中英雙語話中國歷史名人 第47期:王維

Wang Wei (701~761), sometimes titled the Poet Buddha, was a Tang Dynasty Chinese poet, musician, painter and statesman.

王維(701~761)，人稱“詩佛”，唐代詩人、音樂家、畫家、政治家。

From a high family, he passed the civil service entrance examination in 721 and had a successful civil service career, rising to become Chancellor in 758.

王維出身於官僚地主家庭，721年通過科舉考試，仕途得意，758年官至尚書右丞。

During the An Lushan Rebellion he avoided actively serving the insurgents during the capital's occupation by pretending to be deaf.

安史之亂長安被佔期間，王維爲了不給叛軍當差而裝聾。

He spent ten years studying with the Chan master Daoguang.

王維師從道光禪師學習10年。

After his wife's death in 730, he did not remarry and established a monastery on part of his estate.

730年妻子去世後，王維未再婚娶，將他的輞川莊地建爲佛寺(清源寺)。

He is best known for his quatrains depicting quiet scenes of water and mist, with few details and little human presence.

王維最爲著名的是刻畫寧靜的水霧景色的絕句。在這些絕句裏，王維極少提到人的存在。

The Indiana Companion comments that he affirms the world's beauty, while questioning its ultimate reality.

《印第安納中國傳統文學指南》評價說，王維確認世界的美麗，但是質疑它的最終真實性。

It also draws a comparison between the deceptive simplicity of his works and the Chan path to enlightenment, which is built on careful preparation but is achieved without conscious effort.

《指南》也比較了王維作品表面上的質樸與禪學通向開悟境界的途徑。禪學的開悟建基於精心的準備，但是要想達到開悟的境界並不需要有意識的努力。

None of his original paintings survive, but copies of works attributed to him are also landscapes with similar qualities.

王維的親筆畫作沒有流傳下來，但是歸到他名下的摹本也是具有同樣特質的風景畫。

He influenced what became known as the Southern school of Chinese landscape art, which was characterised by strong brushstrokes contrasted with light ink washes.

王維對後來以落筆着力、水墨渲淡爲特徵的南方山水畫派有很大的影響。

Wang Wei's most famous poetry, such as the poem “Deer Park”, form a group titled Wang River Collection.

王維最著名的詩歌《鹿柴》被收人《輞川集》。

They record a poet's journey, ostensibly that of Wang Wei and his close friend, Pei Di. They are far more universal than a simple journey and have inspired generations of poets since, including recent adaptations such as Pain Not Bread's Introduction to Wang Wei, Barry Gifford's Replies to Wang Wei, and Gary Blankenship's A River Transformed. Eliot Weinberger and Octavio Paz's 19 Ways of Looking at Wang Wei is a brilliant essay concerning more than 19 translations of Wang Wei's "Deer Park".

這些詩記錄了一個詩人(很顯然是王維和他的朋友襲迪)的旅程，但是它們遠比簡單的一次旅程要深遠的多，並且影響了後代詩人的創作。近來受其影響的有:帕因·諾特·布萊德的《王維導論人門》，巴里·吉福德的《答王維》以及加里·布蘭肯西普的《變形的河流》。艾略特·溫伯格和奧科塔維奧·帕斯的《19種解讀王維的方法》，這篇精彩的論文考察的是王維《鹿柴》的19個以上版本的譯文。

One of Wang Wei's poems, called Weicheng Qu Or Song of the City of Wei has been adapted to the famous music melody, Yangguan Sandie or Three Refrains on the Yang Pass.

王維的《渭城曲》後來被改編成名曲《陽關三疊》。

The most famous version of this melody is that of the guqin, whichWang Wei probably played.

該曲最著名的版本是古琴版，很可能王維親自用古琴演奏過該曲。