Wei Yingwu (737–c. 791/792) was a Tang-dynasty poet and man of letters; another tradition places his death in the ninth year of the Zhenyuan era. His courtesy name was Yibo, and he was from Wannian in Jingzhao (modern Xi’an); Chang’an also appears as a place of origin. He was the nineteenth in birth order and was known as Wei the Left Department, Wei of Jiangzhou, and Wei of Suzhou.
Life
Born into a prominent Guanzhong family, Wei was a great-grandson of Wei Daijia and the son of Wei Luan. In 751, through hereditary privilege, he entered palace service as a sanwei lang under Xuanzong and was known for his headstrong, knight-errant manner; after An Lushan’s forces entered Chang’an, he lost his position and wandered, then turned to study. He entered the Imperial Academy in 758 and later earned the jinshi degree.
In the first year of the Guangde era (763), he became magistrate of Luoyang. Because of his upright administration and his punishment of military riders, he was brought before the acting governor and left office in 766; he later travelled east through the Huai region, passing through Huaiyin and Baoying before reaching Guangling. In 774 he became a director of meritorious service in the Jingzhao government, then served as acting magistrate of Gaoling and magistrate of Hu County; in 779 he became magistrate of Liyang, resigned because of illness, and lived at Shanfusi north of the Feng River, where he was also known as Xizhai and compiled several juan of the *Fengshang Xizhai yingao*.
In 781 he became an assistant director in the Ministry of Revenue’s Bibu, and in 783 he went out as governor of Chuzhou before soon being transferred to Jiangzhou, where he lived in seclusion by the Xijian. In 785 he served as governor of Jiangzhou, entered the court in 787 as left assistant director in the Department of State Affairs, and went out again in 788 as governor of Suzhou, becoming known as Wei of Suzhou; after leaving office in 790, he lived at Yongding Temple outside Suzhou, withdrew from public affairs, and died in Suzhou.
His wife was Yuan Ping (740–776), and his father-in-law was Yuan Yi (d. 762); his two sons were Wei Qingfu (776–809) and Wei Houfu (d. 828), while his grandsons included Wei Shi and Wei Zhuang (836–910). He exchanged verse and prose with Gu Kuang and Liu Changqing, and had verse-and-prose exchanges with Fang Rufu, Li Yi, and Xue Ju.
Poetry and literary achievement
Wei excelled in poetry, especially five-character verse. His five-character poems were elegant, leisurely, and understated, forming a style of their own; his song poems combined literary brilliance with an element of admonitory satire, and he became known as a landscape-and-pastoral poet. He was grouped with Tao Yuanming as Tao–Wei, and with Wang Wei, Meng Haoran, and Liu Zongyuan as Wang–Meng–Wei–Liu.
Bai Juyi described his five-character poetry as elegant and leisurely, with a distinctive style, and his song poems as possessing an element of admonitory satire beyond their literary brilliance. Later criticism traced his ancient five-character verse to Tao and its transformation through the Three Xies, finding it genuine without being plain and ornate without being gaudy.
Works
His transmitted collection 《韋應物詩集》 comprised ten juan. In the Northern Song, Wang Qinchen re-edited and arranged it under the title 《韋蘇州集》, and 《全唐詩》 likewise arranged his poems in ten juan. Standard editions include 《韋刺史詩集》 in ten juan with a one-juan appendix and 《韋蘇州集校正拾遺》 in one juan; an annotated edition is 《韋應物集校注》.
《全唐詩外編》 and 《全唐詩續拾》 add four poems. One prose piece and four ci lyrics are also extant.
References
- CBDB Wei Yingwu (32822)
- 搜韵 韋應物 (21277)
- Wikidata Wei Yingwu (Q1021828)