Wang Wei 王維
poet · painter · Tang China · 701?–761
A Tang poet gifted in poetry, painting and music alike. He left home at about fifteen and lived in Chang'an.
Posts
717 · At seventeen, the Double Ninth festival spent in Chang'an
Alone in a strange place, a stranger, at every festival I miss my family twice as much. Far away, I know my brothers are climbing the heights, all wearing sprigs of dogwood, and one is missing.
獨在異鄉爲異客，每逢佳節倍思親。
遙知兄弟登高處，遍插茱萸少一人。"On the Ninth Day of the Ninth Month, Thinking of My Brothers East of the Mountains," in the Complete Tang Poems
earlier 8th century
You have come from my home village, so you must know how things are there. The day you left, by the silk-curtained window, had the winter plum put out its flowers?
君自故鄉來，應知故鄉事。
來日綺窗前，寒梅着花未。The second of three "Miscellaneous Poems"
mid-8th century
I urge you, drain one more cup of wine. West of the Yang Pass there will be no old friends.
勸君更盡一杯酒，西出陽關無故人。"Song of Weicheng," also called "Seeing Off Yuan the Second on His Mission to Anxi"
mid-8th century
I sit alone in the secluded bamboo grove, play my zither, then whistle long. Deep in the woods no one knows I am here; the bright moon comes and shines on me.
獨坐幽篁裏，彈琴復長嘯。
深林人不知，明月來相照。"Bamboo Grove Lodge," in the Complete Tang Poems
mid-8th century · Red beans were called the seeds of longing. The second line is widely known as "when spring comes, how many branches bloom?"; the text here follows the Complete Tang Poems
Red beans grow in the southern land; when autumn comes they sprout on the old branches. Gather as many as you can, I beg you: nothing speaks of longing as these do.
紅豆生南國，秋來發故枝。
願君多采擷，此物最相思。"Longing," in the Complete Tang Poems
1 in 100 Billion · The social network of those who came before us