1. Li Bai belongs to romanticism, and Du Fu belongs to critical realism.
Li Bai's poems have their own characteristics and varied styles. It is difficult to summarize his styles in different periods with the word "elegant". Before and after leaving Shu, Li Bai traveled to various places and was deeply influenced by Taoist thought. His poems had an obvious "elegant" style. Once he entered Chang'an, he suffered setbacks, but he did not lose hope. His poetic style was bold and unrestrained, and his emotions were passionate. He repeatedly sang about his talent. Must be used; after entering Chang'an for the second time, Li Bai's official career was bumpy, the state was in decline, and the people were in dire straits. His poetic style gradually approached the reality of Jinzhong, and his boldness was full of melancholy feelings of concern for the country and the people; when Yelang was exiled in his later years, Li Bai mostly expressed his feelings in the style of decline, resentment and sorrow, exposing reality and lashing out at society, and his poetic style obviously turned tragic.
Du Fu's poetic style was formed during the Anshi Rebellion and gradually took shape in the suffering. Du Fu went deep into society and was concerned about politics and people's livelihood, and attached great importance to realism. He shoulders the heavy responsibility for the mission of Jinzhong Window to the country and the nation and faithfully depicts the appearance of the times and his own inner feelings. Du Fu's artistic style is melancholy and frustrated. From the middle Tang Dynasty to the Song Dynasty, Du Fu's realistic style was inherited. In particular, Du Fu regarded the Jiangxi Poetry School of Song Dynasty as its ancestor. His influence was huge.
2. The most fundamental difference in Li Du’s creations, simply put, lies in the different attitudes towards subjectivity and objectivity. In Wang Guowei's words, Li Bai is a "subjective poet" and Du Fu is an "objective poet". Du Fu is good at objective description. His representative works are narrative poems, and his lyric poems also have an objective color.
Li Bai is good at self-expression, most of which are lyric poems, and his narrative poems also have a lyrical color. His poems always focus on "self", emphasizing and enhancing the role of the subject to the extent of controlling and conquering the object (the object of description). For example: "The Road to Shu is Difficult". The poet repeatedly chants "the road to Shu is difficult, and it is difficult to reach the sky", which is intended to imply the existence of the poet's image everywhere.
The social content of Du Fu's poems is directly presented through a real and vivid picture of social life. Therefore, it is easy for people to recognize. The image of Li Bai's poetry is mainly the poet himself, rather than objective social life, so his social content is not easy for people to recognize.