In formulating my argument, I draw upon Western literary and phenomenological theorists in a bid to partially enact an integration of methodologies akin to the fusion of referents so subtly embodied in the imagery of Wang Wei. I address this article not primarily to specialists of Chinese literature but to those interested in the interplay of literature, religion, and philosophy generally, as Wang Wei offers an enthralling instance of the attempt to meld the literary and the religio-philosophical impulses in poetic form. Finally, I offer a reading of Wang Wei's poems, arguing that the Chan emphasis on a transmission outside explicit teachings led Wang Wei to eschew the exposition of doctrine in favor of a poetry that, in its simplicity and silence, embodies the very absence of the poet himself. I initially provide an overview of the Buddhist philosophical heritage from which Wang Wei drew inspiration and then describe the relationship between poetry and Chan Buddhism in Tang dynasty literary circles, thereby introducing the religious and literary milieus from which Wang Wei's poetic impulse sprang. A historical study of ancient literature has never felt so alive and timeless.This article explores the ways in which the imagery at work within the poetry of Wang Wei (王維 699–761) expresses Mahāyāna Buddhist notions of emptiness. In 70 sections that span the millennia, the translator traverses continents and civilizations to retrieve the text of Tang Poetry for our century, prompted by the voice of another guide, the Rhino, a magical being and original spirit who held a special place in Tang China.

'A bird translates silence,” the extraordinarily thorough and utterly original afterword begins.

True to the spirit of classics, these poems from 1,200 years ago read like they were still being written somewhere in the world - to be read today and tomorrow: “In dark times we read by the light of letters.” It was left for poetry to teach the least and the most, says the translator literacy of the heart in a barbarous world. Chinese history can be read in the words of the poets. More than reading matter, it was a common currency-whether as a necessity or luxury in times of rampant warfare, droughts, famine, plague, man-made and natural disasters.

Monks, courtiers, courtesans, woodsmen, and farmhands alike were all fluent in poetry. Known as the Golden Age of Poetry, the Tang Dynasty was a time when poems were bartered for wine and tea, posted in temples and taverns the words of poets unmissable as street art and signage. In this anthology, we meet Du Fu, Li Bai, Wang Wei, and others less familiar to readers in English. Chinese poetry is unique in world literature in that it was written for the best part of 3,000 years by exiles and refugees.

The poetry of wang wei