Vinca On

Du Fu

1. Du Fu is considered to be one of the greatest poets in Chinese history.
2. He also has been called the poet of history
3. He was a Confucian official and statesman; his poetry reflects his sense of service to the state (" I stand alone ")
4. Du Fu was a genius in the use of the Chinese language
5. Du Fu bears witness to history, while keeping with the Confucian tradition of poetic expression; he bears witness in particular to the An Lushan Rebellion (755-762) in his views in "Springtime"
6. Du Fu was also a poet of everyday life

1) Greatest Chinese Poet

• Du Fu wrote more than 1400 poems throughout his life
• But he believed himself as a failure
• He gained little distinction in the official examinations, but remained a minor civil servant uprooted by the An Lushan Rebellion that destroyed the Tang Dynasty
• He was poor, and occasionally close to starvation
• The major turning point in his life were his meeting and friendship with Li Bo and the civil war, that opened his eyes to the suffering of the common people
• Du Fu's humanity speaks across the centuries

2) Confucian

• Du Fu was brought up on the ancient beliefs of the Confucian system
• The way of beliefs was adopted by many of the richer Chinese
• However, Du Fu developed his own religious belief which motivated him to spend his life as a wanderer