The Poem-God Li Bai and the Poet-Sage Du Fu
5 min readDuring the periods of Kai Yuan and Tian bao of the Tang dynasty, the Tang poems reached its peak with two shining stars in the circle of poets, the Poem-God Li Bai and the Poet-Sage Du Fu.
Li Bai(701-762), courtesy name(zi) Tai Bai,(hao) Qinglian Jushi. He is another romantic poet after Qu Yuan in China’s literary history. In his works, romantic spirits and techniques are superbly combined. The 140-year economic prosperity and social stability of the flourishing Tang laid a solid foundation forthe large number of excellent poems by Li Bai. Li Bai was pursuing in his life a way to achieve his ultimate ideal, by engaging in Confucianism, Taoism, immortal trainings, martial arts and romance. But all his pursuits ended up as failure and led him nowhere. In the restlessness of soul and continuous quest for ideals, Li Bai was also displaying a unique characteristic in his special way. His poems exhibite different features in different phrases. Roughly, his poems covered the following four areas: firstly, his ambition, his courage and dignity; secondly, his criticism of the times and the dark society; thirdly, his unstrained temperament and his despise the feudal rituals; and lastly, the description of the grand landscape, deep friendship, and his love and yearning for women.
Li Bai’s poems are perfect in all styles, especially in seven-character poem, which is usually simple in language, natural and concise in rhythms, harmonious in syllables and perfect in the making, with many of them being recommended as the masterpiece of the gods, for example, Gazing upon the Lushan Waterfalls, LeavingBaidi City in the Morning, Seeing Meng Haoran off to Guangling at Yellow Crane Tower, Gazing upon Tianmen Mountain, Moon Song on E’ mei Mountain, To Wang Lun, etc.
In addition, Li Bai is also good at writing five-character, such as In the Silence of Night,A Song of An Autumn Midnight, To Meng Haoran,A Sigh from A Staircase of Jade, etc., many lines of these poems have became the well-known phrases passed down through the ages.
Li Bai is very good at capturing the active beauty in objective world, and his poetic world is often filled with moving time and space, scenes and objects, all of which constitutes a unique beauty in his landscape poems. Li Bai’s pursuit of natural beauty made him more focused on “unrestrained enthusiasm”for example,”We both are exalted to distant thought: Aspiring to the sky and the bright moon.”, two lines in his poem A FAREWELL TO SECRETARY SHUYUN AT THE XIETIAO VILLA IN XUANZHOU.
In his landscape poetry, Li Bai employed rich imagination, bold exaggeration, novel metaphor, amazing fantasy and enchanting myths and legends, all rendering hima strong sense of romanticism, for example,”To the bright moon I entrust an anxious heart: May it see you as far west as the country of Yelang.”, two lines from his poem Sent to Wang Changling after Hearing of His Demotion to Longbiao;”Peach blossoms fallen on the running stream pass by; This is an earthly paradise beneath the sky.”in his poem A Reply to Someone in the Hills;”Or the gray locks mourned in lofty chambers’ mirrors bright: Their dawn of silken jet, and dusk of snow?”in his poem For the Moment, Drinking Wine.
Li Bai not only inherited the achievement of romanticism before him, but also explored romanticism in a wider and deeper range in his time. The achievement of his poems is normally regarded as the second peak of romanticism after Qu Yuan. He alsoadopted the proposal of Chen Zi’ ang in reforming poetry and contributed greatly to the success of poetry in practice and theory. His excellent works are widely learned, spread and referred to by later generations.
Du Fu(712-770), courtesy name(zi) Zimei, called Shaoling Yelao by himself and Du Shaoling or Du Gongbu by later generations. He is a great realistic poet in China’s literary history. He is often called the Poem-Sage and since the Song dynasty he has been called by critics the Poet-Historian.
Du Fu’s poems cover a wide range in subjects and themes, which are accompanied by profound and delicate feelings, and humanism. For example, he wrote “Could I get mansions covering ten thousand miles:I’d house all scholars poor and make them beam with smiles.”in his poem Thatched House Shattered by the Autumn Wind. His profound feelings and wide breadth of vision deserve our deepest respect. His works seriously portray various ugliness of his unequal society and shine with brilliant realism.
Many of his poems carry a tragic flavor and often impact our hearts like a hammer, just like in his famous poems Magistrate of Xin’ an, Magistrate of Tongguan, Magistrate of Shihao, Farewell to the Bride, Farewell to the 01d and Farewell to Desolated Houses.
Du Fu’s poems are like long rivers, sometimes quiet and sometimes wildly wavy, sometimes with zigzagging beaches without sand and sometimes vast in horizon and boundless in vision. His poems are varied in forms, complete in categories, great in diction, pushing Tang poems to a new height in the art of poetry, and having a new development,a new boundary.
Du Fu is most prominent in his regulated verse, which is unique in its skill employment of syncopated cadence, displaying his deepest concerns over his times. In diction, Du Fu is known for his brevity, delicacy, vigour and deep implication. Take a look at his High And Dry On The Yangtze .
Cutting winds. Clouds high.
Gorge on gorge. Gibbons cry.
Over river-island’s sand
White birds swoop and land.
Everywhere leaf fall,
Dry leaves rustling.
Everywhere dark waves,
Endless rippling.
Mile on mile of autumn light
is like this journey.
Climb alone and il1
To the bright balcony.
Life’s regrets and failures,
Frost on my forehead.
No longer have a body
To take me where the wine led.(translator unknown)
In this poem, the paired rhymes exhibit a lonely and depressing scene. The harmonies embodied in every sentence and each character conveys a thorough coherence and unity. The accurate and faithful description make this poem the best of the best poems.
The famous 5-character poem A view of Yue Shan displays the broad mind and the internal vitality of the author, especially the last two sentences “When shall I reach the top and hold all mountains in a single glance?”demonstrate the high goals of Du Fu and expose a universal truth of life.”In addition, Du Fu’s other poems, such as A Moonlit Evening, Spring Perspective, The Shu Prime Minister, Night Thoughts on a Journey, Thoughts upon Historical Sites, Climbing Yueyang Tower, etc, all have extremely high artistic value, exerting significant influence on later generations.
In the autumn of 744 he met Li Bai for the first time, and the two poets formed a close friendship. Although they are different in writing poetry, one is realistic poet and the other is romantic poet, they are equal in terms of art achievement.
