Wang Bo, whose name is Zi'an, was an outstanding poet in the early Tang Dynasty, ranked first among the "Four Masters of the Early Tang Dynasty", and became famous in history for his talent and literary brilliance. Although his life is short, it is like a meteor streaked across the night sky, leaving behind dazzling poems and legendary life stories.
Wang Bo was born in 650 A.D., his ancestral home is Longmen, Shanxi (now Hejin, Shanxi), his family is a scholarly family, his grandfather Wang Tong is a famous Confucian and philosopher in the late Sui Dynasty, and his father Wang Fuqi is also a well-educated person. In such a family environment, Wang Bo received a good education since he was a child, showing extraordinary intelligence and talent. According to the "New Tang Dynasty Book", Wang Bo was able to write at the age of six, and at the age of nine, he read Yan Shi's ancient annotation "Book of Han", and accused him of mistakes, which shows his early wisdom. At the age of fourteen, Wang Bo was awarded the position of Chaosanlang with his countermeasures, becoming the youngest official of the imperial court, and became famous for a while. Wang Bo was ambitious and talented, and was praised and respected by famous people in the literary world at that time, and was known as a "prodigy".
However, Wang Bo's career was not all smooth sailing. Soon after he first entered the official career, he was expelled from Chang'an because he wrote the article "The Chicken of the King of Ying", which was considered by Tang Gaozong to be suspected of provoking the relationship between the kings. During this period, he served in the army in Yuzhou, but because of the illegal possession of criminals and the murder of officials and slaves, he violated the law and was almost punished by death, but fortunately he was pardoned and died, but he was dismissed from his post, which also implicated his father in Jiaozhi (present-day northern Vietnam).
In 676 AD, on the way to visit his father, Wang Bo unfortunately drowned, and died of terror at the age of 27, and since then he has been buried in distant Vietnam. The life of this genius poet is like a meteor, and after a short period of time, it suddenly falls, which is deplorable. However, despite his short life, Wang Bo's poems were like eternal stars, illuminating the literary scene of the early Tang Dynasty and having a profound impact on the history of Chinese literature.
Wang Bo's literary achievements are mainly reflected in poetry and prose. His poems inherit the ancient style and rhyme since the Han and Wei dynasties, and integrate the new changes of the Qiliang era, forming a unique style that is fresh and handsome, and has far-reaching artistic conception. His poems cover a wide range of subjects, from nature poems depicting landscapes and pastorals, to epic poems that express personal feelings, and satirical poems that reflect social reality. Among them, the couplet "Confidant in the sea, if the end of the world is next to each other" in "Send Du Shaofu to Shuzhou", expresses the interpersonal affection that transcends time and space, and has become a famous sentence that has been praised through the ages.
In the field of prose, Wang Bo has also made outstanding achievements. His masterpiece "Preface to the Pavilion of King Teng" is known as the treasure of the prose, in which the prose is neat, the rhetoric is gorgeous, and the emotions are abundant, showing the author's grand mind and profound learning. In particular, the sentence "Luoxia and the lonely bird fly together, and the autumn water grows together in the sky", which depicts the magnificent scene of the integration of heaven and earth, and the unity of things and me, which can be called a classic sentence in the prose.
Wang Bo's literary creations, both poetry and prose, have had a profound impact on the literary style of the early Tang Dynasty with their unique artistic charm. His poems broke the glamorous atmosphere of the Six Dynasties and opened a new chapter in the majestic and magnificent poetry of the Tang Dynasty.
Wang Bo's early death is undoubtedly a great loss in the history of Chinese literature. However, it is precisely this tragic fate that gives his works a stronger tragic color and a deep philosophy of life. His poems are not only the outpouring of personal emotions, but also a profound reflection on life and the ultimate inquiry into life in the universe. This grand vision that transcends the limitations of individual life makes Wang Bo's works have universal value that transcends the times. Although Wang Bo's life was as short as a meteor, his poetic soul shone brightly in the long river of history and became an indelible treasure in the treasure house of Chinese literature.