Du Fu

Du Fu (712-770), whose courtesy name is Zimei, who calls himself Shaoling Yelao, and is known as "Du Gongbu" and "Du Shaoling" in the world, is Han nationality and was born in Gong County, Henan Province (now Gongyi City, Henan Province). He was a great realist poet in the Tang Dynasty. Du Fu is revered as the "Sage of Poetry" by the world, and his poems are called "the history of poetry". Du Fu and Li Bai are collectively known as "Li Du". In order to distinguish them from the other two poets Li Shangyin and Du Mu, known as "Little Li Du", Du Fu and Li Bai are also collectively known as "Big Li Du". He was concerned about the country and the people, and had a noble personality. About 1,400 of his poems have been preserved. His poetic skills are exquisite, and he is highly respected in Chinese classical poetry and has far-reaching influence. He lived in Chengdu from 759 to 766, and is commemorated by Du Fu's Thatched Cottage in later generations.
Character biography

Family background
Du Fu was born in the Du family in Jingzhao, a noble family in the north. His distant ancestor was Du Zhou, a famous cruel official of Emperor Wu of Han Dynasty, and his grandfather Du Shenyan. Du Fu and Du Mu, another great poet in the Tang Dynasty, namely "Xiao Li Du", were both descendants of Du Yu, a great scholar and famous general in the Jin Dynasty. However, the two factions were far apart. Du Fu was descended from Du Dan, the second son of Du Yu, while Du Mu was descended from Du Yin, the youngest son of Du Yu. When Du Fu was a teenager, he lived a relatively stable and prosperous life due to his superior family environment. He was eager to learn since he was a child and could compose poems at the age of seven. "When he is seven years old, he becomes strong when he thinks about it, and he chants the phoenix with his mouth." He was also very naughty when he was a boy. "When I recall that I was still a child at the age of fifteen, I was as strong as a yellow calf walking back. In August, pears and dates ripen in front of the court, and I can climb a tree a thousand times in one day."

Young Travels
When he was 19 years old in the 19th year of Kaiyuan, Du Fu traveled to Xunxia (now Linyi, Shandong). When he was twenty years old, he traveled to Wuyue for several years. In the 23rd year of Emperor Xuanzong's reign (735), Du Fu returned to his hometown to participate in the "township tribute". In the 24th year, he took the Jinshi examination in Luoyang and failed. Du Fu's father was the Sima of Yanzhou at that time, so Du Fu went to Yanzhou to visit relatives and began his tour of Qi and Zhao.

In April of the third year of Tianbao (744), Du Fu met Li Bai in Luoyang, who had been given gold and released by Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty. The two made an appointment to travel to Liang and Song Dynasties (today's Kaifeng and Shangqiu areas in Henan Province). After that, Du Fu went to Qizhou (now Jinan, Shandong). In the autumn of the seventh year of Tianbao (748), Du Fu went to Yanzhou to meet Li Bai. The two visited immortals and Taoism together, talked about poems and essays, and formed a friendship of "sleeping drunkenly in autumn together, walking hand in hand in the sun". At the end of autumn, the two shook hands and said goodbye. Du Fu ended his wandering life of "debauchery between Qi and Zhao, and his wild horses and horses" and returned to Chang'an.

Unsuccessful official career
Du Fu lived in the historical period when the Tang Dynasty turned from prosperity to decline. Du Fu was born in a family that had been "confucian and official" for generations, and his family was profoundly educated. Early works mainly expressed ideals, ambitions and expected life paths. On the other hand, it expresses his political ideal of "serving kings Yao and Shun, and then making customs pure." During this period, many of his works reflected the suffering of the people and political turmoil at that time, and exposed the ugly behavior of the rulers. From then on, he embarked on a life and creative path of caring about the country and the people. As Tang Xuanzong's politics became increasingly corrupt in his later years, his life fell into poverty and despair day by day. In a life of wandering.

In the sixth year of Tianbao (747), Xuanzong ordered those who were proficient in Yiyi to go to Chang'an to take the exam, and Du Fu also took part in the exam. Because Li Linfu, the powerful prime minister, directed a farce of "no wild virtuous people", all the scholars who took the exam failed. Since the road to the imperial examination was not feasible, in order to realize his political ideals, Du Fu had to switch to the door of the powerful, and gave gifts to officials, etc., but to no avail. He lived in Chang'an for ten years, traveling around to give gifts, but he was depressed, frustrated in his official career, and lived a life of poverty. He "failed to win the imperial examination and was trapped in Chang'an."

In the first month of the tenth year of Tianbao (751), Xuanzong would hold three grand ceremonies to worship the Taiqing Palace, the Ancestral Temple, and Heaven and Earth. Du Fu then presented three "Great Gifts" in the winter of the ninth year of Tianbao. They were appreciated by Xuanzong and were ordered to be commissioned in Jixianyuan. However, he was only qualified to "participate in the selection" and was waiting for assignment. Because the examiner was still Li Linfu, he did not get an official position.

In the fourteenth year of Tianbao (755), Du Fu was awarded a small official like Hexi Lieutenant. However, Du Fu was unwilling to take this official position, "if he does not become Hexi Lieutenant, he will be miserable and bow his waist", so the imperial court changed him to Youwei, leading the government soldiers. Du Fu was already forty-four years old and had been in Chang'an for more than ten years. To make a living, he accepted this useless position. In November, Du Fu went to Fengxian to visit his family. As soon as Du Fu entered the house, he heard crying. It turned out that his youngest son had died of hunger. Based on his ten years' experience in Chang'an and what he saw along the way, he wrote the famous "Five Hundred Words of Empathy from Beijing to Fengxian County".

War and chaos
In November of the fourteenth year of Tianbao (755), the Anshi Rebellion broke out. In June of the next year, Tongguan fell, and Xuanzong fled westward in panic. In July, Prince Li Heng was located in Lingwu and became Suzong. At this time, Du Fu had moved his family to Qiang Village in Yanzhou (now Fuxian County, Shaanxi Province) for refuge. When he heard that Suzong had ascended the throne, he went north alone in August and defected to Lingwu. Unfortunately, he was captured by the rebels on the way and was taken to Chang'an. Wang Wei, who was also captured, was under strict guard, but Du Fu was not imprisoned because he was a junior official. Despite his personal misfortune, Du Fu was always concerned about the country and the people.

At the time of the Anshi Rebellion, he was always paying attention to the development of the current situation. During this period, he wrote two articles: "A Picture of the Situation for Huazhou Guo Shijun to Exterminate Canguan" and "Five Questions and Questions for Huazhou Trial Scholars in the First Year of Qianyuan", providing suggestions for annihilating the Anshi rebels and considering how to reduce the burden on the people. When the troops of Li Siye, the military commander of Zhenbeiting Jiedu, a powerful force against the rebels, passed through Huazhou, he wrote two poems "Guan'an Xibing Passed to Guanzhong and Standby" to express his patriotic enthusiasm.

The official period
In April of the second year of Zhide (757), Guo Ziyi's army came to the north of Chang'an. Du Fu took the risk to escape from Chang'an through Jinguang Gate in Chengxi, crossed the two opposing armies, and went to Fengxiang (today's Baoji, Shaanxi) to defect to Su Zong. On May 16, he was awarded Zuo Shiyi by Su Zong, and he was called "Du Shiyi" in his later life. Unexpectedly, Du Fu soon angered Su Zong by rescuing Fang Guan, and was demoted to Huazhou (today's Hua County), where he was responsible for sacrifices, rituals and music, schools, elections, medical treatment, examinations and other matters. After arriving in Huazhou, Du Fu felt very depressed and troubled. He often visited the pavilion of Zheng County on the bank of the Xixi River (near Laoguan Terrace in today's Xinglin Town) to relieve his worries and boredom. In his poems such as "Inscription on the Pavilion of Zheng County", "Standing with Cases in the Bitter Heat of Early Autumn", "Independence" and "Skinny Horse Walking", he expressed his lament and resentment about his frustrated official career, the bleak world, and the slander of treacherous people. In the matter of rescuing Fang Guan, Du Fu was rescued by Prime Minister Zhang Hao and was released. But "the emperor himself was not very careful about records". From then on, Suzong no longer used Du Fu in any important way. In September of this year, Chang'an was recovered. In November, Du Fu returned to Chang'an and still served as Zuo Shiyi. Although he was loyal to his duties, he was eventually implicated in the Fangguan case and was demoted to Huazhou Si Gong to join the army in June of the first year of Qianyuan (758).

At the end of the first year of Qianyuan (758), Du Fu temporarily left Huazhou and visited relatives in Luoyang and Yanshi (both in today's Henan Province). In March of the following year, the battle broke out between the Tang army and the Anshi rebels in Yecheng (now Anyang, Henan), and the Tang army was defeated. On his way back to Huazhou from Luoyang, Du Fu saw the endless disasters brought by the war to the people and the patriotic behavior of the people who endured humiliation and joined the army. He was deeply moved and wrote an immortal epic—— "Three Officials" ("Xin'an Officials", "Shihao Officials", "Tongguan Officials") and "Three Farewells" ("Newlywed Farewell", "Elderly Farewell", "Wuji Farewell"), and after returning to Huazhou, they were revised and finalized. "The eyes are full of sorrow, and troubles arise because people travel far away."

Wandering in the Southwest
In the summer of the second year of Qianyuan (759), there was a severe drought in Huazhou and Guanzhong. Du Fu wrote "Summer Sigh" and "Summer Night Sigh", worrying about the chaos of the time and praising the suffering of the country's refugees. After the beginning of autumn that year, Du Fu was distraught about the dirty current affairs, so he gave up his post as Sigong in Huazhou and joined the army, and went west to Qinzhou (today's Tianshui area of ​​Gansu Province). During his tenure as Sigong in Huazhou, Du Fu wrote more than 30 poems. After several twists and turns, Du Fu finally arrived in Chengdu. With the help of Yan Wu and others, he built a thatched cottage on the bank of Huanhua River in the west of the city, which is known as "Du Fu Thatched Cottage" and "Huanhua Thatched Cottage" in the world. Later, it was recommended as the festival capital by Yan Wu, and his family lived in Fengjie County, Sichuan.

In the spring of the second year of Guangde (764), Yan Wu once again suppressed Shu, and Du Fu returned to the thatched cottage after wandering away for nearly two years. Yan Wu recommended Du Fu as a member of the Ministry of Inspection and Engineering, and served as Yan Wu's staff. Later generations also called Du Fu the Ministry of Industry and Engineering. Soon Du Fu resigned again. During these five or six years, Du Fu lived under someone else's roof, and his life was still very difficult. He said: "His wealth and fortune are cut off from old friends, and his children are always hungry and desolate." ("The Mad Man") "The foolish children do not know the etiquette of father and son, and they are angry and cry for food." He used some details of life to express the hardship of his life. He said that his children were not yet sensible. The child does not know how to respect his father, and does not know the etiquette of a master. When he is hungry, he clamors for food and cries outside the east gate, regardless of whether he is the father or not.

In April of the third year of Guangde (765), Yan Wu died and Du Fu left Chengdu. Passing through Jiazhou, Rongzhou (Yibin), Yuzhou (Chongqing), Zhongzhou (Zhongxian), and Yun'an (Yunyang), it arrived at Kuizhou (Fengjie) in the first year of Dali of Emperor Daizong of the Tang Dynasty (766). Thanks to the care of Bai Maolin, the governor of Kuizhou, Du Fu was able to stay here temporarily and manage one hundred hectares of public land in Dongtun for the government. He also rented some public land, bought forty acres of orchards, hired several hired hands, and participated in some labor for himself and his family. During this period, the poet's creation reached a climax. In less than two years, he composed more than 430 poems, accounting for 30% of the existing works. During this period, his works included a large number of masterpieces such as "Spring Night Joyful Rain", "Song of Thatched Cottage Broken by Autumn Wind", "The Prime Minister of Shu", "Hearing the Official Army Takes Henan and Hebei", "Climbing High", "Climbing the Yueyang Tower" and so on. One of the most famous poems is: "There are tens of thousands of vast buildings, and the poor people in the world are all happy." And in "Ascend the High": "The endless falling trees rustle, and the endless Yangtze River rolls in" is an eternal masterpiece.

Jiang Zhou died
In the third year of Dali (768), Du Fu was homesick and took a boat out of the gorge. He first went to Jiangling, then transferred to the police, and at the end of the year he drifted to Yueyang, Hunan. During this period, Du Fu had been living on the boat. Due to the difficult life, not only could he not return north, he was forced to go further south. In the first month of the fourth year of the Dali calendar, we went from Yueyang to Tanzhou (Changsha), then from Tanzhou to Hengzhou (Hengyang), and then back to Tanzhou.

In the fifth year of Dali (770), Zang Jie caused rebellion in Tanzhou, and Du Fu fled to Hengzhou. He originally planned to go to Chenzhou to seek refuge with his uncle Cui Mu. However, when he arrived in Leiyang, the river surged, so he had to stop at Fangtian Station. He didn't have anything to eat for five days. Fortunately, the county magistrate Nie sent someone to bring wine and meat, and he was saved. Later, Du Fu had to go upstream for more than 200 miles from Leiyang to Chenzhou. At this time, the flood had not receded. Du Fu originally wanted to return north, but then he changed his plan and went down the river and turned back to Tanzhou. In the winter of the fifth year of the Dali calendar (770), Du Fu died on a small boat from Tanzhou to Yueyang. He was fifty-nine years old. ▲


Reference materials:
1. "Old Book of Tang·Biography of Du Fu" 2. Du Fu. "Complete Tang Poetry·Zhuang You" 3, Du Fu. "Complete Poems of the Tang Dynasty: Twenty-two Rhymes Presented to Wei Chengzhang" 4, Ouyang Xiu, Song Qi. "New Book of Tang·Volume 211·Biography 126·Literature·Du Shenyan·Sun Fu": "Zhonghua Book Company", 19975, "New Book of Tang·Biography of Du Fu"

Family members

Grandfather
Du Fu's grandfather was Du Shenyan, a poet in the early Tang Dynasty. Du Shenyan was very talented, but he was proud of his talent. Together with Li Qiao, Cui Rong and Su Weiwei, Shao Shao is known as the "Four Friends of Articles". In the first year of Xianheng (670), Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty, he was promoted to the rank of Jinshi and became the Xicheng Wei. Later he was transferred to Luoyang Cheng. In the first year of the Holy Calendar (698), Empress Wu was demoted to Jizhou Sihu to join the army. But at this time, he offended his colleague Guo Ruona and his superior Zhou Jizhong. The two conspired to frame Du Shenyan and sentenced him to death. Du Fu's uncle Du Bing was thirteen years old and assassinated Zhou Jizhong, which shocked both the government and the public. As a result, Du Shenyan survived and was summoned to the capital by Wu Zetian. Because of his appreciation of his poems and prose, he was awarded the title of Zuo Lang, and he was promoted to the rank of Wai Lang, a member of the Ministry of Food and Beverage. Later, he was exiled to Fengzhou for colluding with Zhang Yi's brothers. But he was ordered back soon.

Parents
Du Fu's father is Du Xian, the eldest son of Du Shenyan, and his biological mother was from Wucheng, Qinghe East. However, she died shortly after his birth, and his father remarried Lu. Du Fu was raised by his aunt. Du Fu had an elder brother who died young, three half-brothers and a half-sister, whom Du Fu often mentioned in his poems. But Du Fu rarely mentioned his stepmother.

Wife
When Du Fu was 30 years old, he temporarily interrupted his wanderings between Qi, Lu, Yan and Zhao, returned to Luoyang, built Luhun Villa at the foot of Shouyang Mountain in the northwest of Yanshi County, and then married Yang Yi, the daughter of the Sinong Shaoqing of Hongnong County (renamed Lingbao County during the Tianbao period). Sinong Shaoqing was the deputy minister in charge of agriculture and finance, and he was a close match with the Du Fu family, who had been officials for generations. His wife is more than ten years younger than him. Unfortunately, Du Fu did not write a biography of his beloved wife, and Mrs. Yang's name is unknown, but she is mentioned in many places in Du Fu's poems.

Children
They have two sons, Zongwen and Zongwu, and one daughter, Feng'er. ▲

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References:
1. Sina.com 2. Jiusiting

Anecdotes

Rebuke the Imperial Family
The Tang Dynasty during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty was a big country in the world at that time. But in this big country that still seems to be powerful on the surface, there are already signs of collapse due to various reasons such as the hands of others. Finally, the Tang Dynasty quickly reached a turning point of overthrow - the occurrence of the "Anshi Rebellion". After Du Fu learned of this situation, he felt that those in power who ignored people's livelihood and only cared about their own enjoyment would definitely lead to the country's downfall. So he wrote with great indignation the poem that was later selected into the famous anthology "Three Hundred Tang Poems", a seven-character long ancient poem titled "Beauty's Journey". The poem has become a veritable "epic" due to its bold satire and profound exposure of the Yang family's hot and luxurious life; and people have also summarized an idiom "hot" from it to express the person who is very arrogant and powerful.

The mystery of the cause of death
Over the years, the biggest mystery Du Fu has left for future generations is the cause of his death. The literary and historical circles have put forward five causes of Du Fu's death:

1. Death from illness
Looking through "The Biography of Du Fu" written by Mo Lizhen and Tong Qiang, about Du Fu's death, the book wrote: "Winter is here, and the poet fell ill. . fell ill in the boat heading to Hengyang... A superstar died in this infinite loneliness and loneliness. "

2. Death
This theory first came from the "Addition to Du Shiyi" written in the name of Li Guan of the Tang Dynasty. Since this statement was put forward, scholars from successive dynasties have refuted this theory and clearly pointed out the biggest problem in this passage, that is, it mentioned that Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty ordered Du Fu to die in 770, and Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty died in the first year of Baoying (762).

3. Death by drowning in water
This theory originated from the "Inscription on Du Zimei's Tomb" written in the name of Han Yu of the Tang Dynasty, which proposed that "the three sages (referring to Qu Yuan, Li Bai, and Du Fu) all returned to the same water". The three of them drowned themselves in the sand, which is obviously an imagination without any basis.

4. Death from food poisoning
The person who proposed this theory was Guo Moruo, a famous modern scholar. Guo Moruo's statement is also speculative. There is almost no document as a basis for his purely personal literary creation.

5. Death from indigestion
Du Fu's death is closely related to hunger. After leaving Sichuan, Du Fu lived in Hunan. Due to being besieged by a sudden flood, he was hungry for 9 consecutive days (some say he was hungry for 5 consecutive days). The local magistrate rescued Du Fu in a boat and entertained him with Niuzhi (roast meat) white wine. Du Fu, who was rarely gluttonous for a long time, couldn't bear it because his stomach couldn't bear it, and he eventually died of indigestion. ▲


Ideological core
The core of Du Fu's thinking is Confucian benevolent government thought. His poetic style is melancholy and frustrated, and he is concerned about the country and the people. He had the grand ambition to "serve the kings Yao and Shun, and then make customs pure". He loves life, loves the people, and loves the great rivers and mountains of the motherland. He hates evil and exposes and criticizes the corruption of the court and the dark phenomena in social life. He sympathized with the people and was even willing to make sacrifices to relieve their suffering. Therefore, his poetry creation always runs through the main line of concern for the country and the people, with the most ordinary people as the protagonists. This shows Du Fu's greatness.


Achievements in calligraphy

Du Fu is very mature and profound in his creative concept of calligraphy. Judging from the records, his calligraphy was written in regular script and cursive, and the overall style was written with intention. He appreciated the ancient and majestic, and paid attention to the speed, rhythm, strokes, ink techniques, etc. in writing. He was also a very profound calligrapher in the Tang Dynasty. At the same time, his praise of the official calligraphers of the Tang Dynasty and his evaluation of Cao Ba and Zhang Xu were enough to make him famous in the history of calligraphy, and his theory of "calligraphy is expensive, thin and hard" established Du Fu's important position in the history of calligraphy theory.

"The interconnection of calligraphy and painting" is a cultural phenomenon rich in national characteristics in the history of Chinese art and aesthetics. Du Fu knew both painting and calligraphy. Today's people like An Qi have said: "In addition to literature, Du Fu also pays great attention to other arts. For example, calligraphy, 'Nine years old, big characters can be made into a bag.' We can also get a glimpse of his interest and cultivation in calligraphy in the poems "Pictures" and "Li Chao Bafen Seal Song". He also said: "Later generations often call Du's poems "depressed and frustrated", which refers to the twists and turns of the poems and the profound artistic conception... Isn't this similar to the "twists and turns" of calligraphy? ▲


Poetry style

Depressed
In terms of language, Du Fu's poems are generally considered to have the characteristics of "depression". The word "depression" was first seen in the Southern Dynasty, which means "the body is full of melancholy and melancholy, graceful sun and moon". Later, Du Fu wrote the four words "depression and frustration" to accurately summarize the language of his own works. Further research on Du's poetry found that the formation of his poetic style is closely related to the Confucianism he adhered to. At the same time, Du Fu was at the end of his prosperous period. When he was young, he had great ambitions, "to be at the top of the mountain and see all the small mountains at a glance." Later, the Anshi Rebellion broke out, the national fortune declined, and his official career was not successful. Du's poetry's personalization of image selection is the basis of Du's poetry language. Images that often appear in Du's poems, such as ancient fortresses, autumn clouds, howling apes, residual torches, rapid gorges, dangerous cities, lone boats, falling flowers, sunsets and other natural landscapes, as well as ordinary people such as weaver girls, old women, old farmers, married women, as well as officials, generals, evil young men and other powerful and powerful forces, all express Du Fu's commitment to "Zhongxing" The eagerness to help the world, the denunciation of chaos, the indignation against the tyranny, the sadness for the wandering, the pity for the loss of life, the regret for the failure of material resources, and the praise for the charity." It is the expression of these heavy emotions that makes Du Shi's language tend to be "depressing and frustrated". Wu Hang's "Huanxi Poetry Talk" commented on Du Fu's late poems as "unwanted changes, yang opening and yin closing" and said: "But its meaning is far-reaching. If you lift the previous sentence, you can't know the next sentence." Wu Hang also said: "When ordinary people write poems, they can only talk about one thing in one sentence, but they can talk about two more things. Du Shi can talk about three, four, or five things in one sentence. Ordinary people write poems, but what they can say in front of them is only within tens of miles. Du Shi can talk about hundreds of miles in one sentence, he can talk about two armies and states, he can talk about the whole world, this is wonderful."

Eclectic
Du Fu's poems have a variety of styles in style. Yuan Zhen commented on Du Fu: "As for Zimei, it is the so-called thin and coquettish at the top. It should be Shen and Song Dynasty. He won over Su and Li. He swallowed Cao and Liu with anger. He concealed his face and thanked his aloofness. He mixed the styles of Xu and Yu. They captured the styles of ancient and modern times and combined the unique specialties of everyone." Qin Guan also had a similar view. Fa: "The beauty of Du Zi is characterized by a sublime style, a very heroic spirit, a diluted interest, a handsome appearance, and a beautiful appearance, which are not matched by other schools. However, Du Fu cannot be alone without combining the strengths of all the schools." For example, Du Fu also has a wild and unrestrained side. You can see Du Fu's heroic spirit from his famous work "Song of the Eight Immortals in Drinking". The mainstream view is that Du Fu's poetry has a melancholy style, concise language, rigorous meter, exquisite craftsmanship, sincere feelings, plain and elegant conversation, profound description, delicate and touching, and vivid image. His creative style is "to express good sentences for the sake of human nature, but to say nothing that is not shocking". As for the unique narrative style and argumentative style of Du Shi, some scholars believe that it was influenced by "The Book of Songs: Xiaoya", and the generous style of his elegies is similar to "Li Sao". Some scholars also believe that Du's poems have the traditional spirit of benevolent political thought and the spirit of Sima Qian's actual records. There is also a view that Du Fu's poems have a "humanitarian spirit". Han Yu, a great writer in the Tang Dynasty, once compared Du Fu and Li Bai and said: "Li and Du's articles are as bright as ever." Wang Anshi praised Du's poems for his achievements in saying that "there are thousands of ugly beauties in different sizes, but there is no way to carve them out of them". Volume 7 of Chen Shan's "New Words on Men Liao": "Lao Du's poems should be regarded as the "Six Classics" among poems, while other people's poems are like those of other scholars." Volume 1 of Jiang Shiquan's "Zhongyatang Collected Works" "Preface to the Collection of Detailed Notes on Du's Poems" is also known as "Du Poet, the "Four Sons Book" among poems." The exquisite and neat contrasts are in line with the "architectural beauty" of Chinese poetry. For example, "The wind is strong and the sky is high, the apes are screaming in mourning, the white birds are flying back from the clear sand in Zhugong, the boundless falling trees are rustling, and the endless Yangtze River is rolling in." This is the embodiment of Du's superb calligraphy and contrasting. In addition, Du Fu made many innovations in genre. For example, his creativity in the Five and Seven Rhythms is also a unique feature of his literary creation.

Profound content
In terms of the content of Du Fu's poems, most of his works reflected the social outlook at that time, with a wide range of themes and far-reaching implications, especially describing the sufferings of the people and expressing his sorrow. Du's poems are known as the history of poetry due to his compassion for the people and his concern for the country and the people. This saying was first seen in the late Tang Dynasty. "Du encountered difficulties in Lushan Mountain and traveled to Yong, Long and Shu. He wrote all the poems and inferred that he had gone to hiding and almost nothing was left behind, so it is called the history of poetry." By the Song Dynasty, the conclusion was reached, but the meaning of the history of poetry has its own interpretation. Some people annotate Du's poems with historical events, thinking that Du's poems are documentary poems that can supplement history and prove history, so they are called poetic history. This view only emphasizes the truth and falsehood of historical events, and underestimates the emotional characteristics of poetry. Some people think that Du Fu's historical knowledge and rigorous writing style are comparable to those of the Han Dynasty historian Sima Qian. As for poetry, those who comment on people and events can "do not falsely describe beauty, and do not hide evil", so it is called the history of poetry. This is advisable. Another theory is that the reason why Du Fu's poems are called "History of Poetry" is because they are compassionate and sad, and this view is also advisable to a certain extent. But there are also people who don't like Du Fu's poems. Yang Yi doesn't like Du Fu. Liu Fang's "Zhongshan Poetry Talk" says: "Yang Danian doesn't like Du Gongbu's poems, so he calls him a village man." ▲


Reference materials:

1. Liu Tingfu. "On the Characteristics and Aesthetic Value of Du Fu's Poetry Image Generation". "Journal of Chengdu Institute of Education". 2005, Issue 10 (Simplified Chinese) 2. Wu Hang. "Huanxi Poetry" 3. Yuan Zhen; Beijing: People's Literature Publishing House. 2004. ISBN 702004484 (Simplified Chinese). 4. Qin Guan; Wang Xing. "Collection of Qin Guan--The Basic Collection of Chinese Family Books·On Han Yu". Shanxi Province: Shanxi Ancient Books Publishing House. 2004. ISBN 780598585 (Simplified Chinese).
Influence on later generations

His poems have rich social content, strong color of the times and distinct political tendencies. They truly and profoundly reflect the political current events and the broad picture of social life in a historical era before and after the Anshi Rebellion, so they are called the "history of poetry" of a generation. The style of Du's poetry is basically "contemplative and melancholy", the language and chapter structure are full of changes, and it pays attention to the precise words and sentences. At the same time, his poems have all kinds of styles. In addition to Wugu, Qigu, Wulu and Qilu, he also wrote a lot of arranged rhymes and different styles. There are also various artistic techniques, and it is the master of Tang poetry thought and art. Du Fu also inherited the spirit of Han and Wei Yuefu's "feeling of sorrow and music, and inspired by events". He got rid of the shackles of the ancient Yuefu titles and created many new Yuefu titles that were "famous pieces for the moment and no longer relied on", such as the famous "Three Officials" and "Three Farewells". After his death, he was highly praised by Fan Huang, Han Yu, Yuan Zhen, Bai Juyi and others. Du's poems had a profound influence on the literary and artistic thoughts of Yuan Bai's "New Yuefu Movement" and Li Shangyin's modern allegorical poems about current events. But it was after the Song Dynasty that Du's poetry received widespread attention. Wang Yucheng, Wang Anshi, Su Shi, Huang Tingjian, and others highly praised Du Fu. Wen Tianxiang even regarded Du Fu's poems as the spiritual force to uphold national integrity. The influence of Du Shi, from ancient times to the present, has long gone beyond the scope of literature and art. For details of his life, see Volume 190 of "Old Tang Book".

Although Du Fu is a realist poet, he also has a wild and uninhibited side. It is not difficult to see Du Fu's heroic spirit from his famous work "Song of the Eight Immortals in Drinking".

Du Fu received little praise and attention during his lifetime and in the years after his death. This was partly due to his innovations in style and meter, and some critics considered some of his works to be still bold and eccentric. There were almost no references about him during his lifetime, only 11 poems by 6 poets. And none of these poems mention his influence as a model of poetry and ethical views. However, as Kong Qingxiang said, Du Fu is "the only poet in China whose influence continues to grow over time."

His work became famous in the ninth century AD, and early positive reviews came from Bai Juyi, who popularized the ethical views of some of Du Fu's works, although he found these views only in some of Du Fu's works. In addition to Bai Juyi, there was also Han Yu, who wrote an article to refute the voices opposed to Li Du and defend their aesthetic status. At the same time, the poetry of these two poets has the shadow of Du Shi.

At the beginning of the tenth century AD, Wei Zhuang, a former Shu poet from the Five Dynasties, found the ruins of the thatched cottage and rebuilt the thatched cottage to preserve it. During this period, the frenzy of the "New Yuefu Movement" arose in China, and Du Fu was highly regarded as the inspirer of this realist poetry movement. Du Fu's realist creative spirit, since Bai Juyi, influenced the creations of Pi Rixiu, Cao Ye, Nie Yizhong, Du Xunhe and others, thus forming a realist school of poetry that dominated the poetry world of the late Tang Dynasty.

In the Song Dynasty, Du Fu's reputation reached its peak. Huang Tingjian, Chen Shidao, etc. specially explored the strange side of Du's poetry and formed the "Jiangxi School of Poetry". Later, Wang Anshi, Lu You, and Wen Tianxiang were also influenced by it to a certain extent. Influenced by Du Fu, Wen Tianxiang composed 200 collections of Du Fu's five-character poems in prison. He said in the preface: "Whatever I want to say, Zimei will speak for me first." Lu Xun also commented on Du Fu, "Du Fu does not seem to be an ancient person, as if he is still alive among us today." Du Fu's broader influence is that Du Fu's works transformed rhythmic poetry from a word game into a vehicle for expressing political ambitions, laying the foundation for later poets' writing on political themes.

The development of Neo-Confucianism in the Song Dynasty ensured Du Fu's role as a model of poetry and his supreme status. Su Shi explained the reason: "There are many poets in ancient and modern times, but Zimei is the leader. Isn't it because he lived in exile, hungry and cold, and spent his whole life without using it, but he never tasted a meal and forgot about the king?" His ability to think created his influence. Because of his yearning for establishing a good social order, he was deeply respected by politicians. Reformers also learned from his compassion for the poor, and writers learned from his innovation in artistic techniques.

Jin Shengtan, a literary critic in the early Qing Dynasty, collectively called Du Fu's poems "Li Sao", Qu Yuan's "Li Sao", Zhuang Zhou's "Zhuangzi", Sima Qian's "Historical Records", Shi Naian's "Water Margin", and Wang Shifu's "The Romance of the West Chamber" as the "Book of Six Talents". In contemporary times, Du Fu's loyalty to the country and concern for the people have been reinterpreted as the meaning of nationalism and socialism, and he himself has been appreciated by modern researchers for using the "language of the people."

Du Fu’s influence on future generations also had a moral aspect. In the 20th century, the modern American poet Rex Ross believed that Du Fu was concerned about the love between people, tolerance and sympathy between people: "My poetry is undoubtedly mainly influenced by Du Fu. I think he is the greatest poet in history in fields other than epic and drama. In some aspects, he even surpasses Shakespeare and Homer. At least he is more natural and friendly."

Du Fu is not only famous in China, but also famous overseas. In 1481, South Korea translated Du's poems into Korean and called it "Explanation of Du's Poems and Proverbs". His influence on Japanese literature was relatively late, and until the seventeenth century he was as famous in Japan as he was in China. Du Fu had a particularly profound influence on Matsuo Basho. Du Fu is also the favorite writer of American writer Kenneth Rexroth. ▲


References:
1. Su Shi. "Dongpo Collection·Volume 24". Beijing: Threadbound Book Company. 2001. ISBN 780106142X (Simplified Chinese). 2. Zhu Dongrun. "Du Fu Narrative". Beijing: People's Literature Publishing House. 2006. ISBN 9787020057979 (Simplified Chinese).

Literary Achievements

Literary Works
"A Collection of Sixty Volumes of Du Fu's Poems" was lost early. In the second year of Baoyuan of the Northern Song Dynasty (1039), Wang Zhu compiled 1,405 articles into 18 volumes, titled "Collection of Du Gongbu". Qian Qianyi compiled "Annotations to Du Gongbu Collection". Yang Lun said: "Since the Six Dynasties, many Yuefu titles have imitated plagiarism, which is the most disgusting. Zimei came out and was alone because of what he felt at the time. He sympathized with the national calamity and lamented the poverty of the people. He set up the title at will, completely breaking away from the stereotypes of his predecessors."

Status of Poetry
In Du Fu's middle age, because of his melancholy poetic style and concern for the country and the people, Du Fu's poems were called "the history of poetry". His poetry is good at ancient style and rhythmic poetry, with various styles. The four words "depressed and frustrated" accurately summarize the style of his own works, with the main focus being melancholy. Du Fu lived during the historical period when the Tang Dynasty turned from prosperity to decline. His poems mostly dealt with social turmoil, political darkness, and people's suffering. His poems reflected the social contradictions and people's suffering at that time. His poems recorded the great historical changes in the Tang Dynasty from prosperity to decline, and expressed the lofty Confucian spirit of benevolence and a strong sense of worry. Therefore, they are known as the "history of poetry." Du Fu was concerned about the country and the people, with noble personality and exquisite poetic skills. Du Fu wrote more than 1,500 poems in his life, many of which are famous poems that have been passed down through the ages, such as "Three Officials" and "Three Farewells", and the "Collection of Du Gongbu" has been handed down to the world; among them, the "Three Officials" are "Shihao Officials", "Xin'an Officials" and "Tongguan Officials", and the "Three Farewells" are "Newlywed Farewell", "Wujia Farewell" and "Old Farewell". Du Fu's poems handed down are the largest and most extensive in Tang poetry. He was one of the most outstanding poets in the Tang Dynasty and had a profound influence on later generations. Du Fu's works are known as the devastation of the world, the sage in the poem; the suffering of the people, the waves in the writing. It is a representative work of realistic poetry.

Poetry System
Du Fu is good at using many systems of classical poetry and developing them creatively. He is the pioneer of the new Yuefu style of poetry. His Yuefu poems contributed to the development of the New Yuefu Movement in the mid-Tang Dynasty. His May 7 ancient novel is both poetry and history. It unfolds the narrative, but also focuses on the convolution of the entire article, marking a high achievement in the art of poetry in my country. Du Fu also showed significant creativity in the Five and Seven Rhythms, and accumulated complete artistic experience in rhythm, antithesis, word and sentence refining, etc., bringing this genre to a fully mature stage. There is "Du Gongbu Collection" handed down from generation to generation. Among his works are "Wen Guanjun Takes Henan and Hebei", "Spring View", "Queju", "Wang Yue" and so on.

Creative Experience
Du Fu was born in a family with a literary tradition and was a grandson of the famous poet Du Shenyan. He studied poetry at the age of 7 and became famous at the age of 15. He was unsuccessful in his life and only served as some minor officials such as Zuo Shiyi. Although he was called the "Sage of Poetry" by later generations and his poetry was called the "History of Poetry", people did not pay attention to it in the Tang Dynasty.
There is a poem "Six Quatrains for Play (Part 2)" written about the "Four Heroes of the Early Tang Dynasty": "Wang Yang, Lu Luo, and Lu Luo were in style at that time, and their frivolous writing has not stopped; Er Cao's body and name will be destroyed, and the rivers will not waste the eternal flow." Among them, there are many self-comparisons of poets, Du Fu His experience and poetry creation can be mainly divided into four periods:

The period of reading and wandering
(before the age of thirty)
The so-called "the debauchery between Qi and Zhao, the Qiu Ma is quite wild".
In the 19th year of Kaiyuan (when he was 20 years old), he began to roam Wuyue. Five years later, he returned to Luoyang to take the exam, but failed. After that, Du Fu roamed Qi and Zhao again. Later, he met Li Bai in Luoyang. The two met late and forged a deep friendship. Then they met Gao Shi. The three of them traveled together in Liang and Song Dynasties (today's Kaifeng and Shangqiu). Later, Li Du went to Qizhou. After breaking up, he met Donglu again and parted again. This was the last meeting of the "Poetry Immortal" and the "Poetry Sage". The representative works during this period include "Wang Yue", "Poetry of Fang Bing Cao Hu Ma", "Gift to Li Bai", etc.

The period of being trapped in Chang'an
(thirty to forty-four years old)
During this period, Du Fu first took the exam in Chang'an and failed. In order to achieve the goal of controlling the government and the public, Li Linfu, the prime minister of the dynasty, even told Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty that no one had been selected. Later, he presented gifts to the emperor and gave gifts to the nobles, and lived a life of "taking care of the rich in the morning, following the dust of the fat horse in the evening, leaving cups and cold dishes, and hiding sorrow everywhere". Finally, he got the position of right guard and led the governor of the palace to join the army (mainly a minor official who guarded the armor and weapons of the soldiers and the keys of the treasury). During this period, he wrote poems such as "The Journey of Military Chariots" and "The Journey of Beauties" that criticized current affairs and satirized the powerful. "Five Hundred Words on Empathy from Beijing to Fengxian County" is particularly famous, marking that his understanding of court politics and social reality has reached a new height after experiencing ten years of hard life in Chang'an. Xuanzong held three grand ceremonies in succession from the 8th to the 10th of the first lunar month in 751. Du Fu took this opportunity to write three "Ode to Dali". Xuanzong's envoys were waiting to establish Jixian Academy, but they were not reused.

Official Period
(Forty-four to forty-eight years old)
When the Anshi Rebellion broke out and Tongguan fell, Du Fu settled his family in Yanzhou and went to Suzong alone. On the way, he was captured by the Anshi rebels and taken to Chang'an. Facing the chaotic Chang'an and hearing the news of repeated defeats of the army, he wrote poems such as "Moonlight Night", "Spring View" and "Aijiangtou". Later he absconded to Fengxiangxingzai and worked as Zuo Shiyi. Because of his loyal words and outspoken advice, he wrote a letter to Prime Minister Fang Guan and was demoted to the Huazhou Si Gong and joined the army (Fang Guanshan made an impassioned speech and was a typical intellectual, but unrealistic. He fought with the rebels and adopted the Spring and Autumn Formation. The result was a huge defeat and Suzong was questioned. Du Fu Shi Shi was Zuo Shiyi and wrote a letter saying that Fang Guan was not guilty. Suzong was angry and wanted to be questioned, but he was lucky to be freed). Later, he used poetry to truly record what he saw and heard, which became his immortal works, namely "Three Officials" and "Three Farewells".

Period of Wandering in the Southwest
(Age 48 to 58)
With the defeat of the army in Xiangzhou in the Nine Festivals and the famine in Guanfu, Du Fu abandoned his official position and fled with the people with his family. He passed through Qinzhou, Tonggu and other places, and arrived in Chengdu, where he lived a relatively stable life. When Yan Wu entered the dynasty, the warlords in Sichuan rebelled, and he drifted to Zizhou and Langzhou. Later, Yan Wu served as the Jiedushi Envoy of Jiannan to photograph Chengdu. Du Fu went to Yan Wu's place. Yan Wu died. He wandered again, living in Kuizhou for two years, then wandered to Hubei and Hunan, and died of illness on the Xiangjiang River in Hengzhou. During this period, his works included a large number of masterpieces such as "Spring Night Joyful Rain", "Song of Thatched Cottage Broken by Autumn Wind", "The Prime Minister of Shu", "Hearing the Official Army Takes Henan and Hebei", "Climbing High", "Climbing the Yueyang Tower" and so on. One of the most famous poems is: "There are tens of thousands of vast buildings, and the poor people in the world are all happy." And in "Ascend the High": "The endless falling trees rustle, and the endless Yangtze River rolls in" is an eternal masterpiece. ▲


Reference materials:

1. Zhong Rong; "Commentary and Interpretation of Zhong Rong's Poems". Beijing: Peking University Press. 2000. ISBN 9787301013649 (Simplified Chinese). 2. Du Fu; Zhou Zushen. "Selected Essays on Sui, Tang and Five Dynasties·Jinpeng Diaobiao". Beijing: People's Literature Publishing House. 1990. ISBN 702002861 (Simplified Chinese). 3. Ban Gu; Yan Shigu. "Book of Han. Volume 62. Biography of Sima Qian 32". Beijing: Zhonghua Book Company. 2000. ISBN 7101003055 (Simplified Chinese).
Background

Du Fu was born in the Du family in Jingzhao, a wealthy noble family in the north. His distant ancestor was Du Zhou, a famous cruel official of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. He and Du Mu, another great poet in the Tang Dynasty, namely "Xiao Li Du", were both descendants of Du Yu, a great scholar and famous general in the Jin Dynasty. However, the two factions were far apart. Du Fu was descended from Du Dan, the second son of Du Yu, while Du Mu was descended from Du Yin, the youngest son of Du Yu.

Du Fu’s ancestor is Du Shenyan, a poet in the early Tang Dynasty. Du Shenyan was very talented, but he was proud of his talent. Together with Li Qiao, Cui Rong and Su Weiwei, Shao Shao is known as the "Four Friends of Articles". In the first year of Xianheng (AD 670), Emperor Gaozong of the Tang Dynasty, he was promoted to the rank of Jinshi and became the captain of Xicheng. Later he was transferred to Luoyang Cheng. In the first year of the Holy Calendar (AD 698), Empress Wu was demoted to Jizhou Sihu to join the army. But at this time, he offended his colleague Guo Ruona and his superior Zhou Jizhong. The two conspired to frame Du Shenyan and sentenced him to death. Du Fu's uncle Du Bing was thirteen years old and assassinated Zhou Jizhong, which shocked both the government and the public.

As a result, Du Shenyan survived and was summoned to the capital by Wu Zetian. Because of his appreciation of his poems and prose, he was awarded the title of Zuo Lang, and he was promoted to the rank of Wai Lang, a member of the Ministry of Food and Beverage. Later, he was exiled to Fengzhou for colluding with Zhang Yi's brothers. But he was ordered back soon.

Du Fu's father is Du Xian, the eldest son of Du Shenyan, and his biological mother was from Wucheng, Dongdong, Qinghe. However, she died shortly after his birth, and his father remarried Lu. Du Fu was raised by his aunt. Du Fu had an elder brother who died young, three half-brothers and a half-sister, whom Du Fu often mentioned in his poems. But Du Fu rarely mentioned his stepmother. ▲



Memorial Building

Du Fu Thatched Cottage
There are two Du Fu Thatched Cottages, located in Chengdu City, Sichuan Province and Chengxian County, Gansu Province. The former is more famous.
Du Fu’s tomb is located in Mangling, Kangdian, Gongyi, Henan.
Shaoling Terrace is located in Yanzhou City, Shandong Province.
Du Gong Temple is located on the bank of Shaolingyuan, Chang'an District, Xi'an, Shaanxi Province.
There are several ancestral halls for Duke Du, including four more in Chengdu, Leiyang and Kuizhou. "The four ancestral halls refer to the ancestral halls of Jiangyuan, Yanzhou, Tonggu, and Jianmen. Today in Leiyang, there are key cultural relics protection units in Hunan Province—Du Fu's Tomb, Du Gongbu Temple, Du Ling Bridge, Du Ling Academy and other sites. On the basis of Du Fu's ruins, there is Du Fu Gong Du Fu's last wish was to be buried in Shouyang Mountain, but his son Zongwu was too poor to do so, so he had to be temporarily buried in Leiyang. Forty-three years after his death, his grandson Du Siye carried the coffin and was buried at the foot of Shouyang Mountain in Yanshi, Luoyang, Henan. There is also the tomb of Du Fu. There is the "Du Gongbu Temple" in the Shaoling Plain of Chang'an, south of Xi'an, Shaanxi Province. It was built in the Ming Dynasty. After liberation, it was completely renovated and turned into the "Du Fu Memorial Hall" in Chengdu, Sichuan. It was originally built by Du Fu. Later, the poet Wei Zhuang of the former Shu Dynasty in the Five Dynasties found the ruins of the thatched cottage and rebuilt the thatched cottage to preserve it. The Du Fu Thatched Cottage was restored many times in the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties. The largest two reconstructions were in the 13th year of Hongzhi in the Ming Dynasty (150 AD). 0) and the 16th year of Jiaqing in the Qing Dynasty (1811), the scale and layout of Du Fu's Thatched Cottage were basically established, and it evolved into a museum integrating the layout of the memorial ancestral hall and the style of the poet's former residence. There are more than 60 poems inscribed on the ancestral hall.
The Du Fu Jiang Pavilion is located in the second section of Xiangjiang Middle Road, Tianxin District, Changsha City, Hunan Province. It is an antique garden building and was built in memory of the Tang Dynasty poet Du Fu, across from Juzizhou and Yuelu Mountain. Facing the river, it is less than one kilometer away from Tianxin Pavilion. The Jiangge Garden Area covers an area of more than 6,000 square meters, with a construction area of more than 3,800 square meters. The main pavilion is divided into four floors and is 18 meters high. In 2002, the Changsha Municipal Government decided to officially build it. On September 19, 2005, the entire building was fully completed and passed the expert acceptance, and was subsequently opened to the public on a trial basis.
In the third year of the Dali calendar (768), the family entered Hunan via present-day Hubei, climbed Hengshan Mountain from Yiyuanxiang, and went up the Xiangjiang River. In the fifth year of the Dali calendar, they went to Chenzhou to visit relatives. They were blocked due to the sudden rise in the river water. They settled in Leiyi. In that year, Nie Lingli from Leiyang was the guest of honor. Du Fu died due to poverty and illness in a boat on the Xiangjiang River from Leiyang to Hengyang. Nie Lingzhi built a tomb with its back facing south. There was a stone railing around the tomb, and there was a stone inscription from the Southern Song Dynasty on the front that read "Tomb of Du Gong, Ministry of Industry of the Tang Dynasty".
907) The Du Gong Temple was built around the tomb, with a courtyard-style mountain-enclosed building facing south and a civil structure. There is a sandalwood statue of Du Fu in the main hall in the middle, and there are 10 corridors in the east and west for worshiping and guarding the tomb. In the Song Dynasty, Du Mausoleum was built next to the Du Gong Temple. Academy.
In 1940, the Hunan Provincial Government rebuilt Du Fu’s tomb, and Xue Yue, Chairman of the Provincial Government, rebuilt the tombstone of Du Gongbu in front of the tomb.
In July 1956, the tomb was designated as a provincial key cultural monument in Hunan. In 1975, Leiyang No. 1 Middle School was built and the main hall of the ancestral hall was demolished, leaving only the west corridor and the ruins of the Qing Dynasty Peng Ershu monument. The remaining buildings have been repaired. Today, there are Du Fu's tomb, Du Gong Temple, Du Ling Bridge, Du Fu Academy and other ruins in Leiyang.

Gongyi's hometown
Du Fu's hometown is located 5 kilometers northwest of Gongyi City. It covers an area of 34 acres and faces south. The main building consists of a gate tower, a large statue of Du Fu, a double-layer pavilion, a forest of poetry saints, Du Fu's tomb, a poetry chanting pavilion, a home-viewing pavilion, a grass pavilion, and a dedication hall. The entire scenic area is planted with more than 3,000 flowers and trees, dotted with exotic flowers and plants, shaded by green trees, reflected by pines and cypresses, and is majestic and solemn. Various facilities have a garden architectural style, and it has become a shining pearl on the Mang Mountains.
There is a memorial hall built in Du Fu's hometown, which displays versions of Du Fu's poems and papers on Du Fu's poems in the past dynasties, Du Fu's genealogy table, and poetic paintings of "Three Officials" and "Three Farewells". It receives 20,000 tourists every year and generates ticket revenue of 100,000 yuan. In June 1963, it was designated as a provincial cultural relics protection unit.