Du fu's anecdote

Family tradition

Du Fu's mother died when he was very young. Father wanted to be an official in other places, so he sent him to his aunt's house in Luoyang. My aunt is a kind and educated person. She treated Du Fu as if she were her own son. Besides taking care of him in life, she often tells him about the past and present.

One day, Du Fu pestered his aunt to tell a story. Aunt said:

"Let's Du family has produced many celebrities, and Du Yu (his story, please see the first 12 set of this book), a famous general of the Jin Dynasty, is our thirteenth generation ancestor. He fought bravely and made great contributions to the court. The people also made up songs to praise him! "

"It's amazing!" Du Fu gave a thumbs-up in praise.

"Your grandfather (Du) was a famous poet. His poems were rewarded by the emperor, and people praised him as a talented scholar. "

These stories greatly inspired Du Fu. He studies hard, studies hard and practices hard. At the age of seven, he wrote his first poem, Ode to the Phoenix. One day, he showed his father an article he had written, and it happened that two guests were visiting. They also watched with interest.

"This masterpiece is like the handwriting of Ban Gu and Yang Xiong (a famous writer in Han Dynasty)!" The guests said after reading it.

Since then, the two guests often praised Du Fu and took him to a family proficient in melody to listen to the wonderful music of Li Guinian, a famous court musician at that time. This has a great influence on him. Du Fu paid great attention to the skill of writing poems all his life. "The language is not amazing."

Poetry anecdote

At the age of twenty, Du Fu, like Li Bai, traveled all over the motherland. He left Luoyang, followed the canal and crossed the Yangtze River. Beautiful scenery in the south of the Yangtze River and rich cultural relics have broadened Du Fu's horizons. Then, he returned to Luoyang, went north, visited the plain of Qi-Zhao (now southern Shandong Province and Hebei Province) and climbed Mount Tai. These two wanderings are the best things in Du Fu's life.

One summer, Du Fu met Li Bai, a great poet whom he had admired for a long time, in Luoyang. Two people are like-minded, hit it off at first sight and soon became good friends.

At that time, Li Bai was excluded by powerful people and just left Chang 'an, but the reputation of "fallen immortals" has spread all over the country. However, Du Fu only made his debut in poetry. Their ages are also very different, but they all respect each other very much.

Du Fu showed his poems to Li Bai and asked him for advice. After reading Wang Yue's works, Li Bai said appreciatively:

"Zi Mei, your poems are full of charm, especially the sentence' Once you climb to the top of the mountain and peep, you will see that other mountains are dwarfed under the sky. "These are thought-provoking and extraordinary!"

"Brother Taibai's poems are still magnificent!" Du Fu said modestly.

Soon, Li Bai went to Guo Liang (now Kaifeng, Henan) and Songzhou (now Shangqiu, Henan). Later, Du Fu also arrived there as scheduled. In autumn, they met another poet, Gao Shi, so the three of them visited historical sites together, talked about current events and hunted for fun.

A few days later, Gao Shi went to the south. Du Fu and Li Bai went to qi zhou (now Jinan), and then came to Yanzhou successively. During the day, they boarded the scenic spot together and visited the hermit; In the evening, I talked about drinking, poetry and papers, and I slept as drunk as a fiddler. Therefore, Du Fu used the poem "Drunk in Autumn, Hand in Hand with the Sun" to describe their communication. Li Bai also expressed his yearning for Du Fu with "If you think of a gentleman, send him to the south in a mighty way", just like the mighty running water. The friendship between these two great poets has always been a much-told story in China's poetry circles.

Trapped in Chang' an

Du Fu came to Chang 'an at the age of thirty-five. He wants to seek an official position to realize his political ambition of changing the world and helping the people. But at this time, the Tang Dynasty was becoming more and more corrupt. Li and other traitors are in power, but some honest and talented people are not reused. Du Fu spent ten years in Chang 'an. Not only did he not get the position, but even his life became a problem.

In order to make a living, Du Fu had to humble himself to the noble family and get some alms and help from it. Sometimes I go to Shan Ye to collect herbs, or grow some herbs at my doorstep and sell them in the market. Frustrated in officialdom and living in poverty, Du Fu realized social injustice. He began to care about the sufferings of the people, and his thoughts and feelings changed.

On this day, Du Fu went to the suburbs to collect herbs. When he came to xian yangqiao, he heard a deafening cry from a distance. When I looked closely, I saw teams of recruits, with bows and knives hanging around their waists, walking away. Their parents and wives came to see me off, and they dragged their feet and cried. The crying was mixed with the sound of wheels rolling and horses neighing, and the scene was really terrible.

"Where are you going?" Du Fu asked a gray-haired veteran.

"Go to the frontier to fight!" The veteran replied.

"You are so old, how can you be called?"

"Alas," the veteran sighed, "being drafted by the army didn't also the way! It is said that some people were arrested as soldiers at the age of 14 or 15 and didn't come back until they were in their forties. I'm afraid even old bones will be buried in the frontier. There are still a few acres of fertile land at home, so you can plant it by throwing it to your wife! The tax is not reduced at all, alas, I can't live any longer! " As he spoke, the veteran shed tears.

After listening to the veteran's words, Du Fu's eyes were moist and his heart was filled with grief and indignation. That night, he wrote the famous poem "Automobile Shop". In this poem, Du Fu reflected the people's voice with vivid language and told the people's pain caused by the war. This is Du Fu's first poem to speak for the people.

Famous sentences through the ages

After years of running and hard work, Du Fu was finally appointed by the court as a small official in charge of ordnance equipment at the age of 44. After accepting this position, he decided to visit his long-lost wife and children in Fengxian (now Pucheng, Shaanxi).

At midnight that day, Du Fu set out from Chang 'an. It was winter, the wind was cold, the grass was withered, and Du Fu walked slowly on a donkey, his fingers were frozen. Suddenly, he found a man lying on the side of the road. When he went down, he turned out to be a poor man who died of hunger and cold.

Du Fu shook his head sympathetically and continued on his way. When he passed Mount Li at dawn, he vaguely heard melodious music. He looked up and saw that the gate of Huaqing Palace in scarlet was hidden among pines and cypresses. Du Fu knew that Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty and Yang Guifei came here every winter to avoid the cold, and they were having fun in the palace at this time.

Du Fu believes that in Chang 'an city, senior officials wear fur coats, eat delicacies, hold dances and banquets and enjoy themselves. There are countless possessions at home, and the wine and meat will stink if you can't finish eating them. However, how many poor people do not have enough to eat and wear, or even starve to death or freeze to death in the suburbs. What an unfair world this is!

Du Fu didn't know until he got home that his youngest son, who was under one year old, had starved to death. He immediately remembered everything he saw on the road. Later, he wrote a famous poem "From Beijing to Fengxian, reciting 500 words". There is such an immortal famous sentence in the poem:

The wine and meat in Zhumen stink, and the road has frozen bones.

These two poems vividly show the disparity between the rich and the poor in the old society and have been told by people for thousands of years.

armed rebellion led by An Lushan and Shi Siming in 755-763 in the Tang Dynasty

The Anshi Rebellion brought disaster to the country and people, and Du Fu fled with his wife, children and common people. During the day, they collect wild fruits to satisfy their hunger, and at night, they sleep in deserted villages. After many hardships, they finally escaped. Zhou (now Shaanxi Province) settled in Qiang village in the north of the city.

One day, Du Fu said to his wife:

"I heard that the old emperor has gone to Shu, and the prince has been appointed to the base. I intend to go to him to serve my country. "

The next morning, Du Fu hit the road. Not far away, they were caught by the rebels. The rebels took him to Chang 'an and saw that he was a scholar with gray hair. They interrogated him and released him, but he was not allowed to leave Chang 'an.

Du Fu can only wander in Chang 'an. But a few months later, this magnificent city was completely changed. In the past, the emperor's palace and the vassal's residence were a pile of broken bricks, and some of them were filled with rebels. The streets are littered with corpses, and from time to time, hordes of rebel cavalry triumphantly pass by, raising dust and fog all over the sky.

Du Fu saw this tragic scene with his own eyes and worried about the future of the country. During his stay in Chang 'an, he wrote many excellent poems, one of which is "Spring Hope":

Chang' an fell, the country was broken, and only the mountains and rivers remained; Spring has come, and the sparsely populated Chang' an city is densely forested.

Sad state, can not help but burst into tears, amazing birds, leaving sorrow and hate.

The war lasted for more than half a year, and letters from home were rare, with a hundred thousand gold.

Twisting with melancholy, scratching my head and thinking, the more I scratch my white hair, I can hardly insert a hairpin.

One night, Du Fu sneaked out of Chang 'an while the rebels were not paying attention. He crossed the dense forest, climbed the steep cliff and chose a remote path, and finally reached Fengxiang (now northwest of lingwu city, Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region), where the Tang government was located. Tang Suzong, the new emperor, saw that he was haggard, ragged and had a Ma Xie on his feet. He was moved by his loyalty, so he named him Zuo Shiyi. This is an office dedicated to giving advice and suggestions to the emperor. But before long, Tang Suzong felt that Du Fu's words were not pleasant to listen to, and he was demoted to a junior official in Huazhou (now Shaanxi Province).

"Three Officials" and "Three Points"

When Du Fu was in Huazhou, Tang Jun, with the help of foreigners, defeated the main force of the rebel army and recovered Chang 'an and Luoyang. The situation has improved, but the remnants of the rebels are still making trouble everywhere and the war continues. Tang Jun was defeated in World War I in Xiangzhou (now Henan Province). In order to supplement the army, local officials sent men to arrest able-bodied men and extort money, making life more difficult for ordinary people.

One day, when Du Fu returned to Huazhou from Luoyang and came to Xin 'an County (now Henan Province), he was recruited by the government. All of them were underage teenagers, and his mother cried her eyes out.

"How do you want these children to be soldiers?" Du Fu asked the officials.

"Our county is small, and the able-bodied men have already finished smoking. The top management is still urging troops, no way! " The county magistrate said.

Du Fu shook his head sadly. After the Western Expedition in Xin 'an, Du Fu went to Shihao Village and lived in a poor family. In the middle of the night, a quick knock on the door woke him up. It turned out that an official had come to arrest able-bodied men. The old man of this family knew that he was coming to arrest people, so he jumped off the wall and ran away. The old woman went out to open the door.

"Where are your people?" Invite officials to drink.

"My three sons have all gone to the front to fight, and there are no other men at home." Grandma cried and said.

"What about your family?" The official asked mercilessly.

"If necessary, let me go! Although my old woman is old and weak, she can still cook. " Grandma said mercilessly.

The officials were very angry when they heard the grandmother's words, but they really took her away when they saw that no one was caught at home.

Along the way, Du Fu also saw many tragic scenes: a young couple just got married and the man was taken to be a soldier; A white-haired old man, whose son and grandson died in the battle, was also taken to be a soldier. His wife knew that he couldn't come back this time and cried sadly on the side of the road. A soldier who escaped from defeat returned to the village. When he returned to the village, he saw the house covered with grass and empty. His relatives died and fled, and it was a bleak scene. When he picked up a hoe to open up wasteland, the county magistrate sent someone to take him out.

With deep sympathy for the people, Du Fu wrote six poems about what he saw and heard, which were referred to as "Xin 'an official", "Tongguan official", "Shi Haoguan", "newly married", "farewell to the old" and "living apart". These six poems profoundly reflect the turbulent social outlook at that time, which are vivid and touching, and are immortal masterpieces in China's classical poems.

Huanhuaxipan

Du Fu became increasingly disappointed with the imperial court and finally gave up his official position at the age of 48. After several times of displacement, he went to Zhongshu (now Sichuan Province), which was relatively stable at that time, to make a living.

After arriving in Chengdu, with the support of relatives and friends, he found a wasteland next to Huanhuaxi in the suburbs and built several huts there. The hut is very simple, and there is not much decoration in it, but Du Fu is very happy, because he has been poor for many years, and now he finally has a place to live.

Huanhuaxi is more than 30 feet wide, flowing all the year round, and you can row boats in spring and summer. There are many trees and clumps of bamboo along the stream, and only a few families are scattered among the trees. The scenery is very beautiful. Du Fu liked it here and wrote many poems describing natural scenery.

One evening in August, a few dark clouds suddenly appeared on the horizon. The dark clouds gradually expanded and quickly covered half the sky, and then a gust of wind blew. The grass on Du Fu's thatched cottage was scattered by the wind, some hung on the trees by the wind, and some fell in Huanhuaxi. As soon as the wind stopped, it rained cats and dogs again until dark. Rain is dripping everywhere in the hut, and the quilt on the bed is wet. Du Fu was lying in bed, feeling the quilt as cold as iron. From his own experience, he thought of the suffering people in the world, and his heart was filled with grief and indignation, and he stayed up all night.

The next day, he wrote the poem "The hut was broken by the autumn wind". In his poem, he cried sadly:

"Between Andrew's mansion and thousands of rooms, all the poor people in the world are smiling, and the wind and rain are as still as a mountain! Oh! When did you suddenly see this house? It is enough for me to freeze to death alone! "

The main idea of these poems is: How can we get thousands of big houses in Qian Qian, all built on the poor people under the sun, so that they can be happy and fearless? If such a house stands in front of my eyes, even if my house is frozen, I am willing to die.

These poems fully show the poet's humanitarian spirit and noble quality of loving the people, and have always been praised by people.

Tear down the fence

After a while, Du Fu's life in Chengdu became more difficult. He can only take his family out of the thatched cottage and descend from the Yangtze River in May. When he arrived in Kuizhou, Du Fu got help from his friends and built a thatched cottage to live in.

There are several jujube trees in front of the thatched cottage, which are full of fruits in autumn. One day at noon, Du Fu heard someone gently beating dates, so he pushed open the door to look. Under the tree stood a white-haired old woman with a bamboo pole in her hand and looked at him in horror.

Du Fu saw that she was skinny and ragged, and he understood. He comforted the old lady and said:

"Go, there are many dates on this tree."

"Thank you, my Lord." The old lady said with emotion.

The old woman played with dates for a while and stopped. Du Fu said with concern:

"Sit down and have a rest. Where is your home? "

"It's not far to the west."

"Who else is at home?"

"My son went to war and died. My wife died of illness, leaving me alone. I really didn't eat at home. Why else would I come to your house for a date? " When the old woman finished speaking, she could not help crying.

Du Fu can only sigh sympathetically. When the old woman left, she thanked Du Fu again and again.

"Just rest assured in the future." Du Fu said.

Soon, in order to look after the crops in the field, Du Fu temporarily lived in Dongtun and lent the thatched cottage to a friend. A few days later, he heard that his friend surrounded the thatched cottage with a fence. Du Fu immediately thought of the old woman and sent a letter to a friend to write a poem, telling him to tear down the fence and let the old woman play dates. My friend was moved by Du Fu's true feelings and immediately pulled down the fence.

A few years later, Du Fu's health became worse and worse, and his life became more and more difficult. He had to wander around and even drift on the river by boat. This unstable life aggravated his illness. In the winter of 770 AD, the great poet Du Fu died on the boat.

Du Fu wrote many poems in his hard life. His poems had a positive impact on the development of China literature. Many famous poets and national heroes have absorbed nutrition and strength from Du Fu's poems. Therefore, in Du Fu's thatched cottage in Chengdu, Sichuan, there is an inscription that "the thatched cottage is reserved for future generations, and poets write a thousand years". This is a proper evaluation of the poet Du Fu.