Behind redden doors stink wine and meat but upon the road die frozen men. – Du Fu, 500-Character Poem: A Reflection on the Road from Capital to Feng Xian Town

(By Tsem Rinpoche and Pastor Adeline)

Poetry has always been held in high regard in Chinese culture and poems has been one of the most common art form that Chinese literati had sought as a means of influencing the thinking of the people over the ages. It is through poetry and beautiful verbal expressions of art that Chinese scholars and intellectuals have traditionally provided insights into issues that mattered to the psyche of the Chinese society and shaped the mentality of the people. The high point in Chinese poetry took place in the Tang dynasty (618-907 CE) where both poets and poems were prolific (those existing are collected in the Collected Tang Poems).

Among the many famous Tang poets is Du Fu (Wade Giles: Tu Fu, Simplified Chinese: 杜甫, 712-770 CE) who was known as Poet Savant. Along with Li Bai (Simplified Chinese: 李白, 701-762 CE), Du Fu was regarded as one of Tang Dynasty’s greatest poets. Du Fu was uncompromising and meticulous in his works and was known to be strict in his use of metrical verses. His ‘Deng Gao’ (Climbing the High Terrace) written in the autumn 767 CE was widely thought to have achieved sheer perfection.

登高
风急天高猿啸哀 渚清沙白鸟飞回
无边落木萧萧下 不尽长江滚滚来
万里悲秋常作客 百年多病独登台
艰难苦恨繁霜鬓 潦倒新停浊酒杯

Deng Gao belongs to a form of Chinese poetry known as ‘regulated verse’ (lüshi, Simplified Chinese: 律诗) which was one of the most important of all classical Chinese poetry types. Regulated verse refers to an eight-line regulated verse each made up of five, six, or seven characters and Du Fu’s poem was written perfectly with seven characters in every line called qilü (Simplified Chinese: 七律, seven-character eight-line regulated verse).

Some other common requirements for ‘regulated verse’ poetry is that they must rhyme on the even lines and with one rhyme being used throughout the poem. Also, the tonal profile of the poem is controlled, and that is why it is called regulated; that is to say, the words in the lines need to follow certain tonal patterns.

The first four verses of Deng Gao described the view while climbing and the scenery of autumn from near and far. The four verses that followed express Du Fu’s life experiences seen through his thought whilst climbing. The four verses uses metaphor, analogy, symbols and hints to describe the scenery, and skillfully and beautifully relates this to his own life’s experiences.

Life

Du Fu, also known as Zi Mei (Simplified Chinese: 子美), Du Shaoling (Simplified Chinese: 杜少陵), Du Gongbu (Simplified Chinese: 杜工部), and Shaoling Yelao (Simplified Chinese: 少陵野老) was born near Luoyang, located in today’s China’s Henan province. Shortly after he was born in 712 CE, his mother passed away and he was raised partly by his aunt. Du Fu had an elder brother who died young and three half brothers and a half sister. Du Fu’s paternal grandfather is Du Shenyan (Simplified Chinese: 杜审言, c. 645-708 CE), a noted politician and poet during the reign of Empress Wu.

As a son of a minor scholar-official, Du Fu spent his youth studying and memorising Confucian classics of philosophy, history and poetry, which represent a standard education for a future civil servant. However, he failed to pass the civil service exam at around the end of 735 CE, based on his earliest poem that described a poetry contest. After that he spent many years traveling around today’s Hebei and Shandong provinces. During that time, he produced some creditable poems that threaded together stories of his travels in his early teens and the hardships he endured.

Around 740 CE, Du Fu’s father passed away. Due to his father’s rank in the civil service, Du Fu was then allowed to enter the service, but he was said to have given up the privilege and instead chose to live in the Luoyang area for the next four years fulfilling his duties in domestic affairs.

Du Fu and Li Bai had a lot in common

Du Fu met his contemporary, Li Bai in the autumn of 744 CE and formed a friendship. Though both of them only met again once in 745 CE, Du Fu continued to communicate with Li Bai by writing poems to him. Du Fu also wrote about Li Bai in his poems. Both Du Fu and Li Bai had a lot in common. They traveled widely and wrote about places they visited. Both of them failed in their entry examinations but were officials in the Tang Empire and achieved famed and success in their own right. They also experienced the An Lu Shan Rebellion that started in 755 CE.

Du Fu moved to the city in 746 CE and took the civil service examination in the following year for the second time in an attempt to revive a career as a court official. However, the Prime Minister at the time failed all candidates to avoid the emergence of possible rivals. Du Fu did not attempt to the examination from there on and appealed to the Emperor directly a few times. Finally he received an imperial appointment to a minor post as a civil service officer in 755 CE, but still could not hold that position due to the An Lu Shan Rebellion that lasted for eight years. During these years, Du Fu led a nomadic life, produced poetry about famine, politic, and personal experiences that he witnessed and endured.

Du Fu was married and had five children, one of whom died in its infancy. His health started to degenerate just before the An Lu Shan Rebellion and suffered lung problems and a series of ailments that plagued him for the rest of his life. Due to the massive floods in the region, Du Fu was forced to move his family in that same year. Du Fu arrived in Chengdu and lived there for five years from 760 CE. He lived in a thatched hut that is today referred to as the Du Fu’s Thatched Cottage in Chengdu. He was said to have lived happily and peacefully despite his financial problems. The poems Du Fu wrote during this period were peaceful depictions of his life at the hut.

Du Fu was a traveller, observer, and thinker and although he eventually took up a civil service post, he was said to have caused trouble by being overly conscientious and was soon stripped of his position. He eventually moved to Sichuan, where he lived in a cottage and wrote many poems describing his relatively happy life. In the spring of 765 CE, Du Fu sailed the Yangtze River with his family with an intention to head towards Luoyang. Due to his health, they traveled slowly. It was believed that by this time Du Fu was suffering from deafness, poor eyesight, and old age. However, it didn’t stop him from producing great poems and in that time and under those difficult conditions Du Fu produced 400 poems. It was Du Fu’s last great poetic flowering.

In 768 CE, he began his journey again and got as far as Hunan province, where he died two years after in 770 CE at the age of 58. He was survived by his wife and two sons.

Du Fu’s life story performed by the National Centre for the Performing Arts

Or view the video on the server at:
https://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/DuFuDrama.mp4

The dance drama of Du Fu depicts the life of the Poet Savant in a contemporary and artistic way. It highlighted how one can be caught up in the vortex of power and wealth, yet maintain the good qualities of a learner without being affected slightly. It is inspirational and opens the door to understanding the philosophy of life.

Du Fu thatched cottage

The former residence of Du Fu still stands in the western suburbs of Chengdu. It is known today as the Du Fu’s Thatched Cottage (Simplified Chinese: 杜甫草堂, Hanyu Pinyin: Du Fu Cao Tang). The cottage is a 24-acre park and museum, adjacent to the Huanhua Xi (Flower Rinsing Creek). In 1961, the Chinese government established Du Fu Cao Tang as a National Heritage site. The original hut built by Du Fu was destroyed. The key buildings within the compound were constructed in the early 16th century and extensively renovated in 1811. It has been repaired/rebuilt since the eighth century.

After his death, the people of Chengdu built a shrine on site. The shrine was built on the site of his garden to honour Du Fu. Following that, it has been the custom to visit Du Fu’s shrine on the seventh day of the first lunar month. At the front door there is still an ancient couplet that reads 锦江春风公占却 草堂人日我归来 (Hanyu Pinyin: Jinjiang Chunfeng Gong Zhan Que, Caotang Renri Wo Guilai) written by a Qing Dynasty scholar He Shaoji (Simplified Chinese: 何绍基). The meaning of the couplet can be translated loosely as Du Fu owned the Jinjiang river and spring breeze; I came to visit his cottage on the seventh day of the first lunar month.

The current cottage consists of six important parts including the Front Gate, the Grand Lobby, the Poetic History Halls, the Flowery Path, the Gongbu Shrine and the Thatched Cottage. The Gongbu Shrine is located at the center of a section of the cottage’s compound. There in a small hall in the eastern section of the grounds, a statue of Du Fu stands in dedication to the memory of this legendary poet.

Behind the shrine is the reconstructed straw roof residence in accordance to Du Fu’s poetic inscription and Ming Dynasty’s style building that displays the ideal view and creates the poetic atmosphere.

The Poetic History Halls display statues of ancient poets and sculptures in styles representative of their poems. The miniature statues and sculptures on display are chosen from among their literary work, both in form and content.

The Grand Lobby is the second major part of the cottage. It was a memorial situated in the compound of the cottage and was named Xie (Simplified Chinese: 廨) in 1811 when it was renovated. Xie refers to an ancient governmental office and translated as Grand Lobby. When Du Fu was staying in Chengdu, he was once the advisor in Gongbu (the Ministry of Civil Works). Hence this name was given to the building to reflect the respect and admiration the later generations had for him.

In one of Du Fu’s poem ‘A Guest Arrives’ (Simplified Chinese: 客至, Hanyu Pinyin: Ke Zhi) there is a verse that loosely translates as “the flowery path has never been cleared for the guest’s visit” (Simplified Chinese: 花径不曾缘客扫 蓬门今始为君开, Hanyu Pinyin: Huajing Buceng Yuan Ke Sao, Fengmen Jinshi Weijun Kai). From this, we can assume that there used to be a path shaded by flowers and trees leading to the cottage. This path was first created by Zhou Shanpei (Simplified Chinese: 周善培) in Qing Dynasty.

At the entrance of the Flowery Path stands a screen wall with handwritten words saying, ‘Thatched Cottage’ (Simplified Chinese: 草堂, Hanyu Pinyin: Cao Tang). It was a former work by Zhou Shanpei but was ruined and then substituted by his younger brother, Zhou Zhujun (Simplified Chinese: 周竺君). In 1958, Mao Zedong took a photo there which made it instantly into a tourist attraction.

A map of Du Fu’s Thatched Cottage

Operating Hours:

• 08:00 – 18:30 in winter (Ticket service closes at 18:10)
• 07:30 – 19:00 in summer (Ticket service closes at 18:40)

Guided Tour Hours:

• 8:30 – 18:00 in winter
• 8:00 – 18:00 n summer

Please prebook the translation service at the Ticket Office. For information, please contact +86-28-87319258.

Entrance Fee:

• RMB60 per person
• Supervised by Sichuan Provincial Price Department
• Customer Service Hotline: 12358

Tour Charges:

• RMB50 for 1 to 10 people for guided tour in Mandarin, RMB100 for guided tour in foreign languages
• RMB100 for 11 to 20 people for guided tour in Mandarin, RMB150 for guided tour in foreign languages
• RMB150 for 21 to 30 people for guided tour in Mandarin, RMB250 for guided tour in foreign languages

For 30 tourists and above in a group, the charges will be RMB5 per person.
 
References:

• Chengdu Du Fu Thatched Cottage Museum from Cddfct.com
• Tu Fu from Poetryfoundation.org
• Du Fu from Biography.com
• Du Fu from Wikipedia.org
• 著名景区英文介绍：杜甫草堂 from Putclub.com
• 成都杜甫草堂 （英文简介）from 24EN.com
• Chinese Poetry – Tang Poetry & Poets from Travelchinaguide.com
• 成都市杜甫草堂博物館 from Guidegogo.com

 
For more interesting information:

• The Ethnics Groups of China
• Tsem Rinpoche’s heritage in China
• Tsem Rinpoche and China
• The Chinese Zodiac
• Bodhidharma – the founder of Gongfu
• The Six Patriarchs of Chan Buddhism
• Empty Cloud
• Chinese in Malaysia

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