Wang Anshi (Wang An-Shih) (1021–1086) poet, essayist. Encyclopedia of World Writers, Beginnings To 20th Century

Wang Anshi was born in Linchuan (Lin-ch’uan), Fu
Prefecture (present-day Jiangxi [Jiangsu] Province).
His father was a magistrate of the Song (Sung) court,
and he spent most of his youth traveling with his
family. They finally settled in Jiangning (Chiangning;
present-day Nanjing [Nanking]). At age 21,
Wang became a local assistant district magistrate
after earning the “Presented Scholar” degree.He distinguished
himself as an administrator and reformer,
and in 1067 he was summoned to the capital
as a Hanlin academician. The Hanlin Academy was a
national academy of scholars within the imperial bureaucracy.
In 1070 the emperor promoted Wang to
the position of prime minister, but he did not
enjoy the ruler’s favor for long, and in 1074 he was
forced to resign and return to Jiangning. It was
during this time that Wang became increasingly
interested in literary pursuits and Buddhist philosophy.
Twelve years later, he died embittered after
discovering that all his proposed reform policies
were dismantled by the regent of the Song court.
Wang wrote more than 1,500 poems, many of
which address the social issues and economic ills
of Chinese society. He is best known for his essays
in which he discusses various contemporary political
and social problems, ideas concerning moral
behavior, and historical issues. One such essay,“The
Mountain Where Huibao [Hui-pao] Meditated”
(1054), reveals the influence of thinkers such as
WANG WEI and Buddhist philosophical thought. In
the essay,Wang emphasizes the achievements of
Hui-pao, a Buddhist monk who built a meditation
retreat at the base of Mount Paochan. The essay
serves as an allegory for Wang’s own political career.
His inability to advance far into the dark caves
of the mountain represents his limited political advancement.
Despite his failed career,Wang’s works are an
important source of information on the political
ideology and philosophical ideals of a man and the
generation of scholars who influenced and were
influenced by him. In Inscribed Landscapes,
Richard Strassberg calls Wang a “major literary figure
and influential poet” and “another of the Eight
Masters of T’ang and Sung Prose.”
Works about Wang Anshi
Freeman, Michael. Lo-Yang and the Opposition to
Wang An-Shih: The Rise of Confucian Conservatism,
1068–86. Yale University Thesis. Ann
Arbor: University Microfilms International, 1974.
Liu, James T. C. Reform in Sung China: Wang An-Shih
(1021–1086) and His New Policies. Cambridge,
Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1959.
Strassberg, Richard E., trans. Inscribed Landscapes:
Travel Writing from Imperial China. Berkeley:University
of California Press, 1994.

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