes on the final question. Wang Wei A Farewell: Returning to the Mountains 送別 A parting drink and a few questions give way to the endless clouds of a chosen retreat. Read the Chinese, pinyin, word meanings, and original English translation. Wang Wei Remembering My Brothers on the Double Ninth 九月九日憶山東兄弟 Wang Wei’s Double Ninth poem in Chinese, pinyin, and English: an imagined family gathering turns the distant speaker into the person missing from the group. Wang Wei Bird Calls in the Ravine 鳥鳴澗 Wang Wei’s Bird Calls in the Ravine, with pinyin and English notes on spring gui blossoms, moonrise, and the intermittent calls that make stillness audible. Wang Wei Magnolia Hollow 辛夷塢 Magnolia blossoms open and fall in a ravine without an audience. Read the Chinese, pinyin, word meanings, and original English translation. Wang Wei In the Mountains 山中 A rainless mountain path seems to wet the traveler through the density of its green. Read the Chinese, pinyin, word meanings, and original English translation. Wang Wei A Question about the Plum Tree 雜詩三首·其二 All the news of home narrows to one question about blossoms beside a window. Read the Chinese, pinyin, word meanings, and original English translation. Wang Wei Autumn Night Song 秋夜曲 A musician keeps playing in the cold because returning to an empty room is harder. Read the Chinese, pinyin, word meanings, and original English translation. Wang Wei Autumn Evening in the Mountains 山居秋暝 Wang Wei’s Autumn Evening in the Mountains, with pinyin and English notes on moonlight, washing women, a fishing boat, and reasons to remain after spring. Wang Wei An Envoy at the Frontier 使至塞上 An envoy’s sparse journey opens into a desert marked by one straight smoke trail and a round setting sun. Read the Chinese, pinyin, word meanings, and original English translation. Wang Wei A Retreat at Zhongnan 終南別業 A walk reaches the end of a stream, becomes cloud-watching, and ends in unhurried conversation. Read the Chinese, pinyin, word meanings, and original English translation.