Early-Qīng poet, critic, and the most influential single voice of the Kāng-xī-era literary establishment; native of Xīnchéng 新城 (Shāndōng). Zì Zǐzhēn 子真 and Yíshàng 貽上; hào Ruǎntíng 阮亭, later and chiefly Yúyángshānrén 漁洋山人; posthumous name Wénjiǎn 文簡. His personal name 禎 was variously written as 禛, 正, and 禎 — the Sìkù and many post-Yōngzhèng editions render it as 王士正 to avoid the Yōngzhèng emperor’s personal name 胤禛 (the 禛 form being the original); the 王士禎 form is the modern standard.
Jìnshì of Shùnzhì 15 (1658) at age 24. Served continuously through the Shùnzhì, Kāngxī courts, rising to Vice Minister of Punishments (刑部尚書 Xíngbù shàngshū) in 1704. The dominant figure of Kāng-xī-era poetics: his shényùn 神韻 (“spirit-resonance”) theory, articulated in the Tángxián sānmèi jí 唐賢三昧集 (KR4h0257) and across his many shīhuà works (Yúyáng shīhuà 漁洋詩話 KR4i0058, Chíběi ǒután 池北偶談, Xiāngzǔ bǐjì 香祖筆記), set the agenda for Qīng poetic criticism for two generations. He was the senior of the Shāndōng poetic circle that also included his nephew Zhāng Dǔqìng 張篤慶 and his brother-in-law Zhāng Shíjū 張實居; Láng Tínghuái 郎廷槐’s Shīyǒu shīzhuàn lù (KR4i0059) records his exchanges with both of them. Lifedates 1634–1711 are confirmed by CBDB (personid 35063). Note: not to be confused with the late-Míng Hòuqīzǐ leader Wáng Shìzhēn 王世貞 (1526–1590), whose name is written with different characters.