In the preface, the book says: The purpose of this biography is to introduce readers to a great poet of our motherland in the eighth century, to make him close to us, and to let us know how he lived, struggled, developed and created in that era, and what his works reflected.
Chapter 1, family background and origin.
Du Fu was born in a family belonging to the ruling class of feudal society. Family atmosphere is the key soil for a person to grow up. Du Fu is the13rd generation grandson of Du Yu, a famous doctor in Jin Dynasty. Du Fu was born in a bureaucratic family with a long tradition. Although the momentum of Du Fu's family is not as good as that of that year, growing up in such an environment will naturally affect his growth. Therefore, the author said that he could understand Du Fu's vulgar side. In his middle age, he actively sought an official position in Chang 'an, and he did not hesitate to find reasons from anyone in power. This is inseparable from his family tradition, which shows the importance of family education.
But what really made Du Fu grow up and helped him develop has nothing to do with his family background, but the elegant culture produced by the social prosperity in Kaiyuan era and the great political and economic changes in the Tang Dynasty after Tianbao. What is close to the people after middle age is his efforts to read thousands of books in his early years, to understand people's emotions and life, and to absorb a large number of people's languages.
Therefore, what really made Du Fu grow up was the great times elsewhere and his efforts. Sometimes we say that internal factors determine external factors. In fact, from a certain point of view, whether your internal factors can play a decisive role depends on whether external factors are powerful. It is precisely because Du Fu grew up in the Kaiyuan era of cultural prosperity and development that the political economy changed after Tianbao, and he became the Du Fu we saw.
Chapter 2 Du Fu's childhood
Du Fu's childhood was unfortunate and lucky. Unfortunately, he lost his mother when he was a child, but fortunately, he was taken care of by a woman aunt who gave up on herself and didn't know how to be selfish, so that he lost his mother without losing his maternal love.
What he saw and heard in his childhood also influenced his later creation. For example, when he saw Gong Sundaniang dancing when he was a child, he had the illusion that the phoenix was flying, so later there was a poem about the phoenix.
Because Du Fu was young, he was fostered at his aunt's house in Luoyang, which reached its peak at this time. Therefore, under such an economic situation, Du Fu was deeply influenced by Luoyang culture, and he was able to meet some celebrities and get advice, which can be described as "talking and laughing, learning, and having no contact with Ding Bai". What I saw and heard in my childhood painted a beautiful picture of Du Fu's life background.
—— To be continued—