The Role Played by Du Fu in the Chinese History - Essay Example

Du Fu’s Contribution in Chinese History and Culture Introduction Du Fu (712-770 AD) is one of the greatest poets of the ancient Chinese society who sought to highlight the social adversity of the people during his time. The poet wrote over a thousand poems that he composed during different social and political periods. Du Fu’s poems is depicts the social transformations that takes place in different stages of the Tang Dynasty starting from a time when the society had achieved a lot of prosperity and moving towards the An-Shi rebellion which came with a lot of suffering for the people as a result of constant wars (Lavrac, 2009). As a believer in the Confucian philosophy the poet concentrated on family responsibilities, social conditions of the people as well as on his personal life. In order to explore role of Du Fu in Chinese History and Culture, this essay analyses the style used in Du Fu’s poetry writing, influence of Confucianism philosophy in his poetry writing, and the significance of the prosperity and depression of the Tang dynasty influences Du Fu’s poem writing (Minford and Lau, 2000). Style in Du Fu’s Poetry Writing Du Fus poetic exploits can be located in historical sense between the Chinese classical tradition that was characterized by High Tang poets among them Wang Wei and the poets of mid-Tang generation such as Meng Jiao and Li He. The poet concentrated on matters that affected the society in the ancient China especially in a period that would eventually lead to defeat of Tang Dynasty by a rebellion. To develop a personal style of poetry that will make him standout from great poets of the time such as his friend Li Bai, the poet adopted a distinctively frank and personal tone that was combined with startling, violent imagery and a daring language that make his poems unique. By having a powerful personal style in his poetry, Du Fu’s work was able to transcend different eras and periods in the Chinese history (Dan, 2012). Even with the high level of failure that were being experienced both in the poets personal life and that of majority of the Chinese population, Du Fu’s poems exhibited a high degree of restraint and balance in the way he presented these failures. Being a believer in the Confucian tradition that believed in the loyalty of citizens to the state and the rulers’ the poet did not out rightly rebel against the rulers of the day in his poems but highlighted specific issues such as corruption which he blamed for the misfortunes that the society faced (Ebrey and Walthall, 2013). The poet did not present the hardships in life through outbursts but through compressed thoughts and feelings laid bare in a series of shifting, interlocked images and allusions. The ambiguity in Du Fu’s poem can attributed to both purposes of creating a powerful poetic technique as well as being the means through which the poet could control the emotions locked behind his poems. The poems were a way out for the strong emotions due to the personal failures that Du Fu had experienced in his quest to become a civil service official having failed a number of tests and demotion in his official capacity (McMullen, 2001). Du Fu is among realist poets whose works were concerned with the ways of life of Chinese society during the Tang Dynasty. Du Fu used his talent in poetry to highlight the social challenges that the common Chinese citizens went through in their day to day activities. To express the hardships in life that was caused by poverty, Du Fu wrote his poems with a sense of melancholy which demonstrated his own experiences in life as well as the historical events the Chinese society had gone through (Perkins, 2013). Coming in the era when the Tang Dynasty was nearing the end, Du Fu aimed at motivating people to exhibit a high degree of self-sacrifice that he saw as being important in changing the bad fortune experienced by society during the time. A number of Du Fu’s famous poems such as Three Officers, A Song of Chariots and Three Partings were had a degree of political inclination. To emphasize the nature of social and political imbalance in ancient Chinese society, Du Fu contrasted and juxtaposed various happenings in the society. The poet highlighted how the feudal society had transformed the Chinese society into a land of the exploiter and the exploited as displayed in words such as "Wine and meat rot behind vermilion gates, while on the roadside, people freeze to death" (Weiss 1985, p.137). Such highlights demonstrated the poet’s compassion towards the suffering that the common peasants were going through due to the corruptions that were being propagated by those in the civil service. The poet used such poems as A spring View to show the love he had for his country and the readiness to take part in activities that would make his society prosperous (McMullen, 2001). Du Fu uses a simple, easy and natural language to reveal different features in the society where his work particularly exhibited his skills in emphasizing the personality of his characters. To ensure he skilfully presents the true nature of humanity as demonstrated by his character, Du Fu often employed aspects of monologue and common sayings. This is evident for instance in the poet’s skilful description of the character the wife and children in the poem Expedition to the North (Chen, 2008). Confucianism Philosophy Influence in Du Fu’s Poetry Writing The poetic works of Du Fu presented a Confucian moral judgment of events that were taking place during the eight century ancient china. The poet’s inability to pass the highest level civil service test did not deter him from continuing to an ardent supporter of Confucian philosophy which dictated the way of life in the Ancient China society. It was based on guiding principles of Confucianism that Du Fu’s poetry contained thematic concerns that revolved around the need for family responsibilities, social pleasure and the social conditions of the people at the time. Confucian values such as filial piety was also an aspect of Du Fu’s poetry with a number of his compositions stressing the importance of family responsibility. Du Fu also highlighted a number of social ills such as the continued inequality between the elite and the peasants which the poet noted if not addressed could result in social disharmony and chaos. Some of the compositions by Du Fu such as My Trip from the Capital to Feng-hsien were highly critical of the treatment of peasant members of the society who worked like slaves being (Rossabi, 2013). Being a strong believer in the Confucian philosophy, Du Fu’s life was influenced by the idealism principles which asserted the importance of having particular intentions rather than actual fulfilment of the set goals and targets (Chou, 1995). Du Fu had a personal ambition which was to serve as a high ranking civil officer but his attempt always failed except for the one time when he was employed at the public court but this did not last as he was demoted. This presented his inability to move from theory to actual fulfilment of his ambitions which continues the ancient rejection of pragmatism and demand of politics by Confucians (Chou, 1995). Even during the times of military upheavals, Du Fu displayed a great deal of Confucian morality which asserts the importance of administering a state instead of a more proactive approach of instituting control or expanding the existing boundaries. The submissiveness to the situations surrounding his life was not only evident in Du Fu’s acceptance of the political situations surrounding the Chinese society but also in his personal life. During the time of military rule, Du Fu wrote poems that praised military officials and generals even when Confucian officials were being replaced by military generals in the public offices. This is an indication of the submissiveness of the poet who wrote poems to rejoice for the sighing of the peace accord by the rebels in 763 (Chou, 1995; Abramson, 2011). Significance of the Prosperity and Depression of the Tang Dynasty Du Fu’s poetic exploits can be divided into three periods in which the poet portrayed different concerns in his creations. Du Fu’s earlier works exhibit similar levels of temperament and style as that of other poets in the Tang poetry era. This early period in the poet’s journey into the literary world represents a period when writes concentrated on contents that depicted a luxurious lifestyle as people enjoyed their wealth and the peaceful nature of society at the time. For instance, the poet describes the eagle in a more confident and heroic tone in the poem Painted Eagle while poems such as Song of Tonight tells the story of a chivalrous gambler who spent all his wealth in gambling. Therefore, this period in Du Fu’s poetry writing when the Chinese society was more prosperous can be reflected in the poet’s willingness to explore literary works that reflected the romantic sentiments of the High Tang period (Luo and Ye, 2011). A second stage in Du Fu’s poetic writings can be traced to the period just before the An-Shi Rebellion when the transformation in both his life and that of the overall Chinese society was multiplying towards intolerable levels. This is period when the poet’s compositions also shifted to reflect the social and political upheaval of the time with poems such as Song of War Chariots presenting a picture of the tragic period where Chinese citizens were sent to the battlefield to meet their death. The poem about the trip from the Capital to Fenxian further highlights the poverty that had now engulfed the ancient Chinese society with Du Fu noting how he went back home only to find his son had died of hunger (Luo and Ye, 2011). The third period in Du Fu’s poetry reveals a heightened level of social destitution as the people suffered from effects of a ruthless rebel troops and social disintegration. During this period, Du Fu was also going through personal misfortunes such as being stranded in Chang’an which he vividly describes in his composition of Spring View (Andrea and Overfield, 2011). Poetry that highlighted the mounting social problems includes Three Departures and Three Officials which presents the calamities faced by the society at the time. This is the period when the Tang Dynasty suffered heavy defeat in the hands of An-Shi rebel troops resulting in widespread conscription with the children and aged not spared (Luo and Ye, 2011). Conclusion From the foregoing discussion of the role played by Du Fu in the Chinese history and culture the poet is one of the best scholars who used poetry as a vehicle for exposing the social and political life of the people during the Tang Dynasty. Poet’s style of writing was important in his championing of equality in society. The poet employed some violent imagery and vivid description, ambiguity and juxtaposition that inform the audience the suffering of people especially during the days just before and after the rebellion by An-Shi rebel troops. Confucianism also played a big role in hoe the author expressed his social concerns especial given that he was a Confucian scholar who had a high degree of loyalty to the rulers. References Abramson, M. S. (2011) Ethnic Identity in Tang China. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: University of Pennsylvania Press. Andrea, A. J., & Overfield, J. H. (2011) The Human Record: Sources of Global History. Connecticut: Cengage Learning. Chen, Z. 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