The poem by Du Fu engraved on the Longzhong archway is "Three visits to trouble the world, two dynasties to open the hearts of veterans."
Du Fu (February 12, 712-770), also known as Zimei, also known as Shaoling Yelao, was a great realist poet in the Tang Dynasty. Together with Li Bai, he was known as "Li Du". Born in Gong County, Henan, originally from Xiangyang, Hubei. In order to distinguish them from the other two poets Li Shangyin and Du Mu, known as "Little Li Du", Du Fu and Li Bai are also collectively known as "Big Li Du", and Du Fu is often called "Old Du".
When Du Fu was a boy, he traveled to Wuyue and Qi and Zhao successively, during which time he went to Luoyang to fail in the examination. After the age of thirty-five, he first took the examination in Chang'an and failed; later he presented gifts to the emperor and nobles. Unable to achieve his goals in officialdom, he witnessed the extravagance and social crisis of the upper class society in the Tang Dynasty. In the fourteenth year of Tianbao (755), the Anshi Rebellion broke out and Tongguan fell. Du Fu traveled to many places.
Achievements in poetry and calligraphy
"A collection of sixty volumes" of Du Fu's poems was lost early. In the second year of Baoyuan of the Northern Song Dynasty (1039), Wang Zhu compiled 1,405 articles into 18 volumes, titled "Collection of Du Gongbu". Qian Qianyi compiled "Annotations to Du Gongbu Collection". Yang Lun said: "Since the Six Dynasties, many Yuefu titles have imitated plagiarism, and they are the most disgusting. Zimei came out and was alone because of what he felt at the time. He felt pity for the country at the top and the poverty of the people at the bottom. He set up the title at will and was totally free. Get rid of the stereotypes of our predecessors."
Achievements in calligraphy
Du Fu is very mature and profound in his creative concept of calligraphy. Judging from the records, his calligraphy was written in regular script and cursive, and the overall style was written with intention. He appreciated the ancient and majestic, and paid attention to the speed, rhythm, strokes, ink techniques, etc. in writing. It was also very profound in the Tang Dynasty. calligrapher. At the same time, his praise of the official calligraphers of the Tang Dynasty and his evaluation of Cao Ba and Zhang Xu were enough to make him famous in the history of calligraphy.