Many of Wang Wei’s and Basho’s poems are often misunderstood as pure descriptions of nature, but in essence their poems demonstrate the idea of Zen and reflect the Buddhist state of mind. While both Wang Wei's and Basho’s poetry reflect the intuitive wisdom of Zen, their poems emphasize different aspects of Zen, which show a key difference between Chinese and Japanese literature. Wang Wei’s poetry aims at beauty and the fusion of the scene and the state of mind, while the expressive form of Basho’s haiku is an embodiment of Zen. Thus as artistic works, the two poet’s poems are of a different nature and employ different techniques.