Beyond Perfection: The Rhetoric of Chán Poetry in Wáng Wéi’s Wăng Stream Collection

In the Tang and especially Song dynasties, a rhetoric of Chan poetry emerges in China: 'Discourse on poetry is like discourse on Chan'. However, it is not until the Ming and Qīng dynasties that the so-called 'Buddha of Poetry', Wang Wei, is retrogressively linked to this rhetoric. This chapter explores aspects of Wang Wei's nature poetry that may have formed the basis for such a link. It focuses on the 20-poem cycle The Wang Stream Collection , in which a famous Qīng critic finds that 'every word accords with Chan'. In particular, the chapter looks at structural and linguistic features that may be of greater importance in this context than previously realised. It should not surprise anyone, therefore, that the view of the Wang Stream Collection as Chan poetry has been strongly contested. Keywords: Chan Poetry; Wang Stream Collection ; Wang Wei