{"id":5966,"date":"2024-03-10T13:40:45","date_gmt":"2024-03-10T17:40:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/creatureandcreator.ca\/?p=5966"},"modified":"2024-03-10T13:40:45","modified_gmt":"2024-03-10T17:40:45","slug":"du-fu-poet-sage-historian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/creatureandcreator.ca\/?p=5966","title":{"rendered":"Du Fu: Poet, Sage, Historian"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"image_pdf\"<\/a>\"image_print\"<\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n\n

Du Fu: Poet, Sage, Historian<\/strong><\/p>\n

Du Fu (712-770 CE) was a poet during a time of great political upheaval in China. He was born near Luoyang and spent much of his young adulthood in the Yanzhou region, finally settling down to a minor official position in Chang\u2019an, the imperial capital. In 755 CE, An Lushan, a disgruntled general, led a rebellion against the Tang dynasty. The emperor was forced to flee Chang\u2019an (modern Xian), and chaos reigned for the next eight years. For more than a year Du Fu was held captive in Chang\u2019an by the rebels. After escaping, he made his way south, living for a time in a thatched cottage in Chengdu, and later at various places along the Yangtze River. His poetry is characterized by an intense love of nature, by elements of Chan Buddhism, and by a deep compassion for all those caught up in the turmoil of history. This is a longer post than usual. I have become fascinated by Du Fu.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Failing the Examinations<\/strong><\/p>\n

Du Fu (Tu Fu in the Wades Gilles transliteration system, the family name likely deriving from the name of a pear tree) was born in 712 CE near Luoyang, the eastern capital of the Tang Dynasty (Hung, 1952; Owen, 1981). The following map (adapted from Young, 2008, and Collet and Cheng, 2014) shows places of importance in his life:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Du Fu\u2019s father was a minor official. His mother appears to have died during his childhood, and Du Fu was raised by his stepmother and an aunt. Du Fu studied hard, but in 735 CE he failed the jenshi<\/em> (advanced scholar) examinations. No one knows why: politics and spite may have played their part. He spent the next few years with his father who was then stationed in Yanzhou,<\/p>\n

Du Fu met Li Bai<\/a> (700-762 CE) in 744 CE. Despite the difference in their ages, the two poets became fast friends. However, they were only able to meet occasionally, their lives being separated by politics and war.<\/p>\n

Du Fu attempted the jenshi<\/em> examinations again in 746, and was again rejected. Nevertheless, he was able to obtain a minor position in the imperial civil service in Chang\u2019an. This allowed him to marry and raise a small family.<\/p>\n

Taishan<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

We can begin our examination of Du Fu\u2019s poetry with one of the early poems written during his time in Yanzhou: Gazing on the Peak<\/em> (737 CE). The peak is Taishan <\/em>(exalted mountain), located in Northeastern China. Taishan is one of the Five Great Mountains (Wuyue<\/em>) of ancient China. Today one can reach the summit by climbing up some 7000 steps (see illustration on the right), but in Du Fu\u2019s time the climb would have been more difficult. The following is the poem in printed Chinese characters (H\u00e0nz\u00ec<\/em>) and in Pinyin transliteration:\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The poem is in the l\u01dcsh\u012b<\/em> (regulated verse) form which requires eight lines (four couplets), with each line containing the same number of characters: 5- or 7-character l\u01dcsh\u012b <\/em>are the most common. Each line is separated into phrases, with a 5-character line composed of an initial 2-character phrase and a final 3-character phrase.\u00a0 The last words of each couplet rhyme. Rhyme in Chinese is based on the vowel sound. Within the lines there were complex rules for the tonality of the sounds (Zong Qi Cai, 2008, Chapter 8; Wai-lim Yip, 1997, pp 171-221). These rules do not always carry over to the way the characters are pronounced in modern Chinese. The following is a reading of the poem in Mandarin (from Librivox<\/a>).<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/creatureandcreator.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/wang-yue-from-librivox.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

Chinese poetry is directed at both the ear and the eye, and fine calligraphy enhances the appreciations of a poem. Ding Qian<\/a> has written out Du Fu\u2019s W\u00e0ng yu\u00e8<\/em> in beautiful cursive script (going from top down and from left to right):<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The following is a character-by-character translation (adapted from Hinton, 2019, p 2):<\/p>\n

gaze\/behold\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 mountain<\/p>\n

Daizong<\/em> (ancient name for Taishan)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 then\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 like\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 what
Qi\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Lu<\/em> (regions near Taishan)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 green\/blue\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 never\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 end
create\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 change\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 concentrate\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 divine\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 beauty
Yin\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yang<\/em> (Taoist concepts of dark and light)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 cleave\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 dusk\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 dawn
heave\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 chest\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 birth\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 layer\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 cloud
burst\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 eye\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 enter\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 return\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 bird
soon\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 when\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 reach\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 extreme\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 summit
one\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 glance\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 all\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 mountain\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 small.<\/p>\n

And this is the English translation of Stephen Owen (2008, poem 1.2):<\/p>\n

Gazing on the Peak<\/p>\n

And what then is Daizong like? \u2014
over Qi and Lu, green unending.
Creation compacted spirit splendors here,
Dark and Light, riving dusk and dawn.
Exhilarating the breast, it produces layers of cloud;
splitting eye-pupils, it has homing birds entering.
Someday may I climb up to its highest summit,
with one sweeping view see how small all other mountains are<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The interpretation of the poem requires some knowledge of its allusions. In the fourth line, Du Fu is referring to the taijitu<\/em> symbol of Taoism<\/a> (illustrated on the right) that contrasts the principles of yin<\/em> (dark, female, moon) and yang<\/em> (light, male, sun). Du Fu proposes that Taishan divides the world into two ways of looking. Some have suggested that the taijitu<\/em> symbol originally represented the dark (north) side and the light (south) side of a mountain, and this idea fits easily with the poem.<\/p>\n

All translators have had difficulty with the third couplet (reviewed by Hsieh, 1994). My feeling is that Du Fu is noticing layers of clouds at the mountain\u2019s upper reaches \u2013 the chest if one considers the mountain like a human body \u2013 and birds swooping around the peaks \u2013 where the eye sockets of the body would be. However, it is also possible that Du Fu is breathing heavily from the climb and that his eyes are surprised by the birds. Perhaps both meanings are valid, with Du Fu and the mountain becoming one. Du Fu may have been experiencing the meditative state of Chan Buddhism, with a mind was \u201cwide-open and interfused with this mountain landscape, no distinction between subjective and objective\u201d (Hinton, 2019, p 6). One might also consider Du Fu\u2019s mental state: at the time he wrote this poem he had just failed the jenshi<\/em> exams. This might have caused some breast-beating and tears, as well as his final resolve to climb the mountain and see how small all his problems actually were.<\/p>\n

The last couplet refers to Mencius\u2019 description of the visit of Confucius to Taishan (Mengzi VIIA:24<\/a>):<\/p>\n

He ascended the Tai Mountain, and all beneath the heavens appeared to him small. So he who has contemplated the sea, finds it difficult to think anything of other waters, and he who has wandered in the gate of the sage, finds it difficult to think anything of the words of others.<\/p>\n

Zhang\u2019s Hermitage<\/strong><\/p>\n

During his time in Yanzhou Du Fu visited a hermit named Zhang near the Stonegate Mountain, one of the lesser peaks near Taishan. Zhang was likely a follower of the new Chan Buddhism, which promoted meditation as a means to empty the mind of suffering and allow the universal life force to permeate one\u2019s being. Buddhism first came to China during the Han dynasty (206BCE – 220CE). Since many of the concepts of Buddhism were similar to those of Taoism<\/a>, the new religion spread quickly (Hinton, 2020). A type of Buddhism that stressed the role of meditation began to develop in the 6th<\/sup> Century CE, and called itself chan<\/em>, a Chinese transcription of the Sanskrit dhyana <\/em>(meditation). In later years this would lead to the Zen Buddhism of Japan. There are many allusions to Buddhism and especially to Chan ideas in Du Fu\u2019s poetry (Rouzer, 2020; Zhang, 2018)<\/p>\n

Du Fu reportedly wrote the following poem on one of the walls of Zhang\u2019s hermitage. The poem is a seven-character l\u01dcsh\u012b.<\/em> The following is the poem in Chinese characters (Owen, 2008, poem 1.4) and in pinyin:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The following is a character-by-character translation (adapted from Hinton, 2019, p 22):<\/p>\n

inscribe\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Zhang\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 family\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 recluse\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 house\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0

spring\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 mountain\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 absence\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 friend\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 alone\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 you\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 search
chop\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 tree\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 crack\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 crack\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 mountain\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 again\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 mystery
creek\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 pathway\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 remnant\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 cold\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 pass\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 ice\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 snow
stone\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 gate\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 slant\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 sun\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 reach\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 forest\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 place
no\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 desire\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 night\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 know\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 gold\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 silver\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 breath\/spirit
far\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 injure\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 morning\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 see\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 deer\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 deer\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 wander
ride\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 burgeon\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 dark\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 thus\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 confuse\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 leave\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 place
facing\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 you\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 suspect\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 this\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 drift\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 empty\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 boat.<\/p>\n

And this is a translation by Kenneth Rexroth (1956):<\/p>\n

Written on the Wall at Chang’s Hermitage<\/p>\n

It is Spring in the mountains.
I come alone seeking you.
The sound of chopping wood echos
Between the silent peaks.
The streams are still icy.
There is snow on the trail.
At sunset I reach your grove
In the stony mountain pass.
You want nothing, although at night
You can see the aura of gold
And silver ore all around you.
You have learned to be gentle
As the mountain deer you have tamed.
The way back forgotten, hidden
Away, I become like you,
An empty boat, floating, adrift.<\/p>\n

Notable in the poem is the idea of w\u00fa<\/em> (third character) which can be translated as \u201cabsence, nothing, not\u201d (Hinton, 2019, p 24) This is an essential concept of Chan Buddhism \u2013 the emptying of the mind so that it can become a receptacle for true awareness. The third and fourth characters of the first line might be simply translated as \u201calone (without a friend),\u201d but one might also venture \u201cwith absence as a companion\u201d or \u201cwith an empty mind.\u201d This fits with the image of the empty boat at the end of the poem.<\/p>\n

Zheng Qian, a drinking companion of Li Bai and Du Fu, suggested the idea of combining poetry, painting and calligraphy. The Emperor was impressed and called the combination s\u0101nju\u00e9<\/em> (three perfections) (Sullivan, 1974). Li Bai and Du Fu likely tried their hand at painting and calligraphy but no versions of their s\u0101nju\u00e9 <\/em>efforts have survived. <\/em>The Ming painter and calligrapher Wang Shimin (1592\u20131680 CE) illustrated the second couplet of Du Fu\u2019s poem from Zhang\u2019s hermitage in his album Du Fu\u2019s Poetic Thoughts<\/a> now at the Palace Museum in Beijing.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The An Lushan Rebellion<\/strong><\/p>\n

Toward the end 755 CE, An Lushan, a general on the northern frontier rebelled against the empire and captured the garrison town of Fanyang (or Jicheng) located in what is now part of Beijing. Within a month the rebels captured Luoyang. The emperor and much of his court fled Chang\u2019an, travelling through the Qinling Mountains to find sanctuary in the province of Shu. The city of Chang\u2019an fell to the rebels in the middle of 756 CE.<\/p>\n

Below is shown a painting of Emperor Ming-Huang’s Flight to Shu. <\/em>Though attributed to the Tang painter Li Zhaodao (675-758 CE), this was actually painted in his style several hundred years later during the Song Dynasty. Shu is the ancient name for what is now known as Sichuan province. This masterpiece of early Chinese painting is now in the National Palace Museum in Taipei<\/a>. Two enlargements are included: the emperor with his red coat is shown at the lower right; at the lower left advance members of his entourage begin climbing the mountain paths.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The rebellion<\/a> lasted for eight long years. The northern part of the country was devastated. Death from either war or famine was widespread. Censuses before and after the rebellion suggested a death toll of some 36 million people, making it one of the worst catastrophes in human history. However, most scholars now doubt these numbers and consider the death toll as closer to 13 million. Nevertheless, it was a murderous time.<\/p>\n

Moonlit Night<\/strong><\/p>\n

At the beginning of the rebellion, Du Fu managed to get his family to safety in the northern town of Fuzhou, but he was himself held captive in Chang\u2019an. Fortunately, he was not considered important enough to be executed, and he finally managed to escape in 757 CE. The following shows a poem from 756 CE in characters (Owen, 2008, poem 4.18), pinyin transcription, and character-by-character translation (Alexander, 2008):<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The following is a reading of the poem from Librivox<\/a>:<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/creatureandcreator.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/yue-ye-from-librivox.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

Vikam Seth (1997) translated the poem keeping the Chinese rhyme scheme: the last character rhymes for all four couplets:<\/p>\n

Moonlit Night<\/p>\n

In Fuzhou, far away, my wife is watching
The moon alone tonight, and my thoughts fill
With sadness for my children, who can’t think
Of me here in Changan; they’re too young still.
Her cloud-soft hair is moist with fragrant mist.
In the clear light her white arms sense the chill.
When will we feel the moonlight dry our tears,
Leaning together on our window-sill?<\/p>\n

Alec Roth wrote a suite of songs based on Vikam Seth\u2019s translations of Du Fu. The following is his setting for Moonlit Night with tenor Mark Padmore:<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/creatureandcreator.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/06-Songs-In-Time-of-War_-Moonlit-Nig.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

David Young (2008) provides a free-verse translation:<\/p>\n

Tonight
in this same moonlight
my wife is alone at her window
in Fuzhou
I can hardly bear
to think of my children
too young to understand
why I can’t come to them
her hair
must be damp from the mist
her arms
cold jade in the moonlight
when will we stand together
by those slack curtains
while the moonlight dries
the tear-streaks on our faces?<\/p>\n

The poem may have been written or at least conceived during the celebration of the full moon in the autumn. Families customarily viewed the moon together and Du Fu imagines his wife viewing the moon alone. The mention of the wife\u2019s chamber in the second line may refer to either her actual bedroom or metonymically to herself as the inmost room in Du Fu\u2019s heart (Hawkes, 1967). David Young (2008) remarks that this may be \u201cthe first Chinese poem to address romantic sentiments to a wife,\u201d instead of a colleague or a courtesan.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

David Hawkes (1967) notes the parallelism of the third couplet:<\/p>\n

\u2018fragrant mist\u2019 parallels \u2018clear light,\u2019 \u2018cloud hair\u2019 parallels \u2018jade arms,\u2019 and \u2018wet\u2019 parallels \u2018cold\u2019<\/p>\n

Spring View<\/strong><\/p>\n

Spring View <\/em>(or Spring Landscape<\/em>), the most famous poem written by Du Fu in Chang\u2019an during the rebellion, tells how nature persists despite the ravages of effects of war and time. Subjective emotions and objective reality become one. The character w\u00e0ng<\/em> (view, landscape) can mean both the act of perceiving or what is actually perceived. In addition, it can sometimes mean the present scene or what is to be expected in the future (much like the English word \u201cprospect\u201d). The illustration below shows the text in Chinese characters (Owen, 2008, poem 4.25), in pinyin and in a character-by-character translation (adapted from Hawkes, 1967, Alexander, 2008, and Zong-Qi Cai, 2008):<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The following is a reading of the poem from the website associated with How to Read Chinese Poetry<\/em><\/a> (ZongQi-Cai, 2008, poem 8.1):<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/creatureandcreator.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/c8.1-spring-scene.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

The next illustration shows the poem as written by three calligraphers. All versions read from top down and from right to left. On the left is standard script by Anita Wang<\/a>; on the right the calligraphy by Lii Shiuh Lou<\/a> is gently cursive. At the bottom the calligraphy by an anonymous calligrapher<\/a> is unrestrained: it accentuates the root of the growing grass (8th<\/sup> character) and the radicals that compose the character for regret\/hate (16th<\/sup> character) fly apart.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The following are two translations, the first by David Hinton, which uses an English line of a constant length to approximate the Chinese 5-character line (2020a):<\/p>\n

The country in ruins, rivers and mountains
continue. The city grows lush with spring.

Blossoms scatter tears for us, and all these
separations in a bird’s cry startle the heart.

Beacon-fires three months ablaze: by now
a mere letter’s worth ten thousand in gold,

and worry’s thinned my hair to such white
confusion I can’t even keep this hairpin in.<\/p>\n

A second translation, with preservation of the rhyme scheme and phrasal structure, is by Keith Holyoak (2015)<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The state is in ruin;
yet mountains and rivers endure.
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 In city gardens
weeds run riot this spring.

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 These dark times
move flowers to sprinkle tears;
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 the separations
send startled birds on the wing.

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 For three months now
the beacon fires have burned;
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 a letter from home
would mean more than anything.

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 I’ve pulled out
so many of my white hairs
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 too few are left
to hold my hatpin in!<\/p>\n

The second couplet has been interpreted in different ways. Most translations (including the two just quoted) consider it as representing nature\u2019s lament for the evil times. For example, Hawkes (1967) suggests that \u201cnature is grieving in sympathy with the beholder at the ills which beset him.\u201d However, Michael Yang (2016) proposes that \u201cIn times of adversity, nature may simply be downright uncaring and unfriendly, thereby adding to the woes of mankind.\u201d He translates the couplet<\/p>\n

Mourning the times, I weep at the sight of flowers;
Hating separation, I find the sound of birds startling.<\/p>\n

The last two lines of the poem refer the hair-style of the Tang Dynasty: men wore their hair in a topknot, and their hats were \u201canchored to their heads with a large hatpin which passed through the topknot of hair\u201d (Hawkes, 1967). Most interpreters have been struck by the difference between the solemn anguish of the poem\u2019s first six lines, and the self-mockery of the final couplet (Hawkes, 1967, p 46; Chou, 1995, p 115). This juxtaposition of the tragic and the pitiable accentuates the poet\u2019s bewilderment.<\/p>\n

The Thatched Cottage<\/strong><\/p>\n

Disillusioned by the war and by the politics of vengeance that followed, Du Fu and his family retired to a thatched cottage in Chengdu, where he lived from 759-765. A replica of this cottage has been built there in a park celebrating both Du Fu and Chinese Poetry:\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Many of the poems that Du Fu wrote in Chengdu celebrated the simple joys of nature. He often used isolated quatrains to find parallels between his emotions and the world around him. This brief form called ju\u00e9j\u00f9<\/em> (curtailed lines) was widely used by his colleagues Li Bai (701\u2013762) and Wang Wei (699\u2013759). The form consists of two couplets juxtaposed in meaning and rhyming across their last character (Wong, 1970; Zong-Qi Cai, 2008, Chapter 10). The following poem (Owen, 2008, poem 9.63) describing willow-catkins (illustrated on the right) and sleeping ducks gives a deep feeling of peace. These are the Chinese characters and pinyin transcription followed by the character-by-character translation (Alexander, 2008):\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

grain\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 path\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 poplar\/willow\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 blossom\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 pave\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 white\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 carpet
little\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 stream\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 lotus\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 leaves\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 pile\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 green\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 money
bamboo\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 shoot\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 root\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 sprout\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 no\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 person\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 see
sand\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 on\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 duckling\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 beside\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 mother\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 sleep<\/p>\n

The following translation is by Burton Watson (2002):<\/p>\n

Willow fluff along the path spreads a white carpet;
lotus leaves dot the stream, plating it with green coins.
By bamboo roots, tender shoots where no one sees them;
on the sand, baby ducks asleep beside their mother.<\/p>\n

Shui Chien-Tung provided the following calligraphy for the poem (Cooper, 1973). He used aspects of the ancient scripts (circles, curves and dots) in some of the characters to give a sense of simplicity and timelessness. The illustration shows the calligraphy of the poem on the left and the evolution of the characters y\u00e1ng<\/em> (willow, poplar) and f\u00fa<\/em> (duck) on the right.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Another quatrain from Chengdu describes a night scene on the river. The following shows the poem in Chinese characters (Owen, 2008, poem 13.61), in pinyin<\/a>, and in a character-by-character translation (mine):<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This is the translation by J. P. Seaton (Seaton & Cryer, 1987):<\/p>\n

The River moves, moon travels rock,
Streams unreal, clouds there among the flowers.
The bird perches, knows the ancient Tao
Sails go: They can’t know where.<\/p>\n

As the river flows by, the moon\u2019s reflection slowly travels across the rocks near the shore. The water reflects the clouds between the lilies. A bird on a branch understands the nature of the universe<\/a>. A boat passes, going home we know not where.<\/p>\n

The poem conveys a sense of the complexity of the world where reflections and reality intermingle, a desire to understand the meaning of our life, and a fear that time is passing and we do not know where it will take us. All this in twenty characters. Such concision is extremely difficult in English. An attempt:<\/p>\n

River and rocks reflect the moon
and clouds amid the lilies
resting birds understand the way
sails pass seeking home somewhere.<\/p>\n

The following shows a painting by Huang Yon-hou to illustrate the poem. This was used as the frontispiece (and cover) of the book Bright Moon, Perching Bird<\/em> (Seaton & Cryer, 1987). On the right is calligraphy of the poem by Mo Ji-yu.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Above the Gorges<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 765 CE Du Fu and his family left Chengdu and travelled eastward on the Yangtze River. The region of Luoyang had been recently recovered by imperial forces and Du Fu was perhaps trying to return home (Hung, 1952). He stayed for a while in Kuizhou (present day Baidicheng) at the beginning of the Three Gorges (Qutang, Wu <\/em>and Xiing<\/em>).<\/p>\n

While there Du Fu wrote a series of meditations called Autumn Thoughts <\/em>(or more literally Stirred by Autumn<\/em>). This is the second of these poems in Chinese characters and in pinyin:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A character-by-character translation (Alexander, 2008) is:<\/p>\n

Kui \u00a0prefecture \u00a0lonely \u00a0wall \u00a0set \u00a0sun \u00a0slant
Every \u00a0rely \u00a0north \u00a0dipper \u00a0gaze \u00a0capital \u00a0city
Hear \u00a0ape \u00a0real \u00a0fall \u00a0three \u00a0sound \u00a0tear
Sent \u00a0mission \u00a0vain \u00a0follow \u00a0eight \u00a0month \u00a0raft
Picture \u00a0ministry \u00a0incense \u00a0stove \u00a0apart \u00a0hidden \u00a0pillow
Mountain \u00a0tower \u00a0white \u00a0battlements \u00a0hide \u00a0sad \u00a0reed-whistle
Ask \u00a0look \u00a0stone \u00a0on \u00a0[Chinese wisteria] \u00a0moon
Already reflect islet before rushes reeds flowers<\/p>\n

The following is Stephen Owen\u2019s translation (Owen, 2008 poem 17.27):<\/p>\n

On Kuizhou\u2019s lonely walls setting sunlight slants,
then always I trust the North Dipper to lead my gaze to the capital.
Listening to gibbons I really shed tears at their third cry,
accepting my mission I pointlessly follow the eighth-month raft.
The censer in the ministry with portraits eludes the pillow where I lie,
ill towers\u2019 white-plastered battlements hide the sad reed pipes.
Just look there at the moon, in wisteria on the rock,
it has already cast its light by sandbars on flowers of the reeds.<\/p>\n

The poem is striking in the difference between the first three couplets and the last. At the beginning of the poem Du Fu is feeling regret that he is not in Chang\u2019an which is located due north of Kuizhou (in the direction of the Big Dipper which points to the North Star). Owen notes that \u201cThere was an old rhyme that a traveler in the gorges would shed tears when the gibbons cried out three times.\u201d The eighth month raft may refer to another old story about a vessel that came every eight months and took a man up to the Milky Way. Owen commented on the third couplet that \u201cThe \u201cmuralled ministry\u201d is where were located the commemorative portraits of officers, civil and military, who had done exceptional service to the dynasty.\u201d Incense was burned when petitions were presented. The final couplet disregards all the preceding nostalgia and simply appreciates the beauty of the moment.<\/p>\n

The Ming painter Wang Shimin illustrated this final couplet in one of the leaves from his album Du Fu\u2019s Poetic Thoughts<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Later in Kuizhou, Du Fu entertained a librarian named Li who was returning north to take up an appointment in Chang\u2019an. The following is the beginning of a poem (Owen, 2008, poem 19.34) describing Li\u2019s departure in Chinese characters and in pinyin:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

A character-by-character translation is:<\/p>\n

blue\/green\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 curtain\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 white\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 boat\/raft\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yizhou\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 arrive
Wu\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 gorge\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 autumn\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 waves\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 heaven\/sky\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 earth\/ground\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 turn (around)
stone\/rock\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 leave\/exit\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 fall\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 listen\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 maple\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 leaf\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 down
scull\/oar\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 swing\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 carry\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 point\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 chrysanthemum\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 flower\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 open\/blume<\/p>\n

The following is Stephen Owen\u2019s translation:<\/p>\n

When the white barge with green curtains came from Yizhou,
with autumn billows in the Wu Gorges, heaven and earth were turning.
Where rocks came out, from below you listened to the leaves of maples falling,
as the sweep moved back and forth you pointed behind to chrysanthemums in bloom.<\/p>\n

The Ming painter Wang Shimin illustrated the second couplet in one of the leaves from his album Du Fu\u2019s Poetic Thoughts<\/a>. The painting shows the bright red leaves of the maples. In front of the riverside house one can see the multicolored chrysanthemums that Li is pointing to. Harmony exists between the wild and the cultivated.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

On the River<\/strong><\/p>\n

After his sojourn in Kuizhou, Du Fu and his family continued their journey down the Yangtze River. However, the poet was ill and was unable to make it beyond Tanzhou (now Changsha) where he died in 770 CE. No one knows where he is buried. In the 1960\u2019s radical students<\/a> dug up a grave purported to be his to \u201celiminate the remaining poison of feudalism,\u201d but found the grave empty.<\/p>\n

One of Du Fu\u2019s last poems was Night Thoughts While Travelling<\/em>. The following is the poem in Chinese characters (Owen, 2008, poem 14.63) and in pinyin (Alexander, 2008):<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The following is a reading of the poem from Librivox<\/a>:<\/p>\nhttps:\/\/creatureandcreator.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/night-thoughts-from-librivox.mp3<\/a><\/audio>\n

Holyoak (2015) provides a rhymed translation:<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 The fine grass
by the riverbank stirs in the breeze;
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 the tall mast
in the night is a lonely sliver.

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Stars hang
all across the vast plain;
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 the moon bobs
in the flow of the great river.

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 My poetry
has not made a name for me;
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 now age and sickness
have cost me the post I was given.

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Drifting, drifting,
what do I resemble?
\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 A lone gull
lost between earth and heaven.<\/p>\n

Kenneth Rexroth (1956) translates the poem in free verse:<\/p>\n

Night Thoughts While Travelling

A light breeze rustles the reeds
Along the river banks. The
Mast of my lonely boat soars
Into the night. Stars blossom
Over the vast desert of
Waters. Moonlight flows on the
Surging river. My poems have
Made me famous but I grow
Old, ill and tired, blown hither
And yon; I am like a gull
Lost between heaven and earth.<\/p>\n

The following shows the poem in calligraphy with three styles. On the left the poem is written in clerical script, in the center in regular script and on the right is unrestrained cursive script. All examples were taken from Chinese sites selling calligraphy.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Changing Times <\/strong><\/p>\n

During the Tang Dynasty (618\u2013907 CE) the role of literature, and poetry in particular, in society changed dramatically (Owen, 2011):<\/p>\n

In the 650s, literature was centered almost entirely in the imperial court; by the end of the era literature had become the possession of an educated elite, who might serve in government, but whose cultural life was primarily outside the court.<\/p>\n

During Du Fu\u2019s lifetime, poetry became no longer a part of the ancient traditions; rather it began to be concerned with the present and with the personal. Lucas Bender (2021) describes the traditional role of poetry in a society following the precepts of Confucianism:<\/p>\n

Most people \u2026 would be incapable on their own of adequately conceptualizing the world or perfectly responding to its contingency, and therefore needed to rely on the models left by sages and worthies. Many of these models were embodied in texts, including literary texts, which could thus offer an arena for ethical activity. Poetry, for example, was understood to offer models of cognition, feeling, and commitment that would ineluctably shape readers\u2019 understanding of and responses to their own circumstances. One way of being a good person, therefore, involved reading good poetry and writing more of it, thereby propagating the normative models of the tradition in one’s own time and transmitting them to the future. (p 317)<\/p>\n

Du Fu found himself bewildered by the state of the world. He sought to convey this confusion rather than explain it:<\/p>\n

Du Fu doubts the possibility of indefinitely applicable moral categories. The conceptual tools by which we make moral judgments, he suggests, are always inherited from a past that can \u2013 and, in a world as various and changeable as ours has proven to be, often will \u2013 diverge from the exigencies of the present. As a result, not only are our values unlikely to be either universal or timeless; more important, if we pay careful attention to the details of our experience, they are unlikely to work unproblematically even here and now. (Bender, 2021, p 319)<\/p>\n

The complexity of Du Fu\u2019s poetry \u2013 the difficulty in understanding some of his juxtapositions \u2013 becomes a challenge. The past provides no help in the interpretation. We must figure out for themselves what relates the mountain, the clouds and the poet\u2019s breathing in the first poem we considered. And in the last poem we must try to locate for ourselves the place of the gull between heaven and earth.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

References<\/strong><\/p>\n

Alexander, M. (2008). A little book of Du Fu<\/em>. Mark Alexander. (Much of the material in the book is available on Chinese Poems<\/a> website).<\/p>\n

Bender, L. R. (2021). Du Fu transforms: tradition and ethics amid societal collapse<\/em>. Harvard University Asia Center.<\/p>\n

Chan, J. W. (2018). Du Fu: the poet as historian. In Zong-Qi Cai. (Ed.) How to read Chinese poetry in context: poetic culture from antiquity through the Tang<\/em>. (pp 236-247). Columbia University Press.<\/p>\n

Chou, E. S. (1995). Reconsidering Tu Fu: literary greatness and cultural context<\/em>. Cambridge University Press.<\/p>\n

Collet, H., & Cheng, W. (2014). Tu Fu<\/em>: Dieux et diables pleurant, po\u00e8mes<\/em>. Moundarren.<\/p>\n

Cooper, A. R. V. (1973). Li Po and Tu Fu<\/em>. Penguin Books.<\/p>\n

Egan, R. (2020). Ming-Qing paintings inscribed with Du Fu\u2019s poetic lines. In Xiaofei Tian (Ed.). Reading Du Fu: nine views<\/em>. (pp 129-142). Hong Kong University Press<\/p>\n

Hawkes, D. (1967 revised and reprinted, 2016). A little primer of Tu Fu.<\/em> New York Review of Books.<\/p>\n

Hinton, D. (1989, expanded and revised 2020a). The selected poems of Tu Fu<\/em>. New Directions.<\/p>\n

Hinton, D. (2019). Awakened cosmos: the mind of classical Chinese poetry<\/em>. Shambhala.<\/p>\n

Hinton, D. (2020b). China root: Taoism, Ch\u2019an, and original Zen<\/em>. Shambhala\u00a0<\/p>\n

Holyoak, K. (2015). Facing the moon: poems of Li Bai and Du Fu<\/em>. Oyster River Press.<\/p>\n

Hsieh, D. (1994). Du Fu\u2019s \u201cGazing at the Mountain.\u201d Chinese Literature, Essays, Articles, Reviews<\/em>, 16<\/em>, 1\u201318.<\/p>\n

Hung, W. (1952, reprinted 2014). Tu Fu: China\u2019s Greatest Poet<\/em>. Harvard University Press<\/p>\n

Owen, S. (1981). Tu Fu. In S. Owen, The Great Age of Chinese Poetry: The High T’ang<\/em>. (pp 183-224). Yale University. \u00a0<\/p>\n

Owen, S. (2010). The cultural Tang (650\u20131020). In Chang, K. S., & Owen, S. (Eds). The Cambridge History of Chinese Literature<\/em>\u00a0(Vol. 1, pp. 286\u2013380). Cambridge University Press.<\/p>\n

Owen, S., (edited by P. W. Kroll & D. X. Warner, 2016). The poetry of Du Fu<\/em>. (6 volumes). De Gruyter. (Available to download<\/a> in pdf format.)<\/p>\n

Rexroth, K. (1956). One hundred poems from the Chinese.<\/em> New Directions.<\/p>\n

Rouzer, P. (2020). Refuges and refugees: how Du Fu writes Buddhism. In Xiaofei Tian (Ed.). Reading Du Fu: nine views<\/em>. (pp. 75-92). Hong Kong University Press.<\/p>\n

Seaton, J. P., & Cryer, J. (with calligraphy by Mo Ji-yu, and painting by Huang Yon-hou, 1987). Bright moon, perching bird: poems of Li Po and Tu Fu<\/em>. Wesleyan University Press.<\/p>\n

Seth, V. (1997). Three Chinese poets: translations of poems by Wang Wei, Li Bai and Du Fu<\/em>. Phoenis.<\/p>\n

Sullivan, M. (1974).\u00a0The three perfections: Chinese painting, poetry, and calligraphy<\/em>. Thames and Hudson.<\/p>\n

Xiaofei Tian (Ed.). (2020). Reading Du Fu: nine views<\/em>. Hong Kong University Press.<\/p>\n

Zhang, Y. (2018). On 10 Chan-Buddhism images in the poetry of Du Fu. Studies in Chinese Religions<\/em>, 4<\/em>(3), 318\u2013340.<\/p>\n

Wai-lim Yip. (1997). Chinese Poetry,<\/em> Duke University Press.<\/p>\n

Watson, B. (2002). The selected poems of Du Fu<\/em>. Columbia University Press.<\/p>\n

Wong, S. S. (1970) The quatrains (Ch\u00fceh-Ch\u00fc <\/em>\u7d55\u53e5) of Tu Fu. Monumenta Serica<\/em>, 29, 142-162<\/p>\n

Yang, M. V. (2016). Man and nature: a study of Du Fu\u2019s poetry. Monumenta Serica<\/em>, 50, 315-336.<\/p>\n

Young, D. (2008). Du Fu: a life in poetry<\/em>. Alfred A. Knopf.<\/p>\n

Zong-Qi Cai (2008). How to read Chinese poetry: a guided anthology<\/em>. Columbia University Press. (audio files are available at website<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Du Fu: Poet, Sage, Historian Du Fu (712-770 CE) was a poet during a time of great political upheaval in China. He was born near Luoyang and spent much of his young adulthood in the Yanzhou region, finally settling down to a minor official position<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5943,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":978,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,3,457,13,4,6,5,14,9],"tags":[760,124,767,761,545,764,67,766,765,129,762,759,763],"class_list":["post-5966","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art","category-history","category-language","category-literature","category-music","category-painting","category-poetry","category-politics","category-religion","tag-an-lushan-rebellion","tag-chan-buddhism","tag-changan","tag-chinese-poetry","tag-daoism","tag-kenneth-rexroth","tag-li-bai","tag-spring-view","tag-stephen-owen","tag-tang-dynasty","tag-translation","tag-wang-shimin","tag-wang-wei"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/creatureandcreator.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5966","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/creatureandcreator.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/creatureandcreator.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/creatureandcreator.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/creatureandcreator.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5966"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/creatureandcreator.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5966\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6328,"href":"https:\/\/creatureandcreator.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5966\/revisions\/6328"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/creatureandcreator.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/creatureandcreator.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5966"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/creatureandcreator.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5966"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/creatureandcreator.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5966"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}