晩年の王維(下)

Abstract

In his late years, Wang Wei devoted less of his time and effort to poetry than to prose composition. His prose works, however, are in the p'ien-wen or Parallel Prose style, which later went out of fashion and is generally looked down upon, so that they are seldom read today. As works of literary self-criticism and atonement, however, they deserve high appraisal. Though he was still in possession of his full poetic talent, that talent had reached such a refined level of development in the treatment of subjects concerned with nature or the life of the court that he found it impossible to employ it to express the tragic experiences of the rebellion. Feeling, at the same time, a sharp sense of responsibility for the rebellion, he determined to forego a life of retirement and to attempt to atone for his errors by taking an active part in political life. He became even more firmly convinced, during these years, that Buddhism constituted not only the path for his personal salvation, but a means of bringing blessing to the state as a whole. During these late years, he suffered from great spiritual anguish, and his health gradually failed. When he felt he had reached the limit of his strength, he wrote a letter to the emperor entitled "Impeaching Myself and Recommending My Younger Brother, " in which he announced that his life had been a failure. He died in 761. Because of his concern with politics, the literary works of his late years are mostly in the form of letters to the emperor. The writer believes that it was the influence of Buddhist thought that caused Wang Wei to have such a keen sense of personal responsibility.