Who is Du Fu

Du Fu (Chinese: 杜甫; Wade–Giles: Tu Fu; 712–770) was a Chinese poet and politician of the Tang dynasty. Along with his elder contemporary and friend Li Bai (Li Po), he is frequently called the greatest of the Chinese poets. His greatest ambition was to serve his country as a successful civil servant, but he proved unable to make the necessary accommodations. His life, like the whole country, was devastated by the An Lushan Rebellion of 755, and his last 15 years were a time of almost constant unrest.

Although initially he was little-known to other writers, his works came to be hugely influential in both Chinese and Japanese literary culture. Of his poetic writing, nearly fifteen hundred poems have been preserved over the ages. He has been called the "Poet-Historian" and t...
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Du Fu Poems

  • To Bi Siyao
    Once stately figures in the art of rhyme,
    Now sadly down at heels, our careers in ruin,
    Regarded by our servants with disdain,
    We are grown old and gray before our time. ...
  • Ballad Of The Press-gang At Shihao Village
    One evening I found lodging in a village where
    A press-gang stole by night to seize my aging host,
    Who, hearing them, scaled the wall and hid nearby.
    Furious, the bailiff bellowed at the gate ...
  • The Pitiful Young Prince
    Hooded crows fly at night
    over the walls of Chang'an,
    uttering harsh cries
    above Welcoming Autumn Gate, ...
  • Behind The Gates Of The Wealthy
    zhu men jiu rou chou
    lu you dong si gu

    Behind the gates of the wealthy ...
  • Morning Rain
    A slight rain comes, bathed in dawn light.
    I hear it among treetop leaves before mist
    Arrives. Soon it sprinkles the soil and,
    Windblown, follows clouds away. Deepened ...
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Top 10 most used topics by Du Fu

Long 16 White 14 Night 14 River 13 Sky 12 Home 11 Moon 11 Cold 11 Life 11 Spring 10


Du Fu Quotes

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Comments about Du Fu

Tommazanec: teaching du fu's "ascent" (登高) today in classical chinese, and using this video to illustrate the gibbon cries referenced in the opening line (風急天高猨嘯哀).
Lotuspavillion: in the afternoon, the northern yan medic, du leng, examined his leg injuries, then looked at him with a smile afterwards. “congrat—“ “thanks.” fu shen had it on reflex at this point. his face was cold. du leng: “…”
Booksandbbq: anybody know classical chinese poetry? i'm looking for an english translation of one of fu du's poems about azaleas.
Hussena_h: which wife did the prophet ﷺ teach the following du’a to recite during laylatul qadr: allahumma innaka afuwwun tuhibbul ‘afwa fa’fu ‘anni (oh allah, certainly you are the most forgiving, you love to forgive, so forgive me".
Chinalifeng: this is a documentary about a famous chinese poet du fu. try experiencing instead of knowing du fu, watch this documentary by bbc: du fu - china's greatest poet
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Poem of the day

Edgar Albert Guest Poem
The Killing Place
 by Edgar Albert Guest

We're hiking along at a two-forty pace
We 're making life seem like a man-killing race,
With our nerves all on edge and our jaws firmly set
We go rushing along; with our brows lined with sweat
And our cheeks pale and drawn every minute we dash,
And the goal that we 're after is merely more cash.

We 're out for the money, the greenbacks and gold,
...

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