Du Fu (ARA
Tu Fu,
712-
770) was a
Tang dynasty poet and
social commentator, who led an unhappy life. His
fame is probably second only to that of
Li Bai, with his reputation aided in modern
China by his recorded agitation on behalf of
the masses.
Du Fu was born in
Shanxi, although his family was from
Hubei. He didn't score well in the
civil service examinations, but
Emperor Xuanzong liked his
poetry and was his
patron. The
An Lushan Rebellion of
755-
763 turned him into a
refugee, though, and most of the rest of his life was spent
wandering. His poems are
beautiful but
realistic, and in his later life focused more on the troubles of his fellow citizens than on the usual subjects of
dreamy Chinese poets.
Du had a
cottage outside of
Chengdu, where he
fished and wrote poetry. The cottage or a semblance of it can be visited in
Xi'an, where the
willows and
streams made me want to return at
night just to see the
moon as he saw it. The cottage is famously referred to as "the thatched
hut," "Du Fu's cottage" and so on. It has been built onto with many memorial halls and such, but is still worth visiting.
Behind the
gates of the
wealthy
food lies, rotting from
waste
Outside, it's the
poor
who lie,
frozen to death
-- Du Fu