The Ecosophy of Wang Wei's Poetry

Abstract

Wang Wei is the most influential landscape poet of the Tang Dynasty. Based on the influence of Taoism, Confucianism, and Buddhism, his poems both see the sentiment and feel the enlightenment of nature, and the ecological philosophical wisdom of the sages jumps off the page at the readers. This paper takes Wang Wei’s poems as the research object, adopting a literary method and content analysis to analyze the writing background, imagery and artistic methods of the poems in Annotation of Wang Wei's Poetry compiled by Mr. Yang Wensheng. After having studied Wang Wei’s poems and verses, it has revealed and summarized seven tenets of ecosophy: 1. the natural view of the unity of heaven and man; 2. the civilized view of ecological equality; 3. the worldview of the homogeneity of heaven and man; 4. the developmental view of adapting to nature; 5. the ethical view of loving all things; 6. the heavenly view of making use of the system; 7. the moral view of innocence and simplicity. Wang Wei’s ecosophy can be of significant practical value in addressing the potential serious consequences of the ecological crisis in the era of globalization. It is recommended that government and educational authorities actively promote Wang Wei’s poetry, emphasizing the dissemination of his ecosophical ideas. This will provide directional solutions for addressing the ecological crisis and building an ecological civilization from four aspects: fostering ecological awareness among citizens, cultivating moral values, advocating a philosophy of sustainable existence, and improving national ecological regulations.