Du Fu

Du Fu or Tu Fu (杜甫; pinyin: Dù Fǔ; Wade-Giles: Tu⁴ Fu³), also known as Dù Shàolíng (杜少陵) or Dù Gōngbù (杜工部) (712–770) was a prominent Chinese poet during the Tang Dynasty. His courtesy name was Zǐ Měi (子美).

Influence

In his lifetime, and immediately following his death, Du Fu was not greatly appreciated. In part this can be attributed to his stylistic and formal innovations, some of which are still "considered extremely daring and bizarre by Chinese critics" (Hawkes, p. 4). However, as Hung notes, he "is the only Chinese poet whose influence grew with time" (p. 1), and in the ninth century he began to increase in popularity. With time, his innovations began to seem less radical, and hindsight could appreciate the historical aspects of his poems better than his contemporaries. His influence was helped by his ability to reconcile apparent opposites: political conservatives were attracted by his loyalty to the established order, while political radicals embraced his concern for the poor. Literary conservatives could look to his technical mastery, while literary radicals were inspired by his innovations.

Related Topics:
Conservative - Radical

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Du Fu's popularity grew to such an extent that it is as hard to measure his influence as that of Shakespeare in England: it was hard for any Chinese poet not to be influenced by him. While there was never another Du Fu, individual poets followed in the traditions of specific aspects of his work: Bai Juyi's concern for the poor, Lu You's patriotism, and Mei Yaochen's reflections on the quotidian are a few examples. More broadly, Du Fu's work in transforming the lǜshi from mere word play into "a vehicle for serious poetic utterance" (Watson 1984, p. 270) set the stage for every subsequent writer in the genre.

Related Topics:
England - Bai Juyi - Lu You - Mei Yaochen - Word play

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Beyond China, Du Fu was a major influence on Japanese poetry, and in particular that of Matsuo Basho. In the 20th century, he was the favourite poet of Kenneth Rexroth, who has described him as "the greatest non-epic, non dramatic poet who has survived in any language", and commented that, "he has made me a better man, as a moral agent and as a perceiving organism" (Rexroth pp 135, 137).

Related Topics:
Japanese poetry - Matsuo Basho - 20th century - Kenneth Rexroth - Epic - Drama - Moral agent - Perceiving

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