Du Fu

杜甫 - Du Fu (712-770)

生平 - Life

I was born in 712 as the grandson of Du Shenyan (杜審言), a known prose writer and poet of his day. It is quite likely that his reputation motivated me to study literary works - his works included - in my early years (Davis 14-16). As stated in my poem "The Wanderings of My Prime," I was composing poetry at the age of seven, writing calligraphy at age nine, and had poems in the literary arena by fourteen/fifteen. Like most of the great poets of my time - Li Bai especially - I started drinking wine at a relatively young age, being rather mature and associating with elders who were far more wise then those of my own age (Du Fu, "Wanderings").

At nineteen, I began a series of travels, although the poems that I wrote during that period were not preserved. Rather, my experiences were known through my works of reminiscence done much later, possibly resulting in them being in a lighter mood than they really were, after the harsh life I had endured. I returned to take the Civil Services Examination and was unsuccessful, much to my surprise. In my disappointment, I set out to travel again, this time focusing more on riding and hunting than poetry (Davis 17-20).

I was raised with traditional Confucian beliefs, but when I was around thirty, I became somewhat curious about Buddhism and Taoism. My interest in Taoism, especially immortality, increased with the meeting with Li Bai (李白) in 744. I so very fond of him that I wrote to and about him after we parted, and continued to write even though my feelings nor my letters were returned, however my interest in Taoism soon faded (Davis 23-27).

I was no longer young and cannot afford to waste the rest of my life away, so at age thirty-three I returned to the capital. In 747, I had the opportunity to take the Civil Service Examination again. This time, Prime Minister Li Linfu failed everyone. Never again did I attempt the exam; instead, I petitioned to officials and the emperor himself. I was not able to gain office and thus lived poverty for the next ten or so years. The elements reflected in my poems written during this period were not only disappointment and frustration but also an awareness in the state of society and sympathy towards those who were suffering (Davis 27-36).

In 755, I was finally given a small post as "adjutant in the Office of the Right Commander of the Heir-Apparent's Palace Guard" (Davis 41). An Lushan Rebellion (安史之乱) in December, and soon after I took my family and fled. My family was safe, but I was captured and forced to stay in Chang'an for eight months, during which I wrote my best lyric poems. Then I proceeded to record the war in my poetry and continued after the rebellion ended, which earned the title of "Poet Historian" (Davis 49-52).

诗歌 - Poetry

More than 1400 of my poems survived; they were written during four periods:

My collection of poems are of a variety of topics - it was arranged into as many as seventy-two categories. I myself prefer to organize them into four subgroups: poems of travel, poems on paintings, allegorical poems, and poems of friendship (Davis ).

Poems of Travel

I am a traveler. In my early years, I wandered due to my own desires, and in later years, forced by the rebellion. My observations and emotions mixed with a hint of danger led to the creation of some powerful poems, in which "[my] hardships are treated with irony, [my] companions are shown compassion, and the barriers or land, water, and weather are accorded appreciation and awe" (Davis 129). A significant aspect of traveling is being apart from family. Therefore, many of my poems are more to do with homesickness then actual travels. In my youth, I missed my hometown and in later years, my wife and children. My later travels were caused by the rebellion, so some of my poems expressed my sadness and unwillingness (Davis 128-131).

泥功山 - Nigong Mountain

朝行青泥上，暮在青泥中。

泥泞非一时，版筑劳人功。

不畏道途永，乃将汩没同？

白马为铁骊，小儿成老翁。

哀猿透却坠，死鹿力所穷。

寄语北来人，後来莫匆匆。

(Du Fu and Fang)

In the morning we travel over black mud;

In the evening we are still amid black mud.

The mud is not all from one time;

Many men have labored to ram the earth here.

I do not fear the unendingness of the road;

Only it could be like drowning.

My white horse has become an iron black;

My small son has turned into an old man.

A miserable gibbon crossed but fell;

A dead deer whose strength failed.

I send word to those coming from the north,

That from here on they should not hurry.

(as quoted in Davis 131)

Poems on Paintings

One does not study poetry without studying calligraphy and paintings. I myself have great respect and affection for painters and composed twenty or so poems about paintings and their representations (Davis 133-134).

An example of one of the poems:

画鹰 - The Painted Hawk

素练风霜起 苍鹰画作殊

竦身思狡兔 侧目似愁胡

绦镟光堪摘 轩楹势可呼

何当击凡鸟 毛血洒平芜

(Du Fu Poems 1)

Wind and frost swirl up from the white silk surface,

so superb, this painting of the gray hawk!

Shoulders hunched, he schemes to outwit the wily rabbit;

peers to one side like a vexed barbarian.

Foot cord and ring, a gleam bright enough to grasp;

by pillar and eaves, poised to come if you should call.

When will he swoop down on those lesser birds,

feathers and blood splattered over the barren plain?

(Du Fu and Watson 3)

There are three reasons to why a lyrical poem with an item - an object, live plants, or an animal - as the subject is difficult to write. First, the item must be accurately described. Second, the 'life characteristics' of the item must be clearly expressed. And third, a relationship between the item and people on a spiritual level must be established to suggest its importance and merge it into people's purpose of life. An inanimate object of an animated subject, such as the hawk paint in this poem, is especially difficult to write about. Writing it as a real hawk would make the poem a failure, since the painting is obviously not real, but writing it as just an object of static state makes it hard to convey the spirit that the painting suggests. I was, however, able to mix the two aspects, using the details of the painting to express how it "comes alive" (Du Fu Poems 1).

Allegorical Poems

The expression of my personal emotions in my poems was done by using either allusions to earlier poets or symbolism relating to plants and animals. When the correct references are found, these poems are easy to understand; however, when the content move beyond the personal level to allegorical writings the poems' meanings are no longer apparent (Davis 140).

This poem is clearly not about me personally:

萤火 - The Firefly

幸因腐草出，敢近太阳飞。

未足临书卷，时能点客衣。

随风隔幔小，带雨傍林微。

十月清霜重，飘零何处归。

(Du Fu, "The Firefly")

Luckily you have come out from rotting weeds;

Dare you fly near the sun?

You are not able to illumine books,

But can always bespot a traveler's clothes.

Carried on the wind, you seem small outside the curtain;

Specked with rain, you are faint by the side of the wood.

When in the tenth month the chill frost is heavy,

In your distress where will you turn?

(as quoted in Davis 142)

This poem is a political allegory with Li Fuguo (李辅国), an eunuch official, as the subject. I called him a rotten weed that shamelessly got too close to the emperor, the sun. I criticized the eunuch for being uneducated and thus causing sufferings to the people and the poet wished him to be removed from office as soon as possible (Davis 143).

参考 - References

Davis, A.R. Tu Fu. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1971. Print.

"Du Fu Poems 1" (杜甫诗(一)). 佛山市图书馆. Web. 25 Feb 2012. <http://www.fslib.com.cn/oldfslib/Study/chinaculture/view.Asp?ID=53>

Du Fu. "Wanderings of My Prime" (状游). 教學資源,成語字典,花蓮吉安鄉合法民宿. Web. 03 Mar 2012. <http://www.gotop.idv.tw/content/dofu/travel1.htm>

Du Fu. "The Firefly" (萤火). 诗词名句网. Web. 04 Mar 2012. <http://www.shicimingju.com/baidu/list/118776.html>

Du Fu and Burton Watson. The Selected Poems of Du Fu. New York: Columbia University Press, 2002. Web. 25 Feb 2012. <http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=100345806>

Du Fu and Fang Zhouzi (方舟子). The Complete Poems of Du Fu (杜甫诗全集). Web. 03 Mar 2012. <http://www.njmuseum.com/zh/book/scgf/dufu/dufu.html>