Du Fu (Tu Fu) 712-770

Born in Henan of Hubei parentage. Du Fu is one of the most celebrated poets in the history of Chinese literature. Disappointed in the civil service examinations, he was nevertheless appointed to office by the Tang Emperor Xuanzong ¥È©v (r. 712-756) because of the excellence of his poetry. During the An Lushan rebellion (755-763) he suffered much hardship and was forced to lead a wandering life, taking up whatever brief official appointments he was offered. His poetry displays not only an artistry of the highest order but also a genuine care for the common people whose sufferings he shared.

Works available in English:

  • A Little Primer of Tu Fu (David Hawkes). Hong Kong: Renditions Paperbacks, 1987.
  • Endless River: Li Po and Tu Fu (ed. Sam Hamill), a friendship in poetry. New York: Weatherhill,
       1993.
  • Facing the Snow: Visions of Tu Fu (Gary Geddes and George Liang). Fredonia, N.Y.: White Pine Press, c1988.
  • I Didn't Notice the Mountain Growing Dark: Poems of Li Pai and Tu Fu (Gary Geddes and George Liang).
       Dunvegan, Ont.: Cormorant Books, 1988.
  • Li Po and Tu Fu (Arthur Cooper). Harmondsworth, Eng.: Penguin Books, 1973.
  • Selected Poems (Rewi Alley). Hong Kong: Commercial Press, 1974.
  • Selected Poems of Du Fu (Li Wenjian). Chengtu: Sichuan People's Pub. House, 1985.
  • Selected Poems of Tu Fu. Canton,China: Guangdong Higher Education Pub.
       House, 1985.
  • Sunset and Other Poems of Tu Fu (Chao Tze-chiang). S.l.: S.n., 198-?
  • The selected poems of Du Fu (Burton Watson). New York: Colmubia University Press, 2002.
  • The Selected Poems of Tu Fu (David Hinton). London, Anvil Press Poetry, 1990.
  • Tu Fu—a New Translation (Wu Juntao). Hong Kong: Commercial Press, 1981.
  • Tu Fu: One Hundred and Fifty Poems. Xi'an: Shan xi renmin chubanshe, 1985.
  • Tu Fu: Selected Poems. Beijing: Foreign Languages Press, 1962.
  • Wang Wei, Li Po, Tu Fu, Li Ho, Li Shang-yin: five T'ang poets (David Young). Oberlin: Oberlin College Press, 1990.

    Studies and Biographies:

  • Eva Shan Chou, Reconsidering Tu Fu: literary greatness and cultural context. Cambridge [Eng], New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995.
  • David R. Mc Craw, Du Fu's laments from the South. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1992.
  • Eva Shan Chou, Tu Fu's "Eight Laments": allusion and imagery as modes of poetry. Ann Arbor, Mich.: UMI, 1986.
  • An-yan Tang Wang, Subjectivity and objectivity in the poetic mind: a comparative study of the poetry of Wiliam Butler Yeats and Tu Fu. Ann Arbor, Mich.: UMI, 1985.
  • Susan Suk-ning So, Modern verse defined by W.B. Yeats: a comparataive study of romance, tragedy and the lyric, with an introduction to Tu Fu and his antithetical tradition. Ann Arbor, Mich.: UMI, 1985.
  • A.R. Davis, Tu Fu. New York: Twayne, 1971.
  • William Hung, Tu Fu: China's Greatest Poet. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1952.          close