Abstract:  Wang Wei and Li Shangyin, two distinguished poets in Chinese literary history, both excelled in the composition of parallel prose (pian wen), including epitaphs. Their epitaphs are of distinct styles. If Wang’s epitaphs are known for their elegance, Li’s are rhetorically ornate. Their epitaphs are representative of the two epitaph traditions in the Tang Dynasty. However, they also have something in common. The epitaphs written for worldly civil officials are both characterized by elegance and dignified simplicity whereas those for the other-worldly or the Buddhist and Taoist are both smooth and flowery.

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text-indent: 24pt, margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt, mso-pagination: widow-orphan" class="MsoNormal">mso-font-kerning: 0pt, mso-bidi-font-size: 10.5pt, mso-fareast-font-family: 楷体_GB2312" lang="EN-US">Wang Wei, Li Shangyin, epitaph, comparison