Beyond Perfection: The Rhetoric of Chán Poetry in Wáng Wéi’s Wăng Stream Collection
Abstract
In the Tang and especially Song dynasties, a rhetoric of Chan poetry emerges in China: 'Discourse on poetry is like discourse on Chan'. However, it is not until the Ming and Qīng dynasties that the so-called 'Buddha of Poetry', Wang Wei, is retrogressively linked to this rhetoric. This chapter explores aspects of Wang Wei's nature poetry that may have formed the basis for such a link. It focuses on the 20-poem cycle The Wang Stream Collection , in which a famous Qīng critic finds that 'every word accords with Chan'. In particular, the chapter looks at structural and linguistic features that may be of greater importance in this context than previously realised. It should not surprise anyone, therefore, that the view of the Wang Stream Collection as Chan poetry has been strongly contested. Keywords: Chan Poetry; Wang Stream Collection ; Wang Wei
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Su Shi's choice of pentasyllabic lines, the usual meter for Chan poems, stands out because no other Song author used that meter in a bell inscription.
“Moreover, his decision to employ pentasyllabic lines, the preferred meter for Chan poems (Eifring 2012: 254), is remarkable, as he is the only Song author to use this meter in a bell inscription.”
From Originating in Emptiness, Present Everywhere: Representations of Song Dynasty (960-1279) Buddhist Bells in their Inscriptions (2020) · cites this paper as Eifring 2012: 254
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Burdorf, S. (2020) · Ghent University Academic Bibliography (Ghent University) · doi:10.2143/jiabs.43.0.3289051
- Authors
- Eifring, H.
- Corresponding author
- Eifring, Halvor
- ORCID
- Eifring, Halvor
- Venue
- Zen Buddhist Rhetoric in China, Korea, and Japan
- Publisher
- BRILL
- Published
- 2012-01-01
- Pages
- 237-264
- OpenAlex
- W2487343944
- Cited by
- 0
- References
- 0
- FWCI
- 0.00
- Type
- book chapter
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- BRILL eBooks (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Chinese history and philosophy
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Literature and Literary Theory › Poetry Analysis and Criticism
- Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › Religious studies › Indian and Buddhist Studies
- Keywords
- Wang Wei, Chan poetry, Zen Buddhism, nature poetry, rhetoric of poetry, Tang poetry, poetic structure, linguistic features of poetry
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