The scandal between Wang Wei and the princess (which princess appreciated Wang Wei)

Wang Wei was a great poet of the Tang Dynasty, and we all know that his poetry is extremely beautiful, “painting in poetry and painting in poetry”, leaving behind a large number of poems for later generations. Wang Wei’s poetry and prose are so excellent. So, I would like to ask, are you familiar with Wang Wei’s family life and love stories?
In the ninth year of Kaiyuan (721 AD), Wang Wei, who was only 21 years old, passed the imperial examination. Even at the age of 50, it is a great joy for ordinary people to pass the examination, let alone the spirited young man Wang Wei in white clothes.
Wang Wei, who had just arrived in the capital, met Prince Qi Li Fan (the half brother of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang). It is said that this prince was eager to learn, skilled in calligraphy, courteous and virtuous, and enjoyed making friends with young talents the most. And Wang Wei was also a talented scholar who was proficient in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting. There were not many great talents like Wang Wei in history, and Su Shi in later generations can also be considered one of them.
Wang Wei had a good relationship with Prince Qi, but there was not much he could do to help Wang Wei. With his recommendation, Wang Wei entered the mansion of Princess Yuzhen, the sister of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang who was of the same father and mother. The young man in white, Wang Wei, performed a pipa song called “Yulun Robe” on stage in the princess’s mansion. Immediately shocking the entire audience, Wang Wei became the most outstanding and renowned scholar in Chang’an city. Even Emperor Li Longji learned of a talented young man.
Wang Wei’s song ‘Yulun Robe’ has won the favor of Princess Yuzhen. This Princess Yuzhen had an excellent relationship with Emperor Xuanzong of Tang. When they were young, their mother died due to being involved in palace struggles, leaving only siblings. Emperor Xuanzong of Tang loved Princess Yuzhen very much. If Wang Wei can become the son-in-law of Princess Yuzhen, his success is just around the corner. However, Wang Wei has a childhood sweetheart and they have been engaged since childhood. Before Wang Wei went to the capital to take the exam, the two agreed that once Wang Wei achieved success in the exam, he would come back and get married.
The fianc é e, who was eagerly waiting for Wang Wei to return home in glory, finally received the news of Wang Wei’s success on the imperial examination. However, at the same time, there were rumors that were half true and half false: among Wang Wei’s achievements, there was the help of a princess. How could a proud Tang princess help an unknown scholar? At that time, he wanted to recruit him as his son-in-law. My fianc é e foolishly thought that it was also good. He had always had a global vision since childhood, and if he became a son-in-law, it would be a great opportunity for him to show his ambition. Where can an ordinary self help him achieve his aspirations? It’s better to fulfill him from here on! So, the understanding girl decided to withdraw from this competition and wrote a letter telling Wang Wei her intention.
Although Wang Wei received a letter from his lover from his hometown, he didn’t believe a word of the content inside. How could the clever Wang Wei not know his lover’s true thoughts? Soon, Wang Wei sought to meet Princess Yuzhen and explained everything to her, openly stating that there was a childhood sweetheart in his hometown who wanted to return to his hometown and marry her. Princess Yuzhen, who was beautiful and noble, probably did have some affection for this talented and handsome scholar, although she was nine years older than him. However, since ‘I have a husband and a wife’, I should also let go and fulfill this talented person, so that they can have a lover and finally get married. Princess Yuzhen remained unmarried throughout her life and eventually became a Taoist nun.
Wang Wei, who wrote “Red beans grow in the south, and a few branches bloom in spring. May you pick them more, this thing is the most beloved.” (“Love in the Palace”), did not have any legendary stories in his life. After Wang Weiying married her childhood sweetheart, the young couple was affectionate and devoted. She followed him around to work without any complaints, and they even had a clever and clever son.
Under the education of Wang Wei, their son was very intelligent. He followed Wang Wei in poetry and painting from a young age and learned poetry, music, and painting at an early age. Even when Wang Wei’s friend Meng Haoran came to visit, he praised their son and said that he could become a great person like his father in time. How happy a family of three should be!
Unexpectedly, unexpected events happened and their love story died young!
According to the New Book of Tang, Wang Wei “did not marry again after his wife’s death and lived alone in one room for thirty years.” At the age of 31, Wang Wei’s son passed away early due to illness, and his wife was unable to accept the premature death of her beloved son. She became depressed and fell ill, and a few months later, she also passed away due to excessive longing. From then on, Wang Wei lived alone in the cold world until he passed away at the age of 60, living alone for 30 years.
In ancient times, most men who had lost their wives would remarry, and successful men were also common to have three wives and four concubines. As a great scholar of the time, Wang Wei naturally had people who came to propose marriage to him and act as matchmakers after his wife passed away. However, Wang Wei remained unmoved, as if he had seen through the world after his beloved had left him. He spent his entire life alone and grew old alone.
We cannot understand how Wang Wei feels. What a sincere love it must have been, to make such a graceful man give up the most ordinary man’s left and right hugs in the world, and never forget his past promise for the rest of his life?
Strangely, Wang Wei, who is good at writing poetry, did not write any mourning poems about his wife’s death throughout his life. Why is this?
In history, many poets have written mourning poems after losing their wives. For example, Su Shi, who is familiar to us, once wrote “Ten years of life and death are two vast oceans” (after Su Shi finished writing, he continued to marry and take concubines), and Nalan Xingde also wrote the sentence “Gambling on books fades away, pouring tea fragrance”.
Only Wang Wei, people have never found any poems about him mourning his wife in his poetry.
Wang Wei, who can write excellent poems such as “Lonely Smoke in the Desert, Japanese Yen Falling in the Long River”, “Bright Moon Shines among the Pine Trees, Clear Springs and Stones Flow Up”, and “Empty Mountains, No People See, But People Speak Loudly”, if he were to write a poem mourning his wife’s death, it would definitely be no less than Su Shi’s “Jiangchengzi”.
The reason why Wang Wei did not write a poem to mourn his wife is probably because he dared not write it, afraid of seeing the pain in the poem, loved too deeply, and dared not recall even a trace of his lover. Memories can only stay in his own mind, and he dared not have a poem to make himself more painful.