Wei Ying-wu (737-791) is now considered one of the great poets of the T'ang Dynasty. Born into an artistocratic family on the decline, Wei served in several government posts without distinction. He also disdained the literary establishment of his day, so he fashioned a poetic style counter to the mainstream: one of profound simplicity. Red Pine (aka Bill Porter) is one of the world's leading translators of Chinese literary and religious texts. After dropping out of a Columbia University Ph.D. program, Red Pine moved to a Buddhist monastery in Taiwan; he eventually became a popular radio journalist in Hong Kong, famous for his descriptions of traveling around mainland China.