[3] While Wang Bo had a negative attitude toward Shangguan Style, he advocated for the true reflection of the poet found within auxiliary literature works.
In his poem "Fu" (赋), written after Bo's life with Prince Pei during his journey in Shu (蜀), we can see self-display, which is "Youmiaoshan Xu" (游庙山序).
[4] As the ideal he possessed that "poetry expresses one's mind" (诗言志) was gradually established in early Tang literary world, Wang Bo's other two prefaces, "Preface for a Banquet Held at a Pavilion in the North of Mianzhou, Attended by a Host of Gentlemen" (Mianzhou beiting qungong yan xu [绵州北亭羣公宴序]) and "Preface for Collected Poems Composed When Several Gentlemen Visited Me on a Summer Day" (Xiari zhugong jian xunfang shixu [夏日诸公见寻访诗序]), as well as one of his most famous works, "Tengwangge Xu", express his disappointment in political matters, but still bear his strong passion to show fealty to his country.
[4] "Tengwangge Xu" was written in the journey of finding his father, through which Bo arrived at Hongzhou (洪州), experienced great hardships due to political turmoil, killed a servant, and received criticism on his articles.
[4] He described himself as an abject man with rough experience in political life, comparing himself with Sima Xiangru (司马相如) in order to reflect his strong wish to contribute to his country.
As a result, the period considerably altered Bo's literature work, tying back societally driven essays with poems of frenzied emotion.
Wang Bo wrote "Tao Doji Xi" (讨斗鸡檄) with a jocular attitude, boldly praising Peiwang's local government and instrumental in his win when showcased at a court-sponsored competition; the Emperor wrote off this victory, citing his status as a "Wai Cai" (a talented contributor with a strange ideology) while juxtaposing it with his status as a "Boshi" (a noble's advisor and personal literary tutor).
The final snarl in Wang Bo's political life was his dispatching of Cao Da (曹达), a noble's servant, marking him for the death penalty.
He was nominated, along with Yang Jiong (杨炯), Lu Zhaolin (卢照邻), and Luo Binwang (骆宾王) as one-fourth of the "Four Paragons of the Early Tang" (初唐四杰).
As mentioned before, Wang Bo opposed Gongti Style (宫体诗风), which is a school of literature, seeking for the perfect beauty of world using, but ignore the content and sense.
- Every time Wang Bo composed a stele inscription or panegyric, he first ground several liters of ink, and laid down with a blanket covering him up to his face.
"[5] But there are still some negative comments of Wang Bo and his article, in Du Fu's poem as mentioned before, he states that the Four paragons of Early Tang's work are "frivolous and shallow"(轻薄).