Du Fu's Commentary (Illustrated Edition)

Author: Zhu Dongrun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-08-01
Features: This book is a critical biography of Du Fu, the great Tang Dynasty poet who achieved the pinnacle of classical poetry. Du Fu's poems primarily record the social realities of the Tang Dynasty's rise and fall before and after the An Lushan Rebellion, as well as the poet's turbulent life. They are known as "poetry history." This biography begins with Du Fu's works and, combined with extensive historical documents, analyzes and interprets the social significance and artistic value of Du Fu's poetry, exploring the thoughts, emotions, and artistic journey conveyed and reflected in his works. It holds considerable literary and historical value.
Du Fu (712–770), styled Zimei, was known as the "Wild Old Man of Shao Ling." He was a prominent poet of the High Tang, renowned alongside Li Bai as the "Li and Du." Du Fu wrote over a thousand poems in his lifetime, deeply reflecting the social realities of the Tang Dynasty's decline from prosperity, expressing profound empathy for the common working people, and was widely recognized by later generations as the "poetry history." In terms of art, Du Fu's poetry is celebrated for its refinement, strictness, and melancholic yet resolute tone.
Based on detailed and abundant historical documents, this book combines specific works of Du Fu to record and analyze the life of the "saint of poetry," Du Fu, and the evolution of his thoughts and emotions. It stands as an outstanding biography of Du Fu.
Like Li Bai, Du Fu was a poet of eighth-century China. They belonged to the landlord class, not the working people, nor were they writers of the proletariat, as that class had not yet emerged at the time. However, in their poetry, especially in the best of their insights, they could employ the language of the people and express the emotions of the common folk. Thus, we can call them "poets of the people," distinguishing them from ordinary poets of their time.
Since the ninth century, people have compared Du Fu and Li Bai. Yuan Zhen, in the preface to the tomb inscription of Du Gong, wrote: "At the same time, Li Bai of Shandong also gained fame for his extraordinary writings, and the people called them 'Li and Du.' I observe that his bold and unrestrained style, free from constraints, in depicting objects and composing folk songs, is indeed worthy of comparison with Zimei. As for elaborating on themes from beginning to end, arranging rhymes and tones, with some works spanning a thousand words and others hundreds, his words and emotions are grand and his style deep and clear. His couplets are precise and refined, yet he casts aside the ordinary. Even Li Bai could not match his outer courtyard, let alone the inner sanctum?" This was praise for Du Fu at the expense of Li Bai, but he only commended Du Fu for "elaborating on themes and arranging rhymes," failing to offer a comprehensive evaluation. Therefore, later, Yuan Haowen remarked: "The parallelism and elaboration are but one path; such narrow confines are but petty. Shao Ling has his own unattainable jade, but Wei Zhi's perception is too narrow." Yuan Haowen believed that Du Fu's five-character long regulated poems were merely one form of his expression. To judge the superiority of Li and Du based solely on this would be incorrect. This statement is valid, but calling Du Fu's five-character long regulated poems "narrow and restrictive" is also an excessive denigration.
Han Yu of the Tang Dynasty, in his poem "Regulating Zhang Ji," wrote: "The writings of Li and Du shine like a thousand suns. Unaware of their folly, the petty ones slander them. Like an ant trying to shake a tree, it is laughably out of its depth. If I had lived after them, I would gaze up in admiration. In dreams, I see them often, but in daylight, my thoughts are vague. I only see the marks of the ax, not the ship that tames the waters. I imagine the time when they wielded their great blades, soaring to the heavens. The cliffs were split open, and heaven and earth trembled with thunder." Here, Han Yu held both Li Bai and Du Fu in the highest regard, especially in his vivid and dynamic comparisons of their creations. Yet, he did not clarify who was superior.
From today's perspective, both Li Bai and Du Fu achieved great success in using the language of the people and expressing their emotions. However, there was an inherent limitation of their time. Li Bai was born in the first year of Wu Zetian's reign in Chang'an (701) and died in the first year of Baoying under Emperor Shaozong (762). Du Fu was born in the first year of Xuanzong's Tianchi era (712) and died in the fifth year of Dali under Emperor Daizong (770). Li Bai was born eleven years earlier and died eight years earlier. In normal times, whether eleven or eight years would make little difference; but in the disintegration of the vast Tang Empire, eight years was a long span, and the blood and tears of the people only deepened the poet's sorrow and grief. Li Bai was born eleven years earlier, but those eleven years were spent in joy, leaving little impression. In the fifteenth year of Tianbao (756), the vast empire began to crumble, with the state disintegrating year by year and people dying in droves. This situation persisted until the first year of Jianlong under Emperor Taizu of Song (960). Du Fu's creative period mainly spanned the years after the fifteenth year of Tianbao, precisely during the turmoil of this great empire.
Afterward, to survive, he traveled from Shaanxi to Gansu, from Gansu to Sichuan, enduring the hardships of exile. His life brought him closer to the working people, and his thoughts and emotions merged with theirs. True, he had relatively stable periods in Chengdu and Zizhou, but they were brief. He then moved to Yun'an and Kuizhou, where he received protection from local warlords. Yet, as the Song Dynasty poet Lu You put it, his life was like a tall man trapped under a low roof, filled with exceptional and pain. Du Fu was not a working person, but he was living their life. In his final three years, he traveled from Kuizhou through Gong'an, Jingzhou, Yuezhou, and Tanzhou, finally reaching Leiyang, where he ended his life on a small boat. He felt the peril of his life and thought of preserving his remaining years in Guangdong and Guangxi, but it was too late. He died in the wilderness of Leiyang, ending his painful life.
Yes, Li Bai's last years were also fraught with hardship, but they were much shorter, and his suffering was far less. The hardships reflected in his poems were far less profound than Du Fu's, and in this regard, he had a long way to go.
There is one more point: Although Li Bai served as a Hanlin scholar and held an official position, he did not participate in the central government's affairs. Du Fu, however, was different. Before the fifteenth year of Tianbao, he had already entered the central government, though as a low-ranking official, he had contact with the central authorities. During the An Lushan Rebellion, he spent difficult days in Chang'an. After Emperor Shaozong of Song proclaimed himself emperor in Lingwu and gathered troops from the northwest to Fengxiang, Du Fu, even in straw sandals and ragged clothes, joined them. Though his position was merely that of a junior censor (Left Censorial), he connected with Fang Mao, then a co-prime minister, effectively becoming involved in the central government's affairs. His status was far more important than Li Bai's.
This means that during the years of the empire's great turmoil, Du Fu was in the center, and his poems fully reflected this. Du Fu's position and the reflections in his poems were far more significant than Li Bai's. This is an undeniable fact.
Of course, some say Li Bai's talent far surpassed Du Fu's, but we offer no opinion on that, as we cannot measure talent. Others say Li Bai was not a Confucian, while Du Fu was, making Li Bai far superior. We also offer no opinion on that, as Li Bai sought immortality and followed Taoist practices, and the detachment of Taoism from the working people was no better than that of Confucianism. In fact, neither Li Bai nor Du Fu were working people, but as long as their works reflected the thoughts and emotions of the people, the evaluation of those works should far exceed others.
Here, we need not fixate on comparing Li Bai and Du Fu. Instead, we should focus on how they reflected their era and the prosperity and disintegration of the Tang Empire. This is a major issue for readers to consider.
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