Li Bai and Du Fu are the two greatest poets in Chinese history. Li Bai's fate seemed to be better. He became a popular fried chicken while he was alive. Du Fu was miserable until half his death. A century later, the beauty of Du's poetry was discovered by Yuan Zhen. Since then, the Immortal of Poetry and the Saint of Poetry have been called the twin stars in the history of poetry. They keep pace with each other, and there is no need to distinguish between superior and inferior.
If we look at the Tang Dynasty, they are the spokespersons of an era; if we look at the entire poetry world, they are the spokespersons of the entire poetry world. But they are so different, as if they are standing on two ends of a scale, with endless romance on one end and bleak reality on the other.
Speaking of Li Bai, he is like an immortal descending to earth, and the world calls him "the banished immortal". He is elegant and unpredictable; speaking of Du Fu, he is sad, depressed, and caring about the sufferings of the world; Li Bai has flowers. He had endless money and drank the best wine every day; Du Fu was always short of money in his pocket and had to drink on credit, crying every day.
To like Li Bai is a kind of spiritual excellence of love; to like Du Fu is to never compromise in the face of the helplessness of reality.
Du Fu's poems are called "history of poetry" because in his poems, one can read the imprints left by that era, from the rise and fall of a country, to the honor and disgrace of a family, to an ordinary person. The details of his life read like a history book, except that it is written in the form of poetry.
Li Bai’s madness, drinking, and romance are rarely seen in Du Fu. Most of the time, he was recording real life, national events, and trivial matters in life, all in his writing .
Li Bai and Du Fu, they are only 11 years apart, but they are like people from two worlds. Li Bai flies in the sky, romantic until death, and is always young; Du Fu walks on the earth, and he has also flown. But the reality brought him back to the ground, forever in tears. The most amazing thing is that these two people are actually friends.