THE LATE POEMS OF WANG AN

Wang An-shih (1021-1086 C.E.) was a remarkable figure not only one of the great Sung Dynasty poets, but also the most influential an d controversial statesman of his time. Although he had little interest in the grandeur of high office and political power, Wang rose to no less a position than Prime Minister. As Prime Minister, he instituted a controversial system of radically egalitarian social reforms in an effort to improve the lives of China s dispossessed peasants. Wang then left politics and followed his true interest r etiring t...[Read more]