Tu Fu

• TU FU WAS A GREAT CHINESE POET OF

THE T'ANG DYNASTY, A FAMILY THAT
RULED CHINA FROM 618 TO 907. HE IS
KNOWN AS A POET-HISTORIAN FOR HIS
PORTRAYAL OF THE SOCIAL AND
POLITICAL DISORDERS OF HIS TIME
AND IS ALSO NOTED FOR HIS ARTISTRY
AND CRAFTSMANSHIP.
• HIS GREATEST AMBITION WAS TO
SERVE HIS COUNTRY AS A
SUCCESSFUL CIVIL SERVANT, BUT HE
PROVED UNABLE TO MAKE THE
NECESSARY ACCOMMODATIONS.
• Born in 712 on Kung-hsien, Honan, of a scholar-official family, Tu Fu
lost his mother in early childhood. His father, a minor district official,
remarried, and the boy lived for some time with his aunt in Loyang, the
eastern capital.

• The son of a minor scholar-official, his youth was spent on the standard
education of a future civil servant: study and memorisation of the 
Confucian classics of philosophy, history and poetry. He later claimed to
have produced creditable poems by his early teens, but these have been
lost.
• In 744 he met the poet Li Po in Loyang. Tu Fu's friendship with Li Po served
as material for some of his most famous poems, including “Eight Immortals
of Drinking,” which reflects on the carefree atmosphere of his time spent in
Loyang. 
Eight Immortals of
the Wine Cup
Zhizhang rides his horse, but reels
As on a reeling ship.
Should he, blear-eyed, tumble into a well,
He would lie in the bottom, fast asleep.
Li Jin, Prince must have three jugs full
Ere he goes up to court.
How copiously his royal mouth waters
As a brewer’s cart passes by.
It’s a pitty, he mournfully admits.
That he is not the Lord of the Wine Spring*.
Our minister Li squanders at the rate
Of ten thousand tsen per day.
He inhales like a great whale,
Gulping one hundred rivers;
And with a cup in his hand he insists,
He loves the Sage** and avoids the Wise**.
Zongzhi a handsome youth, fastidious,
Disdains the rabble.
But turns his gaze toward the blue heaven,
Holding his beloved bowl.
Radiant is he, like a tree of jade,
That stands against the breeze.
Su Jin, the religious, cleanses his soul
Before his painted Buddha.
But his long rites need to be interrupted
As oft he loves to go on a spree.
As for Li Bai, give him a jugful,
He will write one hundred poems.
He drowses in a wine shop
On a city street in Chang-an;
And though his sovereign calls,
He will not board the imperial
barge.
“Please your majesty”, he says,
“I am a God of wine”.
Zhang Xu is a calligrapher of
renown,
Three cups make him the master.
He throws off his cap, wearing his
pate
Unceremoniously before princes,
And wields his inspired brush, and
lo.
Wreaths of clouds roll on the paper.
Jiao Sui, another immortal, elate
After full five jugfuls,
Is eloquent of heroic speech –
The wonder of all the feasting hall.
• In late 757 he returned with the court to Ch'ang-an, which had been
recovered from the rebels, but he did not stay there long. He had offended
the emperor with his advice and was banished (sent away) to a provincial
post, or a remote border post. He soon gave it up and in the fall of 759
started a long journey away from the capital.
IN ONE POEM HE WROTE:

束帶發狂欲大叫，
簿書何急來相仍。

I am about to scream madly in the office,

Especially when they bring more papers
to pile higher on my desk.
— from "Early Autumn, Miserable Heat,
Papers Piling Up" (Hung translation).[23]
Tu Fu's poetry
• Tu Fu is known for his contemplative verse that
chronicled the political and social upheaval of mid-
eighth-century China.

• Tu Fu also drew imagery from his personal

experiences to create compelling verse that served
as an inspiration to succeeding generations.
 Tu Fu's poetry
• Tu Fu possesses a remarkable power of description,
with which he clearly presents human affairs and
natural scenery. Into his poetry he introduces an
intense, dramatic, and touching personalism
through the use of symbols and images, irony and
contrast. Above all, he has the ability to rise above
the world of reality to the world of imagination.
Example:
A Woman Of
Quality
by Du Fu
Ballad of
the Army
Carts
by Tu Fu
• It was in the 11th century, during the Northern Song era that
Du Fu's reputation reached its peak. In this period a
comprehensive re-evaluation of earlier poets took place

• 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
Ballad of the
Army Carts
by Tu Fu