Encyclopedia of India–China Cultural Contacts v2.c10.26

v2.c10.26

Therefore, almost all great poets in Tang Dynasty were influenced by Buddhism. For example, Wang Wei (710-760), Bai Juyi (772-846) who believed in Buddhism in their later years, Li Bai (701-762) and Du Fu (712-770) all created plenty of works related to Buddhism and Buddhists. The number of Buddhist poems in Tang Dynasty was more than that in any other era, and the *Complete Collection of Tang Poetry* had 46 volumes of Buddhist poetry. Among numerous monk poets, some were regarded as authorities, for example, Han Shan (about the 7^th century), Shi De (about the 7^th century), Jiao Ran (about 720-about 800), Guan Xiu (832-913) and Qi Ji (863-937). In the Tang period, there were quite a few outstanding works of folk literature that were related to Buddhism, and the most representative was the folk poet Wang Fanzhi (about 590-660).