| Biography of Du Fu |
Du Fu is also known as Tu Fu He is one of the most famous poets of Chinese literature. He was a favourite of the Tang Dynasty Emperor Hsuan Tsung because of the excellence of his poetry. However, the Emperor lived decadently, leaving his concubine and Prime Minister to run the country. It was a time of vast waste and high taxes, causing misery to the people. Du Fu had an excellent education and was famed for poetry and calligraphy as a boy. Like Li Bai, he left on an extensive tour when he was 20. He was very impressed with the Yangtze River and the area to the south, Jiangnan. Later he went on another extensive tour, further to the north. His intense love of the landscape increased. He met Li Bai and Kao Shih and enjoyed the happy life of the poet with them. He arrived in the capital, Changan, when he was 35. In his ten years there, he was dismayed at the level of corruption and waste. Like Li Bai, Du Fu fell out of favour during the An Lushan rebellion (755-763) and was forced to lead a wandering life as a refugee. During this time he suffered a great deal and came to empathise very strongly with rural peasants. His compassion illuminates many of his poems. He was so poor at this time that he ate left-over food, and his son died of starvation. He began to use his poems to attack corrupt monarchy and to express the grievances of the ordinary people. Bitterness and anti-war sentiments are also found in his poems, and these feelings can be understood by knowing about his personal disappointments and sufferings. He became painfully aware of the gulf between rich and poor. He moved to Gansu, where he subsisted in mountain hollows, then to Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan, where friends built him a thatched hut. This is still a national monument. When he was 57 he began wandering by boat, extremely poor and lonely. He died aged 59, having lived an extemely tragic life. Some of my favourite poems of his are: Advent of Spring Moonlit Night Gazing at Mount Tai Poem for Wei Bai Ballad of the Old Cyprus Full Moon Ballad of the War Chariots Returning Late They show incredible range, artistry and relevance to modern readers. Merv Daw |
712-770. Du Fu died in a small boat.. |
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