author
A poet from the late Song and early Yuan period, he is remembered for refined ci lyrics and especially for writing that turns natural objects into vivid, emotional symbols. His surviving work is small in size but lasting in influence, making him a distinctive voice in classical Chinese literature.
Yisun Wang, also known as Wang Yisun, was a Chinese poet and lyric writer active around the transition from the Southern Song to the Yuan dynasty. Sources describe him as being from Shaoxing in present-day Zhejiang, and as having served in an educational post in Qingyuan, now Ningbo.
He is best known for ci poetry, a lyric form written to set rhythmic patterns. Traditional accounts place him among the important late Song lyric poets, and note that he associated with other major writers of the period, including Zhou Mi and Zhang Yan.
His reputation rests especially on poems about things and scenes from nature, written in a polished, allusive style. His collection is commonly known as Huawai Ji, and it remains the work by which readers encounter him today.