[1]Dates and identityWang Changling’s dates are disputed: the materials give c. 690–c. 756, 698–c. 756, 694?–756?, an unspecified birth year, and a precise 690–756 range. He is identified as a Tang poet and has a documented official career.
CBDBWang Changling (92035)The record gives the name Wang Changling, birth year 690, death year 756, Tang affiliation, and the status of poet, alongside official appointments.
Souyun王昌齡 (18440)The profile gives 698 and 756, while the biographical texts give c. 690–c. 756, ?–756?, and 694?–756?; they also identify him as a poet of the Tang period.
WikidataWang Changling (Q704344)The item names Wang Changling, describes him in Chinese as a Tang poet and in English as a Tang-dynasty politician, and gives date values corresponding to 698 and 756.
[2]Courtesy name, origin, and sobriquetsWang Changling’s courtesy name was Shaobo and his sibling ranking was Da. His origin is given as Wannian in Jingzhao or more generally Chang’an in Jingzhao, with Yizhou as an ancestral home; he was also called Wang Jiangning and Wang Longbiao and received the two poetic sobriquets stated in the article.
CBDBWang Changling (92035)The name forms give Shaobo, Wang Da, and Poet Master Wang Jiangning; the address fields give Wannian as his native place and Yizhou as his ancestral place.
Souyun王昌齡 (18440)The profile lists Shaobo, Wang Jiangning, Wang Longbiao, and the ranking Da, with Wannian in Jingzhao as his home; the biographical texts also give Chang’an in Jingzhao and the two poetic sobriquets.
WikidataWang Changling (Q704344)The names and aliases include Shaobo, Wang Jiangning, and Wang Longbiao.
[3]Examinations and early officesIn 727 Wang Changling passed the jinshi examination and entered the Secretariat Library as a proofreader; he later passed the Boxue Hongci examination and became commandant of Sishui County.
CBDBWang Changling (92035)The examination entries list jinshi and the Boxue Hongci examination, while the office entries list the Secretariat Library proofreader and the Sishui county commandant.
Souyun王昌齡 (18440)The three biographical texts describe the Kaiyuan 15 jinshi success, appointment as Secretariat Library proofreader, later Boxue Hongci success, and appointment at Sishui.
[4]Lingnan and JiangningAfter an episode leading to exile in Lingnan, Wang Changling returned north under amnesty in Kaiyuan 27. His Kaiyuan 28 Jiangning appointment is presented as assistant magistrate in one account and county commandant in another.
Souyun王昌齡 (18440)The biographical texts describe the Lingnan exile, amnesty and return, and the conflicting Jiangning offices: assistant magistrate in one account and winter county commandant in another.
[5]Longbiao demotionLate in his career Wang Changling was demoted to commandant of Longbiao County; one account attributes the demotion to “不護細行.”
Souyun王昌齡 (18440)The biographical texts describe the Longbiao demotion, with one account giving “不護細行” as its reported cause.
[6]Death during the rebellionDuring the An Lushan rebellion, Wang Changling fled through the Jianghuai region and headed home. He was killed after offending the governor at Haozhou, with alternative place and personal-name forms preserved in the accounts.
Souyun王昌齡 (18440)The biographical texts describe his flight and return during the rebellion, passage through Haozhou or Bozhou, conflict with the governor, and death; the governor’s name appears in several forms.
[7]AssociationsWang Changling was close to Wang Zhihuan and Xin Jian, exchanged poems or writings with Zhang Jiuling, Wang Wei, and Meng Haoran, and received a poem from Li Bai after his demotion to Longbiao.
CBDBWang Changling (92035)The association entries name Zhang Jiuling, Wang Wei, Xin Jian, Li Bai, Wang Zhihuan, and Meng Haoran, and identify poem or writing exchanges, including Li Bai’s poem connected with the Longbiao demotion.
Souyun王昌齡 (18440)The biographical text explicitly calls Wang Changling a close friend of Wang Zhihuan and Xin Jian.
[8]Poetic subjects and styleWang Changling excelled in poetry, especially the seven-character quatrain. His subjects and style include the frontier, palace and women’s-chamber themes, farewells, lucid force, rich grace, and famous frontier poems such as “Chusai” and “Congjunxing.”
Souyun王昌齡 (18440)The biographical texts describe his skill in poetry and seven-character quatrains, list frontier, palace, women’s-chamber, and farewell subjects, characterize the style as forceful and graceful, and name Chusai and Congjunxing as well-known frontier poems.
[9]Critical receptionWang Changling was regarded as an outstanding poet in the Kaiyuan and Tianbao eras. Yin Fan presented him as an heir to earlier poetic force, while later criticism compared his quatrains with Li Bai’s and stressed their depth, implicitness, and suggestive quality.
Souyun王昌齡 (18440)The critical materials call him an outstanding poet of the Kaiyuan and Tianbao eras, preserve Yin Fan’s judgment that he continued the force of Cao, Liu, Lu, and Xie and produced a high achievement of revival, and compare his quatrains with Li Bai’s as divine works marked by depth, implicitness, and suggestive imagery.
[10]Jiangxia poemDuring a visit to Jiangxia, Wang Changling wrote “Seeing Someone Off to Return to Jiangxia,” using the Yellow Crane Tower to convey the emotion of parting between friends.
Souyun王昌齡 (18440)The text about the Yellow Crane Tower says that Wang Changling wrote Seeing Someone Off to Return to Jiangxia during a visit and used the tower to express farewell between friends.
[11]Works and editionsThe original five-fascicle Wang Changling Collection was lost. Poetry Standards and Secret of Poetry were attributed to him, though their surviving versions were doubted; later two- and three-fascicle collections circulated and the Complete Tang Poems arranged his poems in four fascicles.
CBDBWang Changling (92035)The works entries list the Wang Changling Collection, Poetry Standards, and Secret of Poetry.
Souyun王昌齡 (18440)The biographical texts state that the five-fascicle collection was lost, list the two-fascicle Poetry Standards and one-fascicle Secret of Poetry while questioning their surviving versions, and describe the later two- and three-fascicle collections and four-fascicle Complete Tang Poems arrangement.
[12]Supplementary transmissionThe Complete Tang Poems Supplement and Continuation added four poems and four lines, and Li Yunyi produced Wang Changling’s Poetry Notes.
Souyun王昌齡 (18440)The biographical texts record four additional poems and four lines in the supplementary collections and name Li Yunyi’s Wang Changling’s Poetry Notes.
CBDB
