This is related to the poet's character. Li Bai comes from a good family, and he is bohemian, even though he is unappreciated for his talents, he still comforts himself. He is also proud, knows how to drink, has high emotional intelligence, and has the ability to be romantic and elegant. Du Fu is a realist poet with a pure heart who cares about the country and the people. He always thinks that his talents can serve the country and change the current situation of the country. However, the changes of the times have led to long-term depression in life.
Du Fu’s experience was also different from that of Li Bai. Although they lived in the same era, Li Bai was in the early stage and Du Fu was in the later stage. Li Bai lived in the prosperous age and Du Fu lived during the An-Shi Rebellion. Their personalities were also different. If Du Fu saw others starving while eating, he would not be able to eat, while Li Bai would eat more deliciously. On the contrary, Du Fu would eat better during the An-Shi Rebellion. Even though he could not live well enough, he could still write poems that were thoughtful of the suffering people in thousands of houses. However, due to the Maweipo Incident, Li Bai was implicated in his relationship with Yang Guifei and was sent away. He felt very depressed. The new emperor ascended the throne. When he was pardoned, he was able to write the poem "Chaoci Baidi Caiyunjian", which shows that he only cares about himself and does not care about the character of others, because this was the time when the Anshi Rebellion was at its worst, and the people were fleeing everywhere and had no food to eat, but he could turn a blind eye.
Du Fu and Li Bai were in the same dynasty and the same generation, and they were still good friends, but they had one thing in common: they both experienced the Anshi Rebellion. Du Fu is also a man of integrity, but he doesn't know how to adapt. Li Bai can pretend to be crazy and act stupid, playing games in Zifen piles, reciting poems without wine, and gaining the reputation of poetry immortal and wine saint. Holy, there is no money to eat and drink. Du Fu can only stay with the beggars to escape chaos and save his life. To sum up, he is like a pine, his head is bowed under the weight of snow, and his waist will break due to stiffness.
Du's experience was worse. His family was in decline by the time he arrived, but the reality was that his Buddhist scriptures in the second half of his life were much stronger than those of ordinary Xiangkun landlords. Du Fu lived in the troubled times of the Anshi Rebellion and wandered around. Looking at the Du Fu Thatched Cottage in Santai, Chengdu, you can understand the hardships of his life. Li Bai lived earlier than Du Fu in the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty. The politics were stable and he was included in the upper class society, so he naturally lived a comfortable life. Posthumous names and past events are also the difference between poetry immortals and poetry saints. Li Bai was born into a well-off family and lived during the prosperous period of the Tang Dynasty. Moreover, Li Bai was not very successful, so he had to put his feelings in poetry.