Selected Poems of Du Fu -- Classical Poetry Masterpieces

Author: Zhang Zhonggang, selected and edited
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-01-01
Features: Du Fu is known as the "Sage of Poetry" and holds a position in the history of Chinese literature. His poetry collections integrate the achievements of previous generations, encompassing a vast range of content and becoming a poetic history of his era. In terms of art, his works are profound and expressive, displaying a mature and turbulent style, deeply revered by later generations. This book selects 193 representative poems of Du Fu based on the latest research findings in academia, arranged in chronological order of creation, with detailed introductions and annotations, which are highly beneficial for understanding and studying Du Fu's poetry. This series of ancient "Classical Poetry Masters" is a collection of famous works by renowned poets from the past, compiled by Zhonghua Book Company, gathering latest research findings to provide a systematic and comprehensive poetry anthology that combines academic standards with readability, appealing to both scholars and general readers. The publication of this book was specially invited by more than 30 experts and scholars from over 20 institutions.
1. The primary criterion for selecting works is their popularity in circulation, while also considering their ideological and artistic value.
2. The selected texts are primarily based on authoritative versions, especially authoritative compiled editions, without collation notes. Generally, variant readings are not explained, but important ones are clarified in the annotations.
3. Each book includes an "Introduction" before the main text, providing a comprehensive and concise evaluation of the selected authors, works, and related content.
4. The works and their annotations are arranged chronologically. Works that cannot be dated are grouped together after the dated works.
5. Below each poem and annotation, there are "Introduction to the Title" and "Annotations." The introduction provides an explanation of the poem's background, theme, writing techniques, artistic features, and relevant names, places, and reign periods. The annotations address the practical needs of general readers, with special attention to explaining allusions, technical terms, and difficult expressions. Uncommon characters are annotated with Pinyin, and confusing sentences are explained in detail. Through reading this series, readers can gain a thorough and systematic understanding of outstanding poets and works in the history of Chinese literature, fostering spiritual resonance, enriching life experiences, and serving as a model for learning and imitation in poetry creation.
Du Fu was a Tang Dynasty poet, styled Zimei. His ancestral home was Xiangyang (now part of Hubei), and he was born in Gongxian, Henan. He lived in the southern suburbs of Chang'an and was recommended by Yan Wu as a military advisor and acting Assistant Director of the Ministry of Works in Chengdu, earning the posthumous titles of "Shaojing" (Little Leigong) and "Gongbu" (Assistant Director of the Ministry of Works). Du Fu was born into a family that valued Confucianism and official service, with a literary tradition, and was the grandson of the renowned poet Du Shenzhi. At the age of seven, he began studying poetry and gained fame by the age of 15. After the age of 20, his life can be divided into four periods.
From the 19th year of Emperor Xuanzong's Kaiyuan era (731) to the fourth year of the Tianbao era (745), Du Fu lived a romantic and carefree life. He traveled extensively in Wu-Yue and the regions of Qi and Zhao. During this time, he failed the imperial examination in Luoyang. In the third year of the Tianbao era, he met Li Bai in Luoyang and became close friends. They parted in the autumn of the following year and never met again. During this period, Du Fu wrote over 20 poems, mostly five-character regulated verse and five-character ancient verse, with Wang Yue as a representative work.
From the fifth year to the 14th year of the Tianbao era, Du Fu struggled in Chang'an, living in poverty and hardship. He repeatedly submitted his works to powerful officials in hopes of securing a position. In the sixth year, he took the special examination for officials; in the 10th year, he submitted three "Great Rites" essays and gained Emperor Xuanzong's favor, but nothing came of it. Only in October of the 14th year, a month before the An-Shi Rebellion, did he receive the position of Assistant Director of the Right Guards. His failures in officialdom and personal hardships led him to objectively recognize the corruption of the ruling class and the suffering of the people, gradually transforming him into a poet concerned with the nation and its people. His creative style underwent profound and significant changes, producing immortal masterpieces such as The Ballad of the War Wagons, The Way of the Imperial Court, The First and Second Outposts to the Frontier, Self-Poem from Fengxian County, and the line "The wine and meat in the rich man's doors stink, while on the road there are frozen corpses." Approximately 100 poems from this period survive, mostly five- and seven-character ancient verse.
From the first year of Emperor Shaozong's Zhide era (756) to the second year of the Qianyuan era (759), the An-Shi Rebellion reached its peak. Du Fu endured great hardships but achieved remarkable creative success. After Chang'an fell, he traveled north to Lingwu to join Emperor Shaozong but was captured en route and imprisoned for nearly six months before daringly escaping back to Fengxiang, where he was appointed Left Assistant Director of the Imperial Chancellery. Soon after, he was nearly executed for his outspoken criticism of the Fang case. After Chang'an was recaptured, he returned to his post. In May 758, he was exiled as Assistant Director of the Ministry of Works in Huazhou, bidding farewell to Chang'an forever. During this period, Du Fu gained a clearer understanding of reality and wrote enduring masterpieces such as Lament for Chen Tao, Spring View, Northward Expedition, Qiang Village, "Three Officials," and "Three Farewells."
In 759, severe famine struck Guanzhong, and Du Fu grew disillusioned with politics. After the autumn equinox, he resigned and traveled through Qinzhou and Tonggu, arriving in Chengdu by the end of the year. Over 200 poems survive from this period, most of which are among Du Fu's finest works.
From the first year of Emperor Shaozong's Shangyuan era (760) to the fifth year of Emperor Da-li's Dali era (770), Du Fu spent eight years in Sichuan and three years in Jing and Xiang. In the spring of 760, he built a cottage by the Xianhua Creek in Chengdu and lived there intermittently for five years. During this time, he was forced to flee to Zhi and Lang due to chaos. In 765, Yan Wu died, and Du Fu lost his support, leaving Chengdu with his family. Due to illness, he lingered in Yun'an and moved to Kuizhou in the late spring of the following year. In 768, he passed through the Yangtze Gorges, traveling to Jingling and Gong'an before reaching Yueyang by the end of the year. His last two years were spent wandering between Yueyang, Changsha, and Leiyang, often living on boats. In the winter of 770, Du Fu died on a boat from Changsha to Yueyang at the age of 59. His final poem was a 36-line Self-Poem from the Boat Amidst Illness, which included the lines "The blood of war still flows, and the sound of war echoes to this day," still reflecting his concern for national disaster. During these 11 years, he wrote over 1,000 poems (including over 430 in Kuizhou), accounting for more than two-thirds of his total works. Most of these are quatrains and regulated verse, with some long parallel couplets. Notable works include Song of My Cottage Unroofed by the Wind, Celebrating the Recovery of Henan and Hebei, Eight Poems of Autumn in Chang'an, Ascending High Mountain, and Addressing Wu Again.
Over 1,400 poems of Du Fu survive, profoundly reflecting the social landscape of the nearly 20 years before and after the An-Shi Rebellion and vividly recording his life experiences. By closely linking social reality with personal life, Du Fu achieved a perfect unity of ideological content and artistic form, representing the highest achievement of Tang Dynasty poetry and earning the posthumous title of "Poetic History." However, Du Fu did not objectively narrate history through poetry; instead, he expressed his subjective emotions through unique artistic means while deeply and broadly reflecting reality. As Pu Qilong noted: "The poetry of Shaojing embodies the emotions of one person and the events of three dynasties" (Heartfelt Reflections on Du Fu's Poetry).
Since the late Tianbao era, Du Fu wrote numerous poems on current affairs and politics. Short poems include Washing the Army, Reflections, The Way of the Imperial Court, Three Short Poems, Diseased Oranges, Song of My Cottage Unroofed by the Wind, and Addressing Wu Again, while long poems include Kuizhou Reflections, Past Life, Cottage, and Solitary Thoughts. Though diverse in content, these poems combine personal emotions with factual accounts, with a strong lyrical tone.
War-themed poems constitute a significant portion of Du Fu's works. His attitude toward different types of war varied. He opposed the court's wasteful military campaigns that drained the nation's resources, as seen in The Ballad of the War Wagons and Ascending the Rear Mountain. He supported suppressing rebellions and resisting foreign aggression, as in Watching the Anxi Troops Head to Guanzhong and Watching the Army. The two sets of poems The First and Second Outposts to the Frontier and The First and Second Farewells to the Frontier praised the bravery of soldiers while condemning the king's insatiable expansionism and the general's extravagance. Through the voice of a soldier, they summarized the tragic fate of countless brave men. In "Three Officials" and "Three Farewells," the poet sympathized with the suffering of the people and resented the barbarity of the Latins, but in the face of a major enemy and a shortage of troops, he could only console those conscripted with tears. These works reveal the author's inner conflicts.
Du Fu also wrote many poems about nature. The subjects of these poems were often connected to both his personal life and current events, blending emotion, scenery, and politics rather than just scenery and emotion. The most representative works are Spring View and Jianmen.
He also composed poems about painting, music, architecture, dance, utensils, and agricultural production, all imbued with the author's emotions and reflecting the spirit of the times. Some poems in Du Fu's collection lack a strong sense of the era and show relatively mild personal emotions, especially those written during his time in the Chengdu cottage. These reflect his state of mind after years of wandering and finding temporary rest. In poems like Screen Traces, For the Farmers, Farmhouse, Strolling, Thoughts from the Water Balcony, Post-Walk, and Joyful Rain in Spring Night, the poet observed the movements of plants, animals, and insects with meticulous attention, expressing boundless affection and deep understanding. These works reveal another aspect of Du Fu's poetry and character.
His poems of remembrance for family and friends are often poignant and deeply emotional. For example, Moonlit Night laments his wife, and Remembering My Brother on the Moonlit Night reflects on his brother. Among the numerous poems about friends, those remembering Li Bai stand out. From their parting until his later years, Du Fu wrote 15 poems about Li Bai, expressing his admiration and friendship.
Du Fu also wrote poems about poetry itself, expressing his artistic principles in works like Six Quatrain Poems in Playful Style, Random Notes, and Twelve Poems of Solace (lines 4–8). He advocated "learning from multiple masters" and "creating a unique style," discarding the old and forging the new. During his time in Chang'an and his later wanderings in the southwest, Du Fu wrote some poems that were trivial in content and lacked artistic merit, such as those offering gifts to powerful officials or responding to others' poems. Many of these were five-character parallel couplets.
Du Fu's poetry exhibits great diversity, incorporating the strengths of various styles. He mastered all poetic forms and innovated, creating new styles. His five-character ancient verse blends reflection, travel accounts, and lyrical expression, opening new horizons for Tang Dynasty five-character ancient verse. Representative works include Self-Poem from Fengxian County, Northward Expedition, Qiang Village, and To Official Wei Ba. His seven-character ancient verse excels in expressing opinions, with a bold, melancholic, and rugged style. Examples include Song of Intoxication to Zheng Guangwen, Washing the Army, Song of My Cottage Unroofed by the Wind, and Late Age Journey. His five- and seven-character regulated verse demonstrates exceptional skill. Five-character regulated verse includes Spring View, Lamenting Li Bai from the Edge of the World, Post-Walk, Joyful Rain in Spring Night, Thoughts from the Water Balcony, Traveling at Night Amidst Illness, and Ascending Yueyang Tower. Seven-character regulated verse includes The Prime Minister of Shu, Old Man in the Wilds, Celebrating the Recovery of Henan and Hebei, Staying at the Ministry, White Emperor, Five Poems on the Generals, Eight Poems of Autumn in Chang'an, and Ascending High Mountain. Few Tang Dynasty regulated verse surpasses these works. Du Fu also wrote many five-character and seven-character parallel couplets, significantly advancing the form. His Autumn Poem from Kuizhou to Cheng Ren, a 1,000-character work, is a prime example. However, many of his parallel couplets were filled with allusions and served as gifts to officials. His quatrains, on the other hand, expressed emotions on the spot, reflected current events, and pioneered the style in quatrains, making significant contributions.
Du Fu's poetry covers a broad and profound range, with genuine and intense emotions. Artistically, it synthesizes the achievements of classical poetry while innovating and developing. It greatly expands the boundaries of poetry in both content and form, exerting a wide influence on later generations. Du Fu was also revered by later generations as the "Sage of Poetry."
Du Fu's life was marked by hardship, and his poetry reflects this: "A century of singing in sorrow, yet no one understands" (Southward Expedition). However, after his death, he was highly praised by Fan Huang, Han Yu, Yuan Zhen, and Bai Juyi. Du Fu's poetry deeply influenced the literary ideas of the New Yuefu movement and Li Shangyin's regulated verse that satirized current events. However, Du Fu's works gained widespread recognition only after the Song Dynasty. Wang Yu, Wang Anshi, Su Shi, Huang Tingjian, and Lu You all held Du Fu in the highest regard, while Wen Tianxiang regarded Du Fu's poetry as a spiritual force for upholding national integrity. Du Fu's influence extends far beyond the realm of literature, spanning millennia. For nearly a thousand years, the study of Du Fu has continued. During the Song Dynasty, numerous specialized works on Du Fu's poetry were compiled, such as Wang Zhu's Collected Works of Du Gongbu, Guo Zhida's Collected Annotations of Du Fu's Poetry by Nine Scholars, Lu's chronological arrangement, and Cai Mengbi's annotated Cottage Poems of Du Gongbu by Xu Juren. Later annotations on Du Fu's collected works number over 100, with popular examples including Qian Qianyi's Annotations to Du Gongbu's Collected Works, Qiu Zhaoao's Detailed Annotations to Du Fu's Poetry, Yang Lun's Mirror of Du Fu's Poetry, and Pu Qilong's Heartfelt Reflections on Du Fu's Poetry.
Both the New and Old Tang Histories include biographies of Du Fu. After the Song Dynasty, there is a wealth of annotations and interpretations of Du Fu's poetry in poetic discussions and notes. Zhonghua Book Company compiled A Collection of Research Materials on Classical Literature: Du Fu Volume (Upper Part: Tang and Song Section) in 1964. In the late Ming Dynasty, Wang Si had Du Yi, and in the Qing Dynasty, Shi Hongbao wrote Sayings on Reading Du Fu's Poetry. Additionally, Zhonghua Book Company compiled an anthology of important essays on Du Fu since the May Fourth Movement titled A Collection of Research Papers on Du Fu. Biographies and new monographs include Feng Zhi's Biography of Du Fu, Xiao Diwei's Studies on Du Fu, Fu Gengsheng's On Du Fu's Poetry, and Zhu Dongrun's On Du Fu. Detailed chronologies include Wen Yiduo's Collected Annotations to the Chronology of Shaojing and the Chronology of Du Fu compiled by the Sichuan Cultural and Historical Research Institute.