Author: Jiu Ge & Guo Yan
In the year when Wang Weifu was appointed as Zuo Buque, Li Bai was edicted to enter Beijing and enshrine Hanlin, ushering in the most proud period of his life. However, these two people were officials in the same dynasty and were both poets in the Tang Dynasty, but they never had the opportunity to meet and get acquainted, and they missed each other. Their lives and poetry never intersected. Later scholars speculated that it may be because Wang Wei was too Buddhist, too introverted and peaceful, Li Bai, who had a flamboyant personality, disdained to know Wang Wei, and Wang Wei did not disdain to take the initiative to make friends with Li Bai, who drank all day long. Li Bai admires Meng Haoran, and Wang Wei admires Meng Haoran, they are both very good friends. Both of them are labeled as "landscape idyllic poets", and they both love to write about landscape idylls and secluded Yixing, and later generations call them "Wang Meng". In the seventeenth year of Kaiyuan (729), Meng Haoran entered Chang'an to participate in the Jinshi examination, because of the sentence "faint clouds and light river Han, dredging raindrops and sycamores" moved the minister, and Wang Wei also met Meng Haoran during this period. But after Meng Haoran unfortunately fell into the first place, he had no hope of seeking office, so he had to return to Xiangyang, Hubei Province to continue his seclusion. Before leaving, he wrote a poem to Wang Wei complaining about what happened to him: What to do with loneliness, and return to the sky. If you want to find fragrant grass, you will go against the old people. When the road is fake, the bosom friend is rare. should only guard the loneliness and cover the old garden. - Meng Haoran's "Farewell to the King and the Imperial Guard" Soon, Wang Wei gave him a poem in return: Du Men will not come back, and he has been estranged from the world for a long time. Take this as a good strategy to persuade the monarch to return to his old house. Drunk singing Tianshe wine, laughing and reading the books of the ancients. Good is a lifelong thing, no hard work and no sacrifice. - Wang Wei's "Sending Meng Liu to Xiangyang" is comforting and encouraging Meng Haoran, persuading him to return to his hometown and live in seclusion, there is really no need to work hard in Chang'an to offer poems and seek officials. In Wang Wei's view, it is good to be able to live in seclusion in the countryside, free and comfortable, unlike being an official who is so hard and not free. 
Sometimes, history is just fun. Wang Wei has been an official all his life, but he desperately wants to return to the countryside; Meng Haoran has been living in seclusion all his life, but he desperately wants to be an official. Neither has the freedom of choice. Wang Wei said that the hardships of being an official are by no means against his will. Wang Wei was really tired of being an official, and he had to choose to be an official realistically. This kind of psychological fragmentation led to him after the age of forty and began to live a life of being both official and hidden, concentrating on Buddhism and Zen, and was known as "the official hidden". Sitting alone with sad sideburns, empty and wanting to be two watches. The mountains and fruits fall in the rain, and the grass and insects chirp under the lamp. Gray hair is hard to change, ** can't be done. If you want to know how to get rid of old age and disease, you can only learn without life. ——Wang Wei's "Sitting Alone on an Autumn Night" Tianbao Three Years (744), forty-four-year-old Wang Wei bought a villa in Rongchuan, Lantian Province, Shaanxi Province with the money he had accumulated for many years. This villa is at the foot of Zhongnan Mountain and was once the residence of the early Tang Dynasty poet Song Zhiwen. Song Zhiwen was once prominent for a while because of his outstanding literary talent and flattery to the powerful, but later he was degraded twice and died in a foreign land. The Rim River villa was then deserted. 
Picture: Wang Wei of Zhongnan Mountain bought this land because the geographical location is very good, very close to Chang'an, and you can drive to it every time you take a break. Moreover, the Rim River is close to the mountains and waters, and the mountains are deep and quiet, which is an ideal place for Wang Wei to escape from the world. Wang Wei, who was in high spirits, walked in the mountains over and over again, and after finding out the mountain and scenery of the Rim River, he personally drew drawings and hired craftsmen to recreate this peach blossom source of his own. Wang Wei spent a lot of money to repair 20 scenery that can be viewed and played, respectively, Mengcheng Ao, Huazigang, Wenxingguan, Jinzhuling, Luchai, Mulan Chai, Zhuyupan, Gonghuaimo, Linhu Pavilion, Nanyuan, Xianghu, Liulang, Luanjiase, Jinfenquan, Baishitan, Beiyuan, Zhuli Pavilion, Xinyiwu, Qiyuan, Jiaoyuan. These scenery are all taken from anywhere, you can see the green willows, enjoy the hibiscus, watch the garden, you can also enjoy the lake, enjoy the bamboo, listen to the rain, listen to the birdsong.
Picture: Wang Wei's original intention of purchasing another business in the peach orchard and lacquer garden of Gongchuan Villa was to honor his mother. Wang Wei's mother's surname is Cui, and he was born in the Boling Cui family, one of the five surnames, and has believed in Buddhism all his life. Wang Wei believes in Buddhism and is more or less influenced by his mother. In order to take his mother to live in other industries, Wang Wei set up a "grass hall house" at the southern end of Mengcheng Ao, where he lived, and a big Buddha hall was set up in the house for Cui's family to chant and chant Buddha. At the same time, there is also Wang Wei's younger brother Wang Jin. At that time, Wang Jin served as the imperial historian, and he was the first to picket the etiquette of the early dynasty, and his official position was similar to Wang Wei. The two are close in age and have the deepest relationship. Wang Wei spent the most peaceful time of his life in Gongchuan, and also wrote the most leisurely and tranquil poems. The middle-aged man is quite good, and his late home is in the south of the mountains. Every time you go alone, you know what you are winning. Go to the poor place of the water, and sit and watch the clouds rise. Occasionally, Lin Suo, talk and laugh without a repayment date. ——Wang Wei, "Farewell to the South".
During this period, Wang Wei also met Pei Di, a lifelong confidant. The personalities of the two are not very different, Wang Wei is more like Tao Yuanming, and Pei Di is like a madman from the Chu State who is drunk and singing, but their transcendent hearts are similar and close to each other. They live together in Zhongnan Mountain, and "float boats back and forth, play the piano and write poems, and sing all day long" in Gongchuan Villa, leisurely. In their later years, they also sang and sang on the same theme with the beautiful scenic spots of Gongchuan, and each wrote 20 poems with five unique poems. Later, the poems of the two were compiled into a collection of poems, namely "Gongchuan Collection", many of which are famous. There is no one in the empty mountain, but there is a sound of people's voices. Return to the deep forest, and revisit the moss. ——Wang Wei, "Rim River Collection, Lu Chai".
Sitting alone in the secluded grate, playing the piano and howling. People in the deep forest don't know, and the bright moon comes to take pictures. ——Wang Wei, "Rim River Collection, Bamboo Pavilion".
Hibiscus flowers, red calyx in the mountains. The stream is lonely, and they open and fall. ——Wang Wei's "Rim River Collection: Xinyiwu" Wang Wei has a pair of eyes to discover natural beauty, and expresses the scenery of empty mountains and deep forests, pine winds, mountains and moons, mountain streams and wild flowers as extremely quiet and beautiful, just like the primeval realm, and like a plain and distant ink painting, ethereal and clean. 
Pictured: Luchai at the Rim River Villa.
Every time he rested, Wang Wei returned to Gongchuan and lived a semi-secluded life. Although it is a seclusion, the days are by no means Tao Yuanming's. There are more than ten child servants in Gongchuan, and in any case, Wang Wei's life is at least prosperous, and the people who come and go are not illiterate farmers, but literati and scholars. Of course, he often corresponded with Pei Di, especially when Pei Di moved to Gongchuan Villa to live, the two had a closer relationship. Spring is coming, the grass and trees are green and lovely, Wang Wei will write a letter to invite Pei Di to travel and enjoy the scenery together:
When waiting for the middle of spring, the grass and trees are sprawling, the spring mountains can be seen, the light minnows come out of the water, the white gulls are overbearing, the dew is wet and green, the wheat is long, Si is not far away, can you swim from me? —Excerpt from Wang Wei's Book of Mountains and Pei Xiucaidi.
In the rainy season, the two can't go out to meet, and they will also write poems to each other to express their thoughts:
The rain is obscure, and the flat sand disappears the floating color. The rim water goes to a leisurely time, where is the South Mountain. ——Pei Di, "Rim Mouth Meets Rain, Reminiscences of the End of Nanshan Because of Wang Wei".
Miao Miao's cold current is wide, and the autumn rain is obscure. Jun asked Zhongnan Mountain, knowing that the white clouds were outside. ——Wang Wei, "Answering Pei Di's Rim Mouth and Remembering the End of Nanshan in the Rain".
Pictured: The gold dust spring of the Rim River Villa.
Wang Wei is not like Li Bai, who likes to exaggerate his expression, and as soon as he opens his mouth, he is "soaring up to 90,000 miles". He is also not like Du Fu, who is full of grief and pain, and his emotions are often exposed. Wang Wei does not write about his emotions easily, and is always suppressing his emotions, pursuing a state of peace and tranquility without self. Wang Wei doesn't care about politics, what he cares about is the placement of his own spirit, and Gongchuan Beiye is his spiritual sustenance. He basically does not write poems about the disadvantages of the times, and he rarely worries about the country and the people like Du Fu, and has deep disappointment with the current situation. For nearly ten years, in his spare time, Wang Wei would hide in this escapist peach blossom paradise. Although he was semi-hidden, Wang Wei was quite proud in the officialdom, and he was promoted one after another, from an eighth-rank official to a fifth-grade official. At this time, he had long been unenterprising in politics, but he was repeatedly promoted. In the early years, when he was high-spirited and had a great yearning for politics, he was demoted from Chang'an. The trick of fate is so inhibitive. In the more than ten years that Wang Wei dreamed of escapism, the powerful Tang Empire was rapidly declining, and the outbreak of the Anshi Rebellion directly brought him into reality. 
Pictured: Anshi Rebellion.
Zhang Jiuling's dismissal was a watershed in the rise and fall of the Tang Dynasty. Zhang Jiuling was dismissed, not only the imperial court lost a talent, but also the beginning of Xuanzong's neglect and fall of power. Prior to this, most of the prime ministers of the Tang Dynasty only served for three to five years, and their power was relatively scattered. However, starting with Li Linfu, the prime minister began to centralize power. Li Linfu was in power from the twenty-fourth year of Kaiyuan (736) to the eleventh year of Tianbao (752), and his dictatorship lasted for sixteen years. Li Linfu's successor, Yang Guozhong, was the catalyst for the outbreak of the Anshi Rebellion. Whether it is centralized power or treachery, Yang Guozhong is better than Li Linfu. In addition to serving as the prime minister, Yang Guozhong also held more than 40 positions, such as the secretary of the Ministry of Education, the scholar of Jixian Academy, the supervisor of national history, and the scholar of Chongyuanguan University. He looted the people's fat and ointment, amassed wealth excessively, and was in power for only three years, but he launched two wars against Nanzhao one after another, and the number of troops lost because of him was as high as more than 200,000, and the people complained and the people were not able to make a living. Yang Guozhong was afraid that An Lushan's power was expanding day by day and posed a threat to him, so he kept telling Xuanzong that An Lushan would rebel, and secretly weakened An Lushan's power. Judging from the later facts, this not only did not achieve the purpose of taking precautions, but instead gave An Lushan the name of crusading against Yang Guozhong on the side of the Qing monarch and rebelling in advance. In November of the 14th year of Tianbao (755), An Lushan raised troops in his domain Fanyang (now Beijing, Hebei), and captured Luoyang in only 33 days, and proclaimed himself emperor in Luoyang. Xuanzong, who received the news in advance, took Yang Guifei and Yang Guozhong and other cronies, and hurriedly went out to Chengdu under the cover of night. And Wang Wei and the others were abandoned, captured by An Lushan's army, and taken to Luoyang. 
Xuanzong left, the crown prince Li Heng did not go, and soon he ascended the throne in Lingwu (now Ningxia), which was for Suzong, changed the name of the year to virtue, and respected Xuanzong who avoided trouble in Shuchuan as the emperor. When Xuanzong heard that An Lushan had rebelled, he angrily killed his son An Qingzong. At that time, An Lushan was leading the army to attack in the direction of Chang'an, and when he knew that his son had been killed, he was furious and killed six or seven thousand captured officers and soldiers. Then, from Hebei all the way to capture Chenliu, Xingyang, the eastern capital Luoyang, all the way to Chang'an. After capturing Chang'an, the first thing An Lushan did was to avenge An Qingzong, he brutally killed more than 100 members of the Li Tang royal family, and exterminated the ** who fled Shuchuan with Xuanzong. After taking revenge, An Lushan began to look for his new court**. He made a list of the ** captured, coerced and lured them out, and Wang Wei was also invited. An Lushan valued Wang Wei's talent very much, and forced him to serve in Luoyang, the eastern capital, and still served as an official in the five grades. Wang Wei did not dare to refuse directly in the face of An Lushan's invitation, so he had to take medicine and pretend that he could not speak, so he was imprisoned by An Lushan in the Bodhi Temple in Luoyang. Less than a year after An Lushan launched the attack, he defeated the Tang Dynasty officials and troops one after another, captured half of the country's territory, and occupied Chang'an. Happy, An Lushan enjoyed a banquet next to the Ningbi Pond in Luoyang. He summoned the children of Liyuan to play music. Most of the children of Liyuan have been trained by Xuanzong, and they have a deep relationship with Xuanzong, seeing this scene, thinking of Xuanzong who fled, they all cried, and refused to play music. Among them, Lei Haiqing, a musician, was even more sad and angry, threw the musical instrument in his hand on the ground, and cried loudly in the direction of Shuchuan, and all the musicians cried together. This move angered An Lushan, and directly tied the musician in front of the horse test hall and dismembered him. This matter soon spread throughout Chang'an City, especially the hundred officials who were invited to join the office, and the people were panicked and did not dare to make any more moves to anger An Lushan. Pei Di, who heard the news, was very nervous, afraid that Wang Wei would act excessively and provoke An Lushan and lead to death, so he tried to sneak into the Bodhi Temple. When he entered the temple and saw Wang Wei, he told him about the music work of Ning Bichi. After hearing this, Wang Wei burst into tears, thinking that the country was ruined and the family was ruined, and human life was like a mustard, and he suddenly missed the days when he could go to court very much. Thousands of households are sad and have wild smoke, and hundreds of officials will be even more upside down. The autumn locust leaves fall into the empty palace, and the head of the Ning Bi Pond plays the orchestra. ——Wang Wei, "Poems of Ning Bi Pond".
Wang Wei was very worried, and An Lushan's brutality shocked him very much. This time I pretended to be sick and was just imprisoned in the temple, what will happen next time? Wang Wei felt very uneasy and asked Pei Di to convey the news and let Wang Jin, who was serving as a taishou in Taiyuan, try to rescue him. After speaking, Wang Wei sighed again:"I really don't want to be a traitor, how can I avoid this? ”The two were relatively speechless, the situation was too chaotic, they were just duckweed in troubled times, and their fate was up to them. Before saying goodbye to Pei Di, Wang Wei told Pei Di that he wanted to live in seclusion: Andeshera net, brushing his clothes and leaving the world. Leisurely plan the quinoa cane and return to the peach blossom source. - Not long after Wang Wei's "Slogan and Show Pei Di", Wang Wei was forced to accept the false position. In the second year of Zhide (757), after more than a year of **, Suzong recaptured Chang'an and also recovered Luoyang, Tokyo. After Suzong stabilized in Chang'an, he began to liquidate the courtiers who had served as puppet officials, including Wang Wei.
Wang Wei and other prisoners were escorted back to Chang'an from Luoyang and imprisoned in Yang Guozhong's old mansion, waiting for Su Zong's fate. In the court, everyone argued about how to send the offender, and Su Zong couldn't make up his mind. Cui Qi said to Su Zong: "These criminals, who have turned their backs on the country and become hypocrites for traitors, should all be executed according to the laws of the Tang Dynasty." After hearing this, Su Zong thought that he was very right, and wanted to do the same. Li Xian did not approve of this practice and hurriedly dissuaded: "The traitors occupy the two capitals, the Son of Heaven patrols south, and everyone has the desire to survive. Among these prisoners, there are relatives of His Majesty, and there are also many descendants of the old lords. If all of them were to be sentenced to death, it would be contrary to the way of mercy. Moreover, Hebei has not yet been pacified, and there are still many people who work for the traitors, and if they are forgiven, they can let go of the road of reform. If they are all killed, it will strengthen their determination to cling to the traitors, please think twice, Your Majesty. In this way, the hundred officials argued for several days about whether they should be all executed or lightly punished. In the end, Su Zong still chose to follow Li Xiandao's advice and convicted the sixth class, the heavier one was beheaded in the market, the second class committed suicide, and the rest were either heavily roded, exiled, or degraded. As soon as the conviction came out, Wang Jin immediately wrote a recital to Su Zong: "Jin is willing to atone for his brother's sin with his own official and ask for a reduction in the conviction." "Su Zong had heard Wang Wei's "Ning Bi Chi Poem" as early as when he was in Lingwu, and knew that Wang Wei was concerned about the imperial court. This poem won Su Zong's forgiveness. Moreover, when Wang Jin was in Taiyuan, he had a meritorious role in resisting the rebels, and Suzong did not want to chill Wang Jin's heart, so he approved Wang Jin's request and demoted Wang Jin to the history of Shuzhou. followed Wang Jin to Shuzhou, as well as Pei Di.
Among this group of prisoners, Wang Wei is undoubtedly the luckiest. There is a younger brother Wang Jin who intercedes for him, and Su Zong also cherishes his talent and can't bear to blame him. In the second year (758), Su Zong awarded Wang Wei the title of crown prince Zhongyun, and soon added him as a scholar of Jixian, which can be said to be extremely honorable. The crown prince Zhongyun is a subordinate official of the prince, who is responsible for the etiquette of the attendants, and reviews the prince's notes and documents to the emperor. The Jixian Academy, set up by Xuanzong, was the largest book collection institution in the Tang Dynasty, responsible for reading and revising historical books. Li Linfu served as the crown prince Zhongyun, and when Yang Guozhong was the prime minister, he was also a scholar of Jixian Academy. Su Zong's intention is obvious, he is cultivating Wang Wei as the future prime minister. After understanding Su Zong's intentions, Wang Wei was deeply frightened, and immediately submitted the "Xie Eliminate the Prince Zhongyun Table" to tell Su Zong his guilt. Wang Wei felt deeply guilty that he did not commit suicide when he was trapped in a den of thieves. He said that he was ashamed of Su Zong, and he had no face to be an official in the same dynasty as the ministers, and Su Zong awarded the crown prince Zhongyun, which made him sincerely afraid. Wang Wei also asked for the Rim River to be given to the monks as a temple and allowed to become a monk. Su Zong did not agree to Wang Wei's request to become a monk, but promoted Wang Wei again and made him the right man of Shangshu, and the official was subordinate to the fourth grade. Since the beginning of the Kaiyuan period of Xuanzong, the government affairs of Shangshu Province have been mainly controlled by Shangshu Zuocheng and Shangshu Youcheng, and the left and right sides are responsible for reviewing the edict and also have the right to seal and refute the edict. If Shang Shu Youcheng adds the false title of Tongping Zhangshi, it will be equivalent to the prime minister.
Picture: Portrait of Wang Wei.
However, in this year, Wang Wei, who has been living in guilt, is depressed all day long, and feels that his time is short. Every time he thought of his younger brother who was far away in Shuzhou, he couldn't help but burst into tears. Wang Jin could have found a good job in Chang'an with his military exploits, but because he saved him, he served in the remote Shuzhou, which led to the separation of his brothers. The separation of flesh and bone in his later years was Wang Wei's biggest pain. The death knell has sounded, and he wants to see his brother again before he dies. If he is lucky, Wang Jin may be able to accompany him for a while longer. Wang Wei wanted to intercede with Suzong and let Wang Jin return to Beijing. He bowed his head to the table, but he couldn't put pen to paper for a long time. He was thinking about how to write in order to impress Su Zong and allow his younger brother to return to Chang'an to take up his post, and as soon as possible. His days are numbered. In the end, Wang Wei decided to do what his younger brother did for him, resign from Shangshu Youcheng, and exchange for his younger brother to stay in Chang'an. Wang Wei tearfully wrote the "Bow and Recommend Brother Table" and personally recommended Wang Jin to Suzong.
The five short ministers and the five long brothers are meritorious and can be political. Gu Chen's official Hua Province, and his younger brother is far away in Fangzhou, he is ashamed of the virtuous outside, ashamed of righteousness inside, heartbroken, and takes the day as the year. The minister approached the suspension car again, and fell into the ground at dusk, lonely, and had no children and grandchildren. The younger brother and the minister are even more fatal, and the two of them are white-headed, and they are afraid of the Yellow Spring. They have to live together, look at each other but do not see each other, and when they are annihilated, their souls are dependent. ——Excerpt from Wang Wei's "Bow and Recommend Brother Table".
Wang Wei still can't forget the shame of betraying the country and enduring humiliation, thinking that he is overwhelmed. He compared himself with Wang Jin, and deeply felt that he was inferior to Wang Jin in five aspects, including loyalty, political talent, righteousness, literary talent, and virtue, and hoped that Su Zong could consider reusing Wang Jin. At the end of the article, Wang Wei told his concern for his younger brother and hoped to move Suzong with family affection.
Picture: Portrait of Wang JinAfter reading Wang Wei's "Bow to Recommend Brother Table", Su Zong immediately burst into tears, and was deeply moved by the brotherhood between Wang Wei and Wang Jin. In the second year of the Qianyuan Dynasty (759), Suzong replied to Wang Wei's request and granted Wang Jinguan Zuo Sanshan to ride a permanent attendant, which was under the third rank and belonged to the province of Menxia, and the "permanent attendant" was to serve the Son of Heaven. This official is to admonish the emperor's mistakes, although he has no real power, but he is a very noble official title, which can influence the decision-making of the Son of Heaven, and is often used as an additional official to the minister. Later, Wang Jin really paid homage to the prime minister twice. Let Wang Jin return to Beijing to become famous, Su Zong is trying to find a suitable official for Wang Jin to show his attention. From the moment the edict was officially issued, Wang Wei was anxiously waiting. However, the award of officials has to go through the process, and it takes time for the edict to arrive, and Wang Jin will have to go through a long journey to return to Chang'an. Wang Wei's day by day is like a year, and from time to time he asks the children around him: "Xia Qing (Wang Jin's character) has come to **?" Wang Wei became more and more anxious, and asked when he met people: "When will Xia Qing arrive?" Everyone always reassured him, "Xia Qing is almost here." Wang Wei waited and waited, afraid that if he couldn't wait for Wang Jin, he wouldn't be able to hold on, so he asked the boy to bring paper and pen, wrote a farewell letter to Wang Jin, and made several farewell letters with his relatives, urging his friends to practice Buddhism. After writing, he asked the boy servant who was accompanying him softly: "Is Xia Qing almost here?" The boy servant reported: "People have arrived in Fengxiang, only more than 300 miles, and they will enter Beijing in a few days." ”However, Wang Wei did not wait for Wang Jin after all, and passed away. The year was the second year of the Shang Dynasty (761). After Wang Wei died, he was buried as he wished in his spiritual peach blossom source - Qingyuan Temple in Gongchuan Beiye. This is the temple built by Wang Wei after donating other businesses. He broke free of the net, stayed away from the hustle and bustle, and realized his dream of "returning to the Peach Blossom Spring".