Introduction to poet: Du Fu

[snowynight]

Du Fu (712-770) was a profound realistic poet. He was called "Poetic sage" because of the Confucius thinking and compassion expressed in his poems. His greatest ambition was to serve his country, but he proved unable to bend to the corruption in the government. His life, like the whole country, was devastated by the An Lushan Rebellion of 755, and his last 15 years were a time of almost constant unrest. His poems bore witness to how the country fell from prosperity to ruin.

Du Fu 's poetry was known to unite and inherit the past literary tradition. He mastered all forms of poems, used a wide range of register, and was especially known for the use of lu shi, a form of poems with strict constraint of stanzas.

Here's one of the examples: 春望 Sighting of Spring translated by Betty Tsang

國破山河在， 城春草木深。 感時花濺淚， 恨別鳥驚心。 烽火連三月， 家書抵萬金。 白頭搔更短， 渾欲不勝簪。

The nation is in sunder, yet mountains and rivers still their stances hold and courses run, Spring has come to Changan overgrown with unruly grass and trees. Current affairs have me deep in sentiments, and tears overcome me at the sight of flowers, Detesting separation from family so much, even the twitter of birds frightens me. Military unrest has been continuing for months on end, More valuable than tons of gold is a letter from family and kin. My hair has greyed and grown thin, There remains almost too little for the use of a hairpin.