Du Fu’s thoughts originated from Confucianism. The Confucian thought of "If you are powerful, you can help the world, if you are poor, you can be alone"[1] made Du Fu actively engage in the world, which reflected the social conscience of ancient Chinese intellectuals. In ancient China, the main purpose of most scholars studying was to become an official, that is, "excellence in learning leads to officialdom." Becoming an official can not only realize the life ideal of "ruling the country and bringing peace to the world", but can also change one's social status and living conditions, making becoming an official a top priority among scholars. At the age of 35, that is, in the fifth year of Tianbao (746), Du Fu went to Chang'an to seek an official position. The following year, Xuanzong ordered all the scholars in the world to come to Beijing to be selected. Du Fu decided to take the exam. This is an era where poetry and poetry are used to select scholars. Du Fu was full of hope for this exam. What he didn't expect was that he fell into a scam manipulated by Li Linfu. His hopes of getting a gold medal were in vain. No one passed the exam. Yuan Jie's "Yu You", "New Book of Tang·Li Linfu Biography", and "Zi Zhi Tong Jian" Volumes 215 and 31 of Tang Ji all have records of this. Li Linfu was afraid of the countermeasures of the grassroots people and accused him of being evil, and suggested that the governor of Shangshu Province should question him. The poet Yuan Jie and others all went to take the exam. Li Linfu, on the other hand, called him "the wisest man in the wild". A nationwide recruitment examination failed to select even one talent. This is unprecedented in the history of examinations in our country. This incident was a big blow to Du Fu. It was equivalent to cutting off Du Fu's idea of ??entering an official career through the imperial examination. However, Du Fu was a person who refused to admit defeat. At the same time, he also had the idea of ??"promising one's body, what a fool, stealing than Ji and deeds." Du Fu's grand ambition and "When the country and the people are endlessly worried, the king, the saints and the people will die in peace." Du Fu endured cynicism in Chang'an, rushed to the gates of the powerful, met with princes and ministers, and wanted to find a way to become an official. No matter how much he endured humiliation and humiliation, he said, "In the morning, I will be a rich man, but in the evening, I will follow the fat horse. With broken cups and cold food, there is sorrow everywhere." The god of luck still refuses to patronize him. "I claim that I am very bold, and I immediately ascended the important road. I sent it to the kings Yao and Shun, and then made the customs pure." ("Twenty-two rhymes of a gift to Wei Zuocheng") Yang Lun of the Qing Dynasty commented: "This is a corrupt Confucianism. Others dare not say it. "People in the Tang Dynasty often dared to speak loudly, especially Li Du. To say that they are "corrupt Confucians" is because they do not know how to assess the situation and lack a clear understanding of the times and their own environment. Judging from Du Fu's behavior, he inherited more of Confucius' persistence of "knowing that something cannot be done, but doing it" ("The Analects of Confucius·Xianwen"). Du Fu's spirit of "never regretting even though he died nine times" on the road to seeking an official position is reminiscent of Qu Yuan. Indeed, Du Fu is like Qu Yuan in spiritual essence and not like ordinary Confucian scholar-bureaucrats. “Their persistent spirit and tenacious will to pursue their ideals and strive to realize their great ambitions cannot be underestimated, not to mention that these ideals and ambitions also contain progressive factors that revitalize the country and benefit people.” [2] After understanding these poems, I can indeed feel Du Fu's sincerity and sincerity, which shows that I never forget the pure spirit and loyal feelings of Li Yuan. In the tenth year of Tianbao (751), Du Fu catered to Xuanzong's interests and wrote "Diao Fu" and "Three Great Rituals". Xuanzong appreciated it very much and called for examination articles, but he delayed them again and again, with no results. Later, Du Fu added "Feng Xiyue Fu" and so on. Before the "Ye Wu Yi Xian" examination, Du Fu had the experience of failing to be promoted to Jinshi in the 23rd year of Kaiyuan (735). If a Jinshi is not promoted, he should be promoted. If he should be promoted and he retires, he should be given a gift. His way of seeking office has the characteristics of "one-off". If you fail once, don’t try again. The requirements are getting higher every time, and the road is getting narrower every time. He was not like many secular scholars who repeatedly entered the examination room and had to pass the examination to become a Jinshi. This is enough to show that he has a high self-esteem and a stubborn temperament. It was not until the 14th year of Tianbao, when he was 44 years old, that he was named the county captain of Hexi County (near today's Xiangyun, Yunnan Province). This was a ninth-grade sesame official. Du Fu felt aggrieved and did not take up the post. The change of appointment to the right guard rate was far from the previous ideals of "stealing Ji Ji and deeds" and "serving Jun Yao and Shun". Although he complained, Du Fu had to accept it. When talking about Du Fu's attitude towards life, people almost unanimously said that he was loyal to the emperor, patriotic and people-oriented; influenced by Confucianism, he actively participated in the world. Indeed, patriotism is the main theme in Du Fu's poetry creation. These, based on the above factual analysis, are not bad at all. However, as a person who "collected all his achievements", and whose creative career lasted from his youth to his death, Du Fu's poetry will never have only one color, and his thoughts will never be the same Confucian dogma that is unchanging and monolithic. Du Fu's life was like a white duck in the water, floating from south to north, from east to west, without even a fixed residence. What remained unchanged throughout his travels around the world was his broad-minded concern for the country and its people. In Du Fu, in addition to his positive worldly spirit of never forgetting the common people of his country despite his many ups and downs, there is also the opposite element of recluse, the Taoist thought. In history, Du Fu has received recognition from two aspects. The rulers need such a "poetic saint" who "never forgets the king for a meal", and the people welcome such a poet who is connected with them. This makes it difficult for us to comment. This further illustrates the richness and complexity of Du's poetry. "Most of the reclusive thoughts of ancient Chinese scholar-bureaucrats were caused by their inability to use the world, and their emergence followed such a trajectory, that is, they turned from being incompetent to the world, and cynicism only increased their suffering in vain, so they turned to escaping from the world and even... Forgetting the world. This is manifested in philosophy as moving from Confucianism to Taoism. "[3] A person must be able to withstand blows, which is called "frustration education" in current terms. Du Fu is a person who can withstand blows. In the twenty-third year of Kaiyuan, Du Fu returned to Gong County from Wuyue and then to Chang'an to take the exam.
At this time, he had already considered himself "reading thousands of volumes and writing like a god", and he cherished the desire to help the world. I hope I can pass the exam, but I still failed. The harassment in the examination room did not have any impact on Du Fu. Just like what he wrote later when he was comforting others who failed, it was just that "it is not a loss to tread on the frost hooves for a while" ("Drunken Song"). This incident was recorded in "Zhuang You" written in his later years. Before taking the exam, Du Fu was very conceited, "Qi Pao Qu Jia Lei, short eyes Cao Liu Qiang", and he ignored all the great writers of the previous generation. . But he "disobeyed the test of merit". However, this was just a setback in his first attempt at success. He was not discouraged, but quickly picked himself up again. No matter what you do, a good attitude is important. A good attitude is an essential cornerstone of success. There is a popular saying nowadays: There is no failure in being young, as long as you show yourself. Perhaps it is precisely because of his youth that Du Fu has the valuable quality of not being surprised by changes and not being discouraged by defeat. If a person wants to survive in society, he must be flexible and adaptable. Looking at Du Fu's life, it is easy to give people the impression of accepting death, as if he was always a stubborn old man. Not really. Let’s look at the Four Rhymes of "Fengji Yi Farewells Yan Gong": "Farewell from far away, the green mountains are empty and the love is restored. When will the cup be heavy, we walked together with the moon last night. The counties eulogized the cherishment, and the three dynasties came and went with glory. Jiangcun returned to the place alone, lonely and nourished "Ban Sheng." Yan Gong, also known as Yan Wu, served as the governor of Jiannan twice. He was talented in literature and military strategy, and his character was similar to that of Du Fu. In April of the first year of Baoying, Su Zong died and Dai Zong ascended the throne. In June, Yan Wu was summoned and served for three consecutive dynasties. At this time, Du Fu gave a farewell poem. "Counties singing songs" and "three dynasties coming and going" were things that Du Fu had always dreamed about, but once he looked away, it was nothing. Du Fu did not write the broad-minded work "Don't listen to the sound of beating leaves in the forest, why not scream and walk slowly. The bamboo stick and mango shoes are lighter than the horse, who is afraid? You can live your whole life in the mist and rain." (Su Shi's "Ding Fengbo"), his broad-minded work There is also a wise side to the attitude towards life. A person's life must always be good at regulating himself, he must be able to advance and retreat, he must be able to function well and be able to serve the people, he must be able to be noble or humble. If you are always striving to make progress, your strings will always be stretched tight, and you will always collapse. Of course, going to the opposite won't do either. Confucianism and Taoism each have their own schools of thought. "Book of Rites·Miscellaneous Notes II" says: "If you relax without relaxing, you cannot be civilized and military. If you relax without stretching, you cannot be civilized and military." [5] This poem "Send Off Yan Gong Again" Although the description of his life is a bit sad and desolate, his mentality is good and correct, and he has a thorough understanding of life, so much so that he feels like returning to the countryside. In fact, Du Fu had long wanted to retire to his countryside. "During the ten years he was trapped in Chang'an, two contradictory themes were mainly intertwined in Du Fu's heart or poems: one was to actively strive for success, hoping that the powerful would improve him; the other was to escape from the world and go to the world. Live a secluded life away from politics." [3] Du Fu failed twice, and the nature was different. The first time was due to poor performance, which was an accidental factor. The second time, he was a victim of the "Wild Man" conspiracy, which was an inevitable factor. After being trapped in Chang'an for ten years, the results of seeking an official position were mediocre, and in particular, he had to suffer humiliation that was unimaginable to those who had not experienced it. This was a psychological pressure for a scholar with strong self-esteem. Works such as "Drunk Song", "White Silk Walk", "Poor Friendship Walk" and other works are all descriptions of the psychological state during this period. Full of economics but unable to find a place to put it to use, his aggressive ambition to help the world was repeatedly frustrated. Depression and anger often made Du Fu think of retreating into seclusion. In the second year of the Yingzhi Examination, Du Fu stated in "Twenty-Two Rhymes to Wei Zuo Chengzhang" that he "want to go east to the sea now, and will go west to Qin" and to go through "the white gull is not so majestic, who can tame it thousands of miles away" Retirement life. In addition, there are also "Chongguo He Shi" Part 5, "Qujiang Three Chapters and Five Sentences" Part 3, "Xuandu Tan Song Sent to Yuan Yiren", "Qiaoling Poem Thirty Rhymes Presented to All Officials in the County", etc. All reveal their reclusive thoughts. We can use the time when Du Fu went to Chang'an to study in the sixth year of Tianbao (7477) as a boundary to divide Du Fu's reclusive thoughts throughout his life into two stages. Du Fu's early thoughts of seeking immortality and seclusion were mainly Taoist. The reason was that he was influenced by Li Bai, a Taoist who was very enthusiastic about Taoism. Du Fu's first step in seclusion was to enter the Taoist road of refining elixirs and seeking immortality. The elements of Taoism in Du Fu's later hermit thoughts decreased and the elements of Buddhism increased. After entering Shu, the number of poems expressing his desire to convert to Buddhism increased significantly. Brother Jianqiu"), he had more contacts with Shizi. He was willing to be indifferent and not to be enslaved by things. When he arrived in a new place, he often went to visit the local eminent monks. "The visit to the temple can end at the end" ("Hui Chu"), and he often lingered and forgot to leave. Du Fu's thought of retreat is very prominent in Longyou's poems. Although Longyou's poems are filled with sad and melancholy colors, as long as he talks about hermits and seclusion, the poet can't help but express a deep yearning and reveal a relaxed mood. These are enough to show that Du Fu's attitude towards life is diverse, and also reflect the complexity and diversity of Du Fu's poetry.