Article: Eleven
Du Fu, a very familiar name. Since primary school, the poet's name has been with our school days.
From school to high school graduation, some statistics show that we have studied 24 works of Du Fu, ranking first with Li Bai.
From "Huang Si's natal home is full of flowers, with thousands of flowers weighing low on the branches" to "two orioles singing in the green willows, and a row of egrets ascending to the blue sky";
From "in the daytime "You have to indulge in drinking to sing, and you can return home with the company of youth" to "I am often a guest in the sad autumn thousands of miles away, and I am alone on the stage after being sick for a hundred years";
There are also the most famous "I will be at the top of the mountain, and I can see all the mountains and small mountains" "There are no relatives or friends, and there are no old and sick people."
I don’t know whether it was Du Fu who grew up with us, or whether we experienced Du Fu’s life. In short, as the world dangles, the world is ups and downs. Those who should leave will eventually leave, and we will grow up slowly.
The poet who worries about the country and the people all day seems to be getting farther and farther away from us. You may see him again when tutoring children with their homework, or in the "Du Fu is very busy" Saw him online.
No matter what, Du Fu has never gone away, because you and I in the ordinary world are not Du Fu.
Du Fu was born in a family of officials, and his task as a boy was to study, and he read a lot of books. When we were teenagers, we also studied, and we read a lot of books, and the variety was wider than that of Du Fu.
When he was young, Du Fu traveled far and wide to gain experience; when we were young, we went alone to study in a strange city to study at university.
When he was in his prime, Du Fu failed the civil service examination and lived in a small house in Chang'an writing poems for a living; when we enter the society in our prime, our ideals become farther and farther away, and reality smooths us out.
In his later years, Du Fu traveled all the way home; in his later years, we return to our hometown to recall the past.
In fact, Du Fu is really not far away from us, especially in the most exciting period of life.
He is like a newly graduated college student who holds the lofty ideal of serving the country and the people all day long. Then I entered society and was beaten to the bone by reality.
Since I haven’t had a chance to make a difference yet, I’ll rent a small house and code for a living. When I had the opportunity to become an official, I was just a library administrator, and then the Anshi Rebellion came.
Throughout his life, Du Fu did not realize his ideals. Why shouldn’t we be like this? So even if we didn't understand the profound meaning of Du Fu's poems when we were in school, when we have experienced more and seen more, and then read Du Fu's poems, I believe you will feel the same and shed tears.
Today, we will select one poem each from Du Fu’s youth, prime, and old age to help you understand the poet’s life.
1. The Grand Tour of Youth
736 AD, Tai'an, 24 years old.
This year Du Fu failed to pass the imperial examination. He went all the way from Luoyang to Tai'an and saw Mount Tai.
"Wang Yue"
How about Dai Zongfu? Qilu is still young.
The clock of creation is beautiful, and the yin and yang cut off the dawn.
Stratus clouds grow in the chest, and returning birds enter the canthus.
From the top of the mountain, you can see all the mountains and small mountains at a glance.
Standing at the foot of Mount Tai, Du Fu looked at the tall and majestic Mount Tai and asked, "How is Dai Zongfu?"
"Dai Zong" refers to Mount Tai, and Zong means the leader of the clan. Because Confucius once praised Mount Tai, he said, "Climb Dongshan and you will be small, and climb Mount Tai and you will be small." Therefore, Mount Tai is called the lord of the mountain, hence the name Dai Zong.
Du Fu asked himself at the foot of the mountain, what is Mount Tai like?
Du Fu himself replied, "Qilu is still young."
"Qilu" now refers to Shandong, and Shandong is often called the land of Qilu. During the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, Qi was the State of Qi and Lu was the State of Lu. Du Fu's words mean that the green Mount Tai stretches all the way to the border between Qi and Lu - it means that Mount Tai is huge.
At this time, young Du Fu had not been to many places and had not seen many famous mountains and rivers, so Mount Tai in front of him was the most beautiful and majestic mountain in his heart, so he said, "The clock is beautiful".
We often hear the phrase "It depends on his good fortune" when watching movies and TV dramas. That is to say, it depends on the person's fate, and fate is destined by God, so "good fortune" is Point to heaven. "Zhong" means beloved. This poem means that God loves Mount Tai and has given the most beautiful scenery in the world to Mount Tai.
"Yin and Yang cut off the dusk" to describe the height of Mount Tai. Because it is Wangshan, I naturally wrote this sentence. "Yin" refers to the side of the mountain facing away from the sun, and "yang" refers to the side of the mountain facing the sun. The side facing away from the sun is dark, so it is dusk; the side facing the sun is bright, so it is dawn (dawn, dawn). "Cut" means that sometimes the sun rises high enough, but Mount Tai cuts off the sunlight like a knife, making one side of the mountain bright and the other dark.
After Du Fu praised Mount Tai, he started climbing. The higher you go up, the more majestic Mount Tai feels, and the more you want to take in all the scenery. He said, "The clouds grow in the chest, and the returning birds come in through the canthus." Du Fu climbed halfway up the mountain, and there were layers of white clouds floating in his chest; then he looked into the distance, "Jue", split; "the canthus" ", corner of the eye.
Du Fu opened his eyes wide, as if the corners of his eyes were about to burst. He followed the returning bird and took in the entire mountain scenery until the returning bird disappeared.
Du Fu, who saw the many beautiful scenery of Mount Tai, sighed sincerely: "When you are at the top of the mountain, you can see all the small mountains at a glance."
This smallness not only means that after climbing the highest mountain, other mountains will appear insignificant. It also means that "I" climbed Mount Tai and saw the beautiful scenery, but the beautiful scenery of other mountains will not be worth mentioning. . There is quite a feeling of "there was a time when the sea was full of water, except for Wushan, it was nothing like clouds".
Du Fu traveled from Luoyang to Tai'an. We don't know what he experienced along the way and what kind of feelings he had in his heart. But what we must know is that Du Fu, who failed to pass the Jinshi examination, did not feel much sadness. On the contrary, his enterprising spirit became more and more intense, so he had the spirit to see the small things in the mountains.
Du Fu, 24, is still ideal and proud. What about us who are 24 years old?
2. Li Du’s encounter
746 AD, Xi’an, 34 years old.
"Remembering Li Bai in Spring"
Bai Ye's poems are incomparable, and his thoughts are unparalleled.
Yu Kaifu is fresh and handsome, and he joins the army.
Spring trees in Weibei, dusk clouds in Jiangdong.
When to drink wine, focus on details.
In the past ten years, Du Fu went to many places. The most famous one, passed down by later generations, is the days when he traveled with Li Bai.
In 744 AD, 32-year-old Du Fu and 43-year-old Li Bai met for the first time.
In 745 AD, Du Fu and Li Bai met again in Qilu shortly after their separation.
Later generations described the encounter between Li and Du as another great encounter after Confucius and Laozi, and the encounter between the sun and the moon. These two greatest poets in ancient China did not discuss poetry together or compete with each other on their poetic skills. They just looked for immortals, collected immortal herbs, refined elixirs, and sought immortality.
The Du Fu of this period was very different from the Du Fu we learned in textbooks. The Du Fu who should have been sad all day disappeared and turned into a chic look.
You can imagine what a wonderful scene it was for these two people to visit the mountains during the day to look for immortals, and to drink and chat at night. This was also a rare happy moment in Du Fu's career.
Their great friendship can be clearly seen from their poems. Du Zimei gave Li Taibai "Yu Yidong is a guest, and he pities you like a brother. He sleeps drunkenly in autumn and walks hand in hand with the sun." !"
There is no such thing as a feast that lasts forever, and Li Du will eventually have to leave.
After leaving, Du Fu missed Li Bai and wrote many poems to Li Bai. This song "Recalling Li Bai in Spring" is one of the poems written by the poet.
Du Fu admired Li Bai very much, so he started writing "Bai Ye's poems are incomparable, and his thoughts are unparalleled". "Not in a group" means extraordinary: Li Bai wrote poems well, and his fluttering talents and emotions were unparalleled in the world.
He served as a former soldier and joined the army, and he was known as Bao joined the army. Both of them are the most famous literati in the world. Du Fu said that Li Bai's poems are as fresh and natural as Yu Xin's, and as free and elegant as Bao Zhao's.
"Spring trees in Weibei, dusk clouds in Jiangdong" seem to describe the scene, but are actually lyrical. Weibei: the north bank of the Wei River, refers to the Chang'an area, where Du Fu was at that time; Jiangdong: the area in southern Jiangsu and northern Zhejiang, where Li Bai was at that time.
Du Fu said: I am here in Chang'an looking at the trees in spring alone, and you in Jiangdong looking at the sunset and thin clouds alone. The two of us can't see each other, we can only miss each other.
When Du Fu thought of the days when he traveled with Li Bai, he couldn't help but sigh, "When did a bottle of wine change the importance of detail?" When will we be able to drink and discuss our poetry again?
Regrettably, Li and Du never met again.
32-year-old Du Fu and 43-year-old Li Bai became close friends. And in our thirties, do we still remember the confidants we had when we were young, or do we make new confidants?
3. Living in Jinguan
764 AD, Chengdu, 52 years old.
"Quatrain No. 3"
Two orioles sang in the green willows, and a row of egrets climbed into the blue sky.
The window contains the snow of Qianqiu in Xiling, and the door is docked with a ship thousands of miles away from Dongwu.
In the past twenty years, many things have happened in Datang. The Anshi Rebellion was one of the most devastating events.
In the winter of 755 AD, when the Anshi Rebellion occurred, Du Fu was in Chang'an. He was a direct witness to the Anshi Rebellion. Unlike many refugees, he was unwilling to leave Chang'an, even though Chang'an at this time was no longer the city that everyone yearned for.
Therefore, in the years after the Anshi Rebellion broke out, Du Fu traveled around Chang'an. It wasn't until he was 47 years old that he set foot in Sichuan for the first time.
We all know that Du Fu lived in a thatched cottage next to Huanhua Creek in Chengdu, which was built for him by Du Fu's friends.
The name of Huanhuaxi is very nice and beautiful, and Du Fu’s life here is relatively comfortable. Although life was good, Du Fu's heart was full of his Chang'an city. I tried to rush back several times, but in the end I had no choice but to return to the thatched cottage.
This quatrain was composed when he returned to Chengdu again. After this time, Du Fu really never came back here again. Therefore, this poem has a somewhat sadder flavor than the previous poem.
This is a poem we learned in primary school. The whole poem is as natural and fresh as vernacular, as clear as water. But when we savor it carefully, we can discover the charm of poetry and Du Fu's genius poetic skills.
"Two orioles sing in the green willows, and a row of egrets ascend to the blue sky." The quatrains are short and concise, and every word is worthy of careful consideration. The first sentence describes the scene. The poet organizes the picture with four colors: "yellow", "emerald", "white" and "green". The green here means blue. The group of yellow and green constitutes the scene before the poet's eyes, connected by the word "ming", which is a scene with sound; the group of white and green constitutes the scene seen by the poet from a distance, connected by the word "above", it is a scene without sound.
The exuberant meaning of early spring is reflected on the page in the poet's few strokes.
"The window contains the snow of Qianqiu in the Xiling Mountains, and the door contains the ship thousands of miles away from Dongwu." Xiling is now Xiling Snow Mountain, and the snow here never disappears all year round. The poet uses the window as the base point to incorporate the scenery of the snow-capped mountains, just like we use mobile phone cameras to take pictures today.
From this sentence, we can know that the poet is watching the scenery of early spring indoors, so the "window contains" not only "Qianqiu Snow", but also "Wanli Ship", as well as "orioles, green willows, and egrets" , blue sky".
This small window seems to have become a picture frame, and the poet continues to draw the scenery on the paper. From the orioles and green willows in front of you, to the egrets and the blue sky above, then to the snowy scenery of Xiling further away, and finally back to the thousand-mile boat beside you. The poet's emotions also turn and wander like this.
The last sentence also vaguely expresses the poet's homesickness. The snow is "Qianqiu Snow" and the ship is "Ten Thousand Miles Ship". "Qianqiu" refers to the long time, and "Wanli" refers to the vast space.
The poet is saying, I have stayed in Chengdu for so long, when can I go back to Chang'an, which is thousands of miles away?
We know that if Du Fu wants to return to Chang'an, he must first take a boat by water and then transfer by land. Du Fu looked at the snow scene year after year. Ships from the Jiangnan area were parked in front of his door every day, but he could not go back.
52-year-old Lao Du still insists on his obsession to go back. Do we still have the strength at that time?