Life

Traditional Chinese literary criticism emphasized the life of the author when interpreting a work, a practice which the American scholar Burton Watson attributed to "the close links that traditional Chinese thought posits between art and morality". Since many of Du Fu's poems feature morality and history, this practice is particularly important. Another reason, identified by the Chinese historian William Hung, is that Chinese poems are typically concise, omitting context that might be relevant, but which an informed contemporary could be assumed to know. For modern Western readers, "The less accurately we know the time, the place and the circumstances in the background, the more liable we are to imagine it incorrectly, and the result will be that we either misunderstand the poem or fail to understand it altogether". Stephen Owen suggests a third factor particular to Du Fu, arguing that the variety of the poet's work required consideration of his whole life, rather than the "reductive" categorizations used for more limited poets.

Early years

Most of what is known of Du Fu's life comes from his poems. His paternal grandfather was Du Shenyan, a noted politician and poet during the reign of Empress Wu Zetian (r. 690–705). Du Fu was born in 712; the exact birthplace is unknown, except that it was near Luoyang, Henan province (Gong county is a favourite candidate). In later life, he considered himself to belong to the capital city of Chang'an, ancestral hometown of the Du family.

Du Fu's mother died shortly after he was born, and he was partially raised by his aunt. He had an elder brother, who died young. He also had three half brothers and one half sister, to whom he frequently refers in his poems, although he never mentions his stepmother.

The son of a minor scholar-official, his youth was spent on the standard education of a future civil servant: study and memorisation of the Confucian classics of philosophy, history and poetry. He later claimed to have produced creditable poems by his early teens, but these have been lost.

In the early 730s, he travelled in the Jiangsu/Zhejiang area; his earliest surviving poem, describing a poetry contest, is thought to date from the end of this period, around 735.

In that year, he took the Imperial examination, likely in Chang'an. He failed, to his surprise and that of centuries of later critics. Hung concludes that he probably failed because his prose style at the time was too dense and obscure, while Chou suggests his failure to cultivate connections in the capital may have been to blame. After this failure, he went back to traveling, this time around Shandong and Hebei.

His father died around 740. Du Fu would have been allowed to enter the civil service because of his father's rank, but he is thought to have given up the privilege in favour of one of his half brothers. He spent the next four years living in the Luoyang area, fulfilling his duties in domestic affairs.

In the autumn of 744, he met Li Bai (Li Po) for the first time, and the two poets formed a friendship. David Young describes this as "the most significant formative element in Du Fu's artistic development" because it gave him a living example of the reclusive poet-scholar life to which he was attracted after his failure in the civil service exam. The relationship was somewhat one-sided, however. Du Fu was by some years the younger, while Li Bai was already a poetic star. We have twelve poems to or about Li Bai from the younger poet, but only one in the other direction. They met again only once, in 745.

In 746, he moved to the capital in an attempt to resurrect his official career. He took the civil service exam a second time during the following year, but all the candidates were failed by the prime minister (apparently in order to prevent the emergence of possible rivals). He never again attempted the examinations, instead petitioning the emperor directly in 751, 754 and probably again in 755. He married around 752, and by 757 the couple had had five children—three sons and two daughters—but one of the sons died in infancy in 755. From 754 he began to have lung problems (probably asthma), the first of a series of ailments which dogged him for the rest of his life. It was in that year that Du Fu was forced to move his family due to the turmoil of a famine brought about by massive floods in the region.

In 755, he received an appointment as Registrar of the Right Commandant's office of the Crown Prince's Palace. Although this was a minor post, in normal times it would have been at least the start of an official career. Even before he had begun work, however, the position was swept away by events.

War

The An Lushan Rebellion began in December 755, and was not completely suppressed for almost eight years. It caused enormous disruption to Chinese society: the census of 754 recorded 52.9 million people, but ten years later, the census counted just 16.9 million, the remainder having been displaced or killed.

During this time, Du Fu led a largely itinerant life unsettled by wars, associated famines and imperial displeasure. This period of unhappiness was the making of Du Fu as a poet: Eva Shan Chou has written that, "What he saw around him—the lives of his family, neighbors, and strangers– what he heard, and what he hoped for or feared from the progress of various campaigns—these became the enduring themes of his poetry". Even when he learned of the death of his youngest child, he turned to the suffering of others in his poetry instead of dwelling upon his own misfortunes. Du Fu wrote:

In 756, Emperor Xuanzong was forced to flee the capital and abdicate. Du Fu, who had been away from the city, took his family to a place of safety and attempted to join the court of the new emperor (Suzong), but he was captured by the rebels and taken to Chang'an. In the autumn, his youngest son, Du Zongwu (Baby Bear), was born. Around this time Du Fu is thought to have contracted malaria.

He escaped from Chang'an the following year, and was appointed Reminder when he rejoined the court in May 757. This post gave access to the emperor but was largely ceremonial. Du Fu's conscientiousness compelled him to try to make use of it: he caused trouble for himself by protesting the removal of his friend and patron Fang Guan on a petty charge. He was arrested but was pardoned in June. He was granted leave to visit his family in September, but he soon rejoined the court and on 8 December 757, he returned to Chang'an with the emperor following its recapture by government forces. However, his advice continued to be unappreciated, and in the summer of 758 he was demoted to a post as Commissioner of Education in Huazhou. The position was not to his taste: in one poem, he wrote:

He moved on in the summer of 759; this has traditionally been ascribed to famine, but Hung believes that frustration is a more likely reason. He next spent around six weeks in Qinzhou (now Tianshui, Gansu province), where he wrote more than sixty poems.

Chengdu

In December 759, he briefly stayed in Tonggu (modern Gansu). He departed on 24 December for Chengdu (Sichuan province), where he was hosted by local Prefect and fellow poet Pei Di. Du subsequently based himself in Sichuan for most of the next five years. By the autumn of that year he was in financial trouble, and sent poems begging help to various acquaintances. He was relieved by Yan Wu, a friend and former colleague who was appointed governor general at Chengdu. Despite his financial problems, this was one of the happiest and most peaceful periods of his life. Many of Du's poems from this period are peaceful depictions of his life at Du Fu Thatched Cottage.

In 762, he left the city to escape a rebellion, but he returned in summer 764 when he was appointed an advisor to Yan, who was involved in campaigns against the Tibetan Empire.

Last years

Luoyang, the region of his birthplace, was recovered by government forces in the winter of 762, and in the spring of 765 Du Fu and his family sailed down the Yangtze, apparently with the intention of making their way there. They traveled slowly, held up by his ill-health (by this time he was suffering from poor eyesight, deafness and general old age in addition to his previous ailments). They stayed in Kuizhou (in what is now Baidicheng, Chongqing) at the entrance to the Three Gorges for almost two years from late spring 766. This period was Du Fu's last great poetic flowering, and here he wrote 400 poems in his dense, late style.

In autumn 766, Bo Maolin became governor of the region: he supported Du Fu financially and employed him as his unofficial secretary.

In March 768, he resumed his journey and got as far as Hunan province, where he died in Tanzhou (now Changsha) in November or December 770, in his 58th year. He was survived by his wife and two sons, who remained in the area for some years at least. His last known descendant is a grandson who requested a grave inscription for the poet from Yuan Zhen in 813.

Hung summarises his life by concluding that, "He appeared to be a filial son, an affectionate father, a generous brother, a faithful husband, a loyal friend, a dutiful official, and a patriotic subject."

Below is an example of one of Du Fu's later works, To My Retired Friend Wei. Like many other poems in the Tang it featured the theme of a long parting between friends, which was often due to officials being frequently transferred to the provinces:

Health

Du Fu is the first person in the historical record identified as a diabetic patient. In his later years, he suffered from diabetes and pulmonary tuberculosis, and died on board a ship on the Yangtze River, aged 58 years old.

Works

Criticism of Du Fu's works has focused on his strong sense of history, his moral engagement, and his technical excellence.

History

Since the Song dynasty, critics have called Du Fu the "poet saint" (, shī shèng). The most directly historical of his poems are those commenting on military tactics or the successes and failures of the government, or the poems of advice which he wrote to the emperor. Indirectly, he wrote about the effect of the times in which he lived on himself, and on the ordinary people of China. As Watson notes, this is information "of a kind seldom found in the officially compiled histories of the era".

Du Fu's political comments are based on emotion rather than calculation: his prescriptions have been paraphrased as, "Let us all be less selfish, let us all do what we are supposed to do". Since his views were impossible to disagree with, his forcefully expressed truisms enabled his installation as the central figure of Chinese poetic history.

Moral engagement

A second favourite epithet of Chinese critics is that of "poet sage" (, shī shèng), a counterpart to the philosophical sage, Confucius. One of the earliest surviving works, The Song of the Wagons (from around 750), gives voice to the sufferings of a conscript soldier in the imperial army and a clear-sighted consciousness of suffering. These concerns are continuously articulated in poems on the lives of both soldiers and civilians produced by Du Fu throughout his life.

Although Du Fu's frequent references to his own difficulties can give the impression of an all-consuming solipsism, Hawkes argues that his "famous compassion in fact includes himself, viewed quite objectively and almost as an afterthought". He therefore "lends grandeur" to the wider picture by comparing it to "his own slightly comical triviality".

Du Fu's compassion, for himself and for others, was part of his general broadening of the scope of poetry: he devoted many works to topics which had previously been considered unsuitable for poetic treatment. Zhang Jie wrote that for Du Fu, "everything in this world is poetry", Du wrote extensively on subjects such as domestic life, calligraphy, paintings, animals, and other poems.

Technical excellence

Du Fu's work is notable above all for its range. Chinese critics traditionally used the term (jídàchéng, "complete symphony"), a reference to Mencius' description of Confucius. Yuan Zhen was the first to note the breadth of Du Fu's achievement, writing in 813 that his predecessor, "united in his work traits which previous men had displayed only singly". He mastered all the forms of Chinese poetry: Chou says that in every form he "either made outstanding advances or contributed outstanding examples". Furthermore, his poems use a wide range of registers, from the direct and colloquial to the allusive and self-consciously literary. This variety is manifested even within individual works: Owen identifies the, "rapid stylistic and thematic shifts" in poems which enable the poet to represent different facets of a situation, while Chou uses the term "juxtaposition" as the major analytical tool in her work. Du Fu is noted for having written more on poetics and painting than any other writer of his time. He wrote eighteen poems on painting alone, more than any other Tang poet. Du Fu's seemingly negative commentary on the prized horse paintings of Han Gan ignited a controversy that has persisted to the present day.

The tenor of his work changed as he developed his style and adapted to his surroundings ("chameleon-like" according to Watson): his earliest works are in a relatively derivative, courtly style, but he came into his own in the years of the rebellion. Owen comments on the "grim simplicity" of the Qinzhou poems, which mirrors the desert landscape; the works from his Chengdu period are "light, often finely observed"; while the poems from the late Kuizhou period have a "density and power of vision".

Although he wrote in all poetic forms, Du Fu is best known for his lǜshi, a type of poem with strict constraints on form and content, for example:

About two thirds of Du Fu's 1500 extant works are in this form, and he is generally considered to be its leading exponent. His best lǜshi use the parallelisms required by the form to add expressive content rather than as mere technical restrictions. Hawkes comments that, "it is amazing that Tu Fu is able to use so immensely stylized a form in so natural a manner".

Influence

According to the Encyclopædia Britannica, Du Fu's writings are considered by many literary critics to be among the greatest of all time, and it states "his dense, compressed language makes use of all the connotative overtones of a phrase and of all the intonational potentials of the individual word, qualities that no translation can ever reveal."

In his lifetime and immediately following his death, Du Fu was not greatly appreciated. In part this can be attributed to his stylistic and formal innovations, some of which are still "considered extremely daring and bizarre by Chinese critics." There are few contemporary references to him—only eleven poems from six writers—and these describe him in terms of affection, but not as a paragon of poetic or moral ideals. Du Fu is also poorly represented in contemporary anthologies of poetry.

However, as Hung notes, he "is the only Chinese poet whose influence grew with time", and his works began to increase in popularity in the ninth century. Early positive comments came from Bai Juyi, who praised the moral sentiments of some of Du Fu's works (although he found these in only a small fraction of the poems), and from Han Yu, who wrote a piece defending Du Fu and Li Bai on aesthetic grounds from attacks made against them. Both these writers showed the influence of Du Fu in their own poetic work. By the beginning of the 10th century, Wei Zhuang constructed the first replica of his thatched cottage in Sichuan.

It was in the 11th century, during the Northern Song era that Du Fu's reputation reached its peak. In this period a comprehensive re-evaluation of earlier poets took place, in which Wang Wei, Li Bai and Du Fu came to be regarded as representing respectively the Buddhist, Daoist and Confucian strands of Chinese culture. At the same time, the development of Neo-Confucianism ensured that Du Fu, as its poetic exemplar, occupied the paramount position. Su Shi famously expressed this reasoning when he wrote that Du Fu was "preeminent ... because ... through all his vicissitudes, he never for the space of a meal forgot his sovereign". His influence was helped by his ability to reconcile apparent opposites: political conservatives were attracted by his loyalty to the established order, while political radicals embraced his concern for the poor. Literary conservatives could look to his technical mastery, while literary radicals were inspired by his innovations. Since the establishment of the People's Republic of China, Du Fu's loyalty to the state and concern for the poor have been interpreted as embryonic nationalism and socialism, and he has been praised for his use of simple, "people's language".

Du Fu's popularity grew to such an extent that it is as hard to measure his influence as that of Shakespeare in England: it was hard for any Chinese poet not to be influenced by him. While there was never another Du Fu, individual poets followed in the traditions of specific aspects of his work: Bai Juyi's concern for the poor, Lu You's patriotism, and Mei Yaochen's reflections on the quotidian are a few examples. More broadly, Du Fu's work in transforming the lǜshi from mere word play into "a vehicle for serious poetic utterance" set the stage for every subsequent writer in the genre.

In the 20th century, he was the favourite poet of Kenneth Rexroth, who has described him as "the greatest non-epic, non-dramatic poet who has survived in any language", and commented that, "he has made me a better man, as a moral agent and as a perceiving organism".

Influence on Japanese literature

Du Fu's poetry has made a profound impact on Japanese literature, especially on the literature from the Muromachi period and on scholars and poets in the Edo period, including Matsuo Bashō, the very greatest of all haiku poets. Even in modern Japanese, the term is mostly synonymous with Du Fu.

Until the 13th century, the Japanese preferred Bai Juyi above all poets and there were few references to Du Fu, although his influence can be seen in some kanshi ("Chinese poetry made by Japanese poets") anthologies such as Bunka Shūreishū in the 9th century. The first notable Japanese appreciator of Du Fu's poetry was Kokan Shiren (1278–1346), a Rinzai Zen patriarch and one of the most prominent authors of the literature of the Five Mountains; he highly praised Du Fu and made a commentary on some poems of Du Fu from the perspective of a Zen priest in Vol. 11 of Saihokushū. His student Chūgan Engetsu composed many kanshi which were clearly stated "influenced by Du Fu" in their prefaces. Chūgan's student Gidō Shūshin had close connection with the Court and Ashikaga Shogunate and propagated Du Fu's poetry in the mundane world; one day Nijō Yoshimoto, the Kampaku regent of the Court and the highest authority of renga poetry, asked Gidō, "Should I learn the poetry of Du Fu and Li Bai?" Gidō dared to reply, "Yes if you do have enough capability. No if do not." Since then, there had been many seminars on Du Fu's poetry both in Zen temples and in the aristocratic society, and as a result his poetry was often cited in Japanese literature in the Muromachi period, e.g., Taiheiki, a historical epic in the late 14th century, and some noh plays such as Hyakuman, Bashō, and Shunkan.

During the Kan'ei era of the Edo period (1624–1643), Shào Chuán (邵傳) of the Ming Dynasty's was imported into Japan, and it gained explosive popularity in Confucian scholars and chōnin (townspeople) class. The commentary established Du Fu's fame as the highest of all poets; for instance, Hayashi Shunsai, a notable Confucian scholar, commented in Vol. 37 of Gahō Bunshū that Zǐměi Fu was the very best poet in history and praised Shào Chuán's commentary for its simplicity and readability, while he criticized old commentaries during the Yuan Dynasty were too unfathomable. Matsuo Bashō, the greatest haiku poet, was also strongly influenced by Du Fu; in Oku no Hosomichi, his masterpiece, he cites the first two lines of A Spring View (春望) before a haiku as its introduction and also many of his other haiku have similar wording and themes. It is said that when he died in Osaka during a long travel, a copy of Du Fu's poetry was found with him as one of a few precious items which he was able to carry around.

Translation

A variety of styles have been used in efforts to translate Du Fu's work into English. As Burton Watson remarks in The Selected Poems of Du Fu, "There are many different ways to approach the problems involved in translating Du Fu, which is why we need as many different translations as possible" (p. xxii). The translators have had to contend with bringing out the formal constraints of the original without sounding laboured to a Western ear (particularly when translating regulated verse, or lǜshi), and accommodating the complex allusions contained particularly in the later works (Hawkes writes that "his poems do not as a rule come through very well in translation"—p. ix). One extreme on each issue is represented by Kenneth Rexroth's One Hundred Poems From the Chinese. His are free translations, which seek to conceal the parallelisms through enjambement and expansion and contraction of the content; his responses to the allusions are firstly to omit most of these poems from his selection, and secondly to "translate out" the references in those works which he does select. Arthur Cooper also translated selected poems of Du Fu and Li Bai, which were published under the Penguin Classics imprint.

Other translators have placed much greater weight on trying to convey a sense of the poetic forms used by Du Fu. Vikram Seth in Three Chinese Poets uses English-style rhyme schemes, whereas Keith Holyoak in Facing the Moon approximates the Chinese rhyme scheme; both use end-stopped lines and preserve some degree of parallelism. In The Selected Poems of Du Fu, Burton Watson follows the parallelisms quite strictly, persuading the western reader to adapt to the poems rather than vice versa. Similarly, he deals with the allusion of the later works by combining literal translation with extensive annotation.

In 2015, Stephen Owen published annotated translations, with facing Chinese texts, of the complete poetry of Du Fu in six volumes.

生平

杜甫家族出于襄陽杜氏，是京兆杜氏的分支、西晉軍事家杜預的後裔。家族自襄陽徙居于河南鞏縣（今河南省鞏義市）。杜甫對他顯赫的先世有描述，有「同學少年多不賤，五陵衣馬自輕肥」的詩篇留下。

杜甫自稱為晉朝當陽侯杜預的「十三葉孫」（參見祭遠祖當陽君文）。傳世文獻對杜預之後世系有分歧，《元和姓纂·卷六·杜》稱他為杜預「少子」杜耽之後。《古今姓氏書辯証·卷二十四·杜》稱他為杜預「幼子」杜尹之後。岑仲勉考証杜甫為杜耽之後，且為杜預十四世孫。胡可先根據杜甫叔父杜並墓誌所記載的先祖及相關，認為杜耽之說的杜甫世系，在杜乾光幾世之前缺失一世，排列如下：

• 十二世祖：杜預

• 十一世祖：杜耽

• 某世祖：杜顧

• 某世祖：杜遜（遷居襄陽）

• 七世祖：杜乾光，齊司徒右長史。

• 六世祖：杜漸，梁邊城太守。

• 五世祖：杜叔毗，北周硤州刺史。

• 高祖：杜魚石，隋朝河內郡（懷州）司功、獲嘉縣令。

• 曾祖：杜依藝，唐朝雍州司法、洛州鞏縣令。

• 祖父：杜審言，洛州洛陽縣丞、吉州司戶參軍、膳部員外郎。

杜甫的外祖父母均為李唐皇室之後，杜甫外祖父之母是唐高祖之外孫女。杜甫外祖母之父是唐太宗與韋貴妃之孫；杜甫外祖母之母是唐太宗與韋貴妃之外孫女。

早年

杜甫早年的生活情況歷史對其知之甚少。杜甫生于唐明皇先天元年（712年）2月12日，出生地沒有具體記載，一派學者認為在鞏縣瑤灣，也有人推論為洛陽。杜甫的祖父杜審言是武則天時期的知名政治家暨詩人，新唐書本傳稱「（審言）少與李嶠、崔融、蘇味道為文章四友，世號『崔、李、蘇、杜』」，父杜閒，官至兗州（今屬山東）司馬、奉天（今陝西乾縣）縣令，審言生閒，閒生甫。母清河崔氏早亡，父閒續娶范陽盧氏。從二姑居于洛陽，九歲時即文名震東都。一兄早夭，有異母弟三，異母妹一，常見于其詩。惟繼母未見諸筆端，任憑後人臆測。

杜甫自小好學，七歲能作詩，「七齡思即壯，開口詠鳳凰」，有志於「致君堯舜上，再使風俗淳」，自稱「憶年十五心尚孩，健如黃犢走複來。庭前八月梨棗熟，一日上樹能千回」。因有神童之目，遂至「李邕求識面，王翰願卜鄰」。

出遊

杜甫在青年的時代曾數次漫遊。十九歲的時候，他出遊郇瑕（今山西猗氏縣）。二十歲的時候，漫遊吳越，歷時數年。開元二十三年（735年），回鞏縣參加「鄉貢」。二十四年在洛陽參加進士考試，結果落第。他的父親時任兗州司馬，杜甫遂赴兗州省親，開始齊趙之游。這一次出遊即是快活愜意，這段時間主要是打獵與唱歌：「放蕩齊趙間，裘馬頗輕狂。春歌叢台上，冬獵青丘旁。」開元二十九年，他返回洛陽，築室首陽山下。約在此時，與司農少卿楊怡的女兒結婚了。天寶三載（744年）四月，杜甫在洛陽與被唐玄宗賜金放還的李白相遇，兩人相約為梁宋之游。後，杜甫又到齊州（今山東濟南）。四載秋，轉赴兗州與李白相會，二人一同尋仙訪道，談詩論文，結下了「醉眠秋共被，攜手日同行」的深厚友誼。秋末，二人握手相別，杜甫結束了「放蕩齊趙間，裘馬頗清狂」，「快意八九年，西歸到咸陽」的齊趙之游。其時，正當開元全盛，到處一派昇平，杜甫這一段時期的情感傾入詩中，豪放而自負，熾熱而奔放，明朗而開闊。這是杜甫早期詩歌藝術的特點。

入仕

天寶六載，玄宗詔天下「通一藝者」到長安應試，杜甫也參加了考試。由于權相李林甫編導了一場「野無遺賢」的鬧劇，參加考試的士子全部落選。科舉之路既不通，杜甫為實現自己的政治理想，不得不轉走權貴之門，投贈幹謁等，但都無結果。他客居長安十年，奔走獻賦，鬱鬱不得志，仕途失意，過著貧困的生活，「舉進士不中第，困長安」。天寶十載正月，玄宗將舉行祭祀太清宮、太廟和天地的三大盛典，杜甫于是在天寶九載冬天預獻三《大禮賦》，得到玄宗的賞識，命待制在集賢院，然而僅得「參列選序」資格，等候分配，因主試者仍為李林甫所以沒有得到官職。直到十四載，才得授一個河西尉的小官，但杜甫不願意任此官職，稱「不作河西尉，淒涼為折腰」，朝廷就將之改任右衛率府兵曹參軍（低階官職，負責看守兵甲器杖，管理門禁鎖鑰）。杜甫因已年四十四，至長安也十年有餘，為生計而接受了這所學無用之職。十一月，杜甫往奉先省家，甫入門即聞哭泣，原為稚子餓死。就長安十年的感受和沿途見聞，寫成著名的《自京赴奉先縣詠懷五百字》。

流離

就在這個月，「安史之亂」爆發。第二年六月，潼關失守，玄宗倉皇逃往成都。七月，太子李亨即位于靈武，是為肅宗。這時，杜甫已將家搬到鄜州（今陝西富縣）羌村避難，他聽說了肅宗即位，立即在八月隻身北上，投奔靈武，途中不幸為叛軍俘虜，押至長安，同被俘的王維被嚴加看管，但因官小，未予囚禁。詩人目睹國家的殘破以及叛軍的殘暴，感時傷事，寫下了《春望》、《哀江頭》、《哀王孫》等不朽詩篇。至德二載（757年）四月，郭子儀大軍來到長安北方，杜甫冒險從城西金光門逃出長安穿過對峙的兩軍到鳳翔（今陝西鳳翔)投奔肅宗，「麻鞋見天子，衣袖露兩肘」。五月十六日，被肅宗授為左拾遺，故世稱「杜拾遺」。不料杜甫很快因營救房琯，觸怒肅宗，詔三司推問，幸賴宰相張鎬救免。十二月肅宗召回杜甫復任左拾遺。天寶十七載，五月，賀蘭進明陷害房琯，杜甫遭株連，從此受到肅宗的疏遠。閏八月，敕放鄖州省家。乾元元年（758年）六月，被貶華州司功參軍，從此永遠離開朝廷。

當年冬，杜甫由華州赴洛陽。二年春，返回華州，正值唐軍九節度使鄴城戰役使郭子儀六十萬大軍潰敗，朝廷大肆抓丁以補充軍力，杜甫就沿途所見所感，寫成著名的組詩「三吏」「三別」。七月，杜甫棄官去秦州（今甘肅天水），開始了「支離東北風塵際，漂泊西南天地間」的人生苦旅。在漂泊的旅途中杜甫全家備嘗艱辛，一度瀕臨絕境。十月，缺衣少食的杜甫攜家離開秦州，南赴同谷（今甘肅成縣），想解決衣食之憂。不料到同谷後，生活狀況不僅沒有改善，反而完全陷入饑寒交迫的絕境之中。杜甫在詩歌中用字字血淚記錄下這段最為艱苦的歲月，「男兒生不成名身已老，三年飢走荒山道。長安卿相多少年，富貴應須致身早。山中儒生舊相識，但話宿昔傷懷抱。嗚呼七歌兮悄終曲，仰視皇天白日速」。

入蜀

十二月初，杜甫于無奈之下再次逃難，攜家離開同谷入蜀，于年底抵達成都，時任成都尹的嚴武是杜甫的好友，他給予了杜甫許多幫助，杜甫的生活開始安定，「武與甫世舊，待遇甚隆」。因為這一年之內奔波流離，不斷逃難，杜甫稱之為「奈何迫物累，一歲四行役」。上元元年（760年）春，杜甫一家在親友們的幫助下，於成都西郊浣花溪畔築茅屋而居，即為著名的成都杜甫草堂，杜甫送嚴武入朝至綿州（今四川綿陽）。因劍南兵馬使徐知道叛亂，被迫流寓梓州（今四川三台）、閬州（今四川閬中）一帶。唐代宗廣德元年（763年），朝廷召他為補京兆功曹，他卻不去任職。二年正月，嚴武再任職成都，幾次寫信希望杜甫回來。六月，嚴武表薦杜甫為節度參謀、檢校工部員外郎，故世又稱「杜工部」。

他和嚴武之間亦發生過矛盾。嚴武性格暴烈，《新唐書》記載有一次杜甫因醉酒對他不敬，說了一句「嚴挺之乃有此兒」而令他懷恨在心。一日欲將杜甫與梓州刺史章彞殺害，已經準備好人手，左右告訴其母之後杜甫才被救下，唯獨章彞被殺。《新唐書》說嚴武「最厚杜甫，然欲殺甫數矣」。

永泰元年（765）正月，杜甫退出嚴武的幕府。四月，嚴武病逝，杜甫失去依靠，于五月離開成都乘舟南下，經嘉州（今四川樂山）、戎州（今四川宜賓）、渝州（今重慶）、忠州（今重慶忠縣）至雲安（今重慶雲陽），次年暮春遷居夔州（今重慶奉節），甚至以船為家，「崔旰等亂，甫往來梓、夔間」，杜甫詩有「名豈文章著，官應老病休。飄飄何所似？天地一沙鷗」。杜甫居夔州近兩年，寫詩四百餘首。

去世

大曆三年（768年）正月，杜甫攜家出三峽，經江陵、公安，暮冬抵岳陽。之後，詩人漂泊湖南，貧病交加，瀕臨絕境。大曆五年（770年）冬，杜甫病死在湘江舟中，時年五十九歲。杜甫因「風疾」病逝。

杜甫的逝世至今都是學術界討論的一個話題。一些專家認為杜甫是因糖尿病而死，並在杜詩中找到證據，「我多長卿病，日久思朝廷。肺枯渴太甚，漂泊公孫城」。長卿病是指司馬相如患有的消渴症，即糖尿病。一說杜甫人在耒陽，為洪水所困，十餘日未進食，後來耒陽聶縣令雇小船來接他，並且贈送許多牛肉、白酒款待，杜甫一夜食盡，竟大飽而死，郭沫若據此認為杜甫是吃了「天熱肉腐」之物，因食物中毒而亡

。杜甫靈柩停厝在岳陽，唐憲宗元和八年（813年），由他的孫子杜嗣業移葬於河南首陽山下。但現有八座杜甫墓，分別位于河南鞏義市、河南偃師市、湖南省耒陽（今耒陽市）、平江縣等地。

詩歌

分期

杜甫詩歌現存1400多首，寫詩可分四個時期：

• 讀書和漫遊時期（三十五歲以前）：

:杜甫曾先後遊歷吳、越（今江浙一帶）和齊、趙（今山東北部、河北），其間曾赴洛陽應舉，不第。以後在洛陽遇李白，二人結下深厚友誼有詩贈李白，「余亦東蒙客，憐君如弟兄。醉眠秋共被，攜手日同行」，堪稱快意。繼而又遇高適，三人同游梁、宋（今開封、商丘）。後來李杜又到齊州，分手後又遇于東魯，可惜的是，由於兩人後半生際遇都相當坎坷，這次分別之後便沒有機會再見面了。

• 困居長安時期（三十五至四十四歲）：

:杜甫先在長安應試，落第。後來向皇帝獻賦，向貴人投贈，僅獲得少許資助，過著「朝扣富兒門，暮隨肥馬塵，殘杯與冷炙，到處潛悲辛」的生活，「然衣不蓋體，常寄食于人」，最後才得到右衛率府胄曹參軍的小官。這期間他寫了《兵車行》《麗人行》等批評時政、諷刺權貴的詩篇。而《自京赴奉先縣詠懷五百字》尤為著名，標誌著他經歷十年長安困苦生活後對朝廷政治、社會現實的認識達到了新的高度。

• 陷賊和為官時期（四十五至四十八歲）：

:安史之亂爆發，潼關失守，杜甫把家安置在一邊，獨自去投肅宗，中途為安史叛軍俘獲，押到長安。他面對混亂的長安，聽到官軍一再敗退的消息，寫成《月夜》《春望》《哀江頭》《悲陳陶》等詩。後來他潛逃到鳳翔行在，任職左拾遺。由于忠言直諫，上疏為宰相房琯事被貶華州司功參軍。其後，他用詩的形式把他的見聞真實地記錄下來，成為他不朽的作品，即「三吏」「三別」。

• 西南飄泊時期（四十八至五十九歲）：

:隨著九節度官軍在相州大敗和關輔饑荒，杜甫棄官，攜家隨人民逃難，經秦州、同谷等地，到了成都，在嚴武的幫助下，過了一段比較安定的生活。嚴武入朝，蜀中軍閥成都少尹兼御史徐知道作亂，他漂流到梓州、閬州。後返成都。嚴武死，他再度飄泊，在夔州住兩年，繼又漂流到湖北、湖南一帶，病死在湘江上。這時期，其作品有《絕句》《水檻遣心》《春夜喜雨》《茅屋為秋風所破歌》《病橘》《登樓》《蜀相》《聞官軍收河南河北》《又呈吳郎》《登高》《秋興》《三絕句》《歲晏行》等千餘首，佔全部杜詩的百分之七十以上，深刻地反映了唐代安史之亂前後20多年的社會全貌。

作品集

杜甫詩「有集六十卷」，早佚。北宋寶元二年（1039年）王洙輯有1405篇，編為18卷，題為《杜工部集》。錢謙益編有《箋註杜工部集》。楊倫說：「自六朝以來，樂府題率多模擬剽竊，陳陳相因，最為可厭。子美出而獨就當時所感觸，上憫國難，下痛民窮，隨意立題，盡脫去前人窠臼。」

特色

取材方面，杜甫是社會派詩人，趨向現實主義，內容廣泛，富時代性，取材於政治興亡，社會動亂，戰事徭役，飢餓貧窮和貧富懸殊。杜詩善於描寫當時歷史實況，反映唐代由盛轉衰的現況，故有「詩史」之稱。從安史之亂至入蜀之前，杜甫經歷了大時代的動亂，寫下大量的實錄式寫實名篇。其名篇中，特多寫實之作，如名作《麗人行》，反映上層社會的奢淫。融情入景，情景交融，創造出深刻動人之意境。

思想方面，杜詩中有儒家思想，洋溢著仁民愛物的情懷和濃烈愛國主義色彩，有「詩聖」之譽。杜詩善用理智去仔細觀察人生社會的實況，從自己的生活經驗去體會人民的苦樂，有強烈政治意識，繼承並發揚詩經、漢樂府民歌及建安文學的寫實精神。

手法方面，杜詩善寫人物對話和獨白，選取有典型意義的人物和事件來描寫。杜詩也善於抒情，結合抒情和敘事，又結合抒情和寫景，寄情於景。杜詩敘事注重客觀描述，讓故事本身直接感染讀者，而少發議論。

語言方面，杜甫寫作態度非常嚴肅。語言精煉，準確並時有創新，善於運用民間口語和方言俚諺入詩。形象生動，多姿多採。

體裁方面，杜甫作品眾體兼善，五七言古體、律詩絕句，無所不工。他往往用不同的詩體，表達不同的內容，敘事多用較少格律限制，便於鋪敘描寫的古體詩，抒情則多用近體詩。

杜甫大量創作七言律詩，作品內容廣泛，技巧純熟，注重聲律對仗，格律嚴謹，語言錘鍊，為歷代典範之作，達到極高的成就，使七律創作臻於成熟。他又開創「即事名篇」的新樂府詩，描寫社會的民生疾苦。

風格方面，杜詩主要風格是沉鬱頓挫，氣魄闊大雄偉，詩歌意象鮮明強烈。風格多樣，豐富多姿，或雄渾奔放，或清新細膩，或沉鬱悲涼、或辭藻富麗、或平易質樸、或通俗自然。杜詩融冶吸收前人藝術技巧，發展成一種獨特的新風格。

杜甫的詩歌在語言上，普遍認為具有「沉鬱」的特點，「沉鬱」一詞最早見于南朝，「體沉鬱之幽思，文麗日月」，後來杜甫更以「沉鬱頓挫」四字準確概括出他自己作品的語言，「至于沉鬱頓挫，隨時敏捷，而揚雄、枚皋之徒，庶可跂及也」。杜甫「對中興濟世的熱切，對淆亂乾坤的指斥，對橫行霸道的憤慨，對漂泊流離的悲傷，對生靈塗炭的悲憫，對物力衰竭的惋惜，對博施濟眾的讚美」，而正是這些沉重情感的表達，使得杜詩的語言趨于「沉鬱頓挫」。

吳沆《環溪詩話》評杜甫晚期詩句「恣肆變化、陽開陰合」，又云：「惟其意遠，舉上句，即人不能知下句」。吳沆又說：「凡人作詩，一句只說得一件事物，多說得兩件。杜詩一句能說得三件、四件、五件事物；常人作詩，但說得眼前，遠不過數十里內，杜詩一句能說數百里，能說兩軍州，能說滿天下，此其所為妙」。

杜甫的詩歌兼備多種風格的，元稹這樣評價杜甫：「至于子美，蓋所謂上薄風騷，下該沈、宋，言奪蘇、李，氣吞曹、劉，掩顏、謝之孤高，雜徐、庾之流麗，盡得古今之體勢，而兼人人之所獨專矣。」秦觀也有類似的看法：「于是杜子美者，窮高妙之格，極豪逸之氣，包衝淡之趣，兼俊潔之姿，備藻麗之態，而諸家之所不及焉。然不集眾家之長，杜氏亦不能獨至于斯也。」例如杜甫也有狂放不羈的一面，從其名作《飲中八仙歌》就可以看出杜甫的豪氣。「為人性僻耽佳句，語不驚人死不休」是他的創作風格。

唐代的大文學家韓愈曾把杜甫與李白並論說：「李杜文章在，光焰萬丈長」。唐末王叔文當永貞革新垂敗時，反覆吟誦杜詩「出師未捷身先死，長使英雄淚滿襟」以抒悲憤。王安石表彰杜詩「醜妍巨細千萬殊，竟莫見以何雕鎪」的成就。陳善《捫蝨新語》卷七：「老杜詩當是詩中《六經》，他人詩乃諸子之流也」。蔣士銓《忠雅堂文集》卷一《杜詩詳註集成序》亦稱「杜詩者，詩中之《四子書》也。」胡應麟在《詩藪》中說：「唯工部諸作，氣象巍峨，規模巨遠，當其神來境詣，錯綜幻化，不可端倪。千古以還，一人而已。」

杜甫的詩歌在格律上，具有鍊字精到，對仗工整的特點，符合中國詩歌的「建築美」，例如「風急天高猿嘯哀，渚清沙白鳥飛回，無邊落木蕭蕭下，不盡長江滾滾來」就是杜詩鍊字與對仗高超的體現。另外，在體裁上杜甫有許多創新，例如他在五七律上的創造性也是他文學創作的獨到之處。

杜詩有詩史之稱，這種說法最早見于晚唐，「杜逢祿山之難，流雍隴蜀，畢陳于詩，推見至隱，殆無遺事，故當號為詩史」。到宋時成定論，但詩史之義各有各說。人有以史事注杜詩，認為杜詩為紀實的詩，可以補史証史，所以稱為詩史。這種說法只重史事之虛實真假，而輕視詩的情感特性。另一說是，杜甫之所以號詩史，因其悲天憫人，感時傷事。

但也有不喜歡杜甫詩者，楊億就不喜歡杜甫，劉放《中山詩話》云：「楊大年不喜杜工部詩，謂為村夫子。」

影響

唐代

中、晚唐寫實詩人如張籍、白居易、元稹、杜荀鶴、曹鄴、皮日休均受杜詩影響。杜甫開創「即事名篇」的新樂府詩，描寫民生疾苦，下啟中唐新樂府運動。韓愈詩氣勢雄壯，沉雄博大、奇險生硬、拗折艱澀、喜以文為詩，乃受杜詩影響。李商隱詩濃麗沉鬱、氣象高遠、造語精工，亦受杜詩影響。

宋代孫僅《讀杜工部詩集序》說：「公之詩，支而為六家。孟郊得其氣焰，張籍得其簡麗，姚合得其清雅，賈島得其奇僻，杜牧、薛能得其豪健，陸龜蒙得其贍博。」

唐人學杜詩的較少，葉少蘊《石林詩話》說：「唐人學老杜，唯商隱一人而已。」王安石亦稱「唐人知學老杜而得其藩籬者，唯義山一人而已」。李調元《雨村詩話》認為：「學杜而處處規，此笨伯也，終身不得升其堂，況入其室。唐人升堂，惟李義山一人而已。」這在一定程度上是由他在風格和格律上的創新所導致的，某些評論家認為其中的有些作品仍然很大膽古怪。他在世時關于他的參考資料幾乎沒有，只有6名詩人共11首詩。而且這些詩關于他的影響這一方面，都沒有提及他是詩歌和倫理觀點的模範。

然而，就像洪業說的一樣，杜甫是「中國唯一影響隨著時間不斷增長的詩人」。公元九世紀時他的作品開始出名，早期的正面積極評價來自白居易，他推廣了杜甫部分作品倫理觀點，儘管他只在杜甫的部分作品中找到這些觀點。除了白居易，還有韓愈，他撰文以此批駁反對李杜的聲音，捍衛了他們的美學地位。同時，這兩位詩人的詩文中都有杜詩的影子。

杜甫的現實主義創作精神，自白居易後，影響了皮日休、曹鄴、聶夷中、杜荀鶴等人的創作，從而形成一個現實主義詩派，在晚唐的詩壇上獨領風騷。

宋代

宋初白話體詩人王禹偁評價杜甫說，「子美集開詩世界」。江西詩派的始祖黃庭堅詩宗杜甫，江西詩派有「一祖三宗」之說，「一祖」即為杜甫。江西詩派師法杜詩奇峭的一面，黃庭堅認為杜甫作詩，無一字無來處，而江西詩派亦要求字字有來歷。江西詩派亦喜用始於杜甫的拗體。

宋代黃庭堅、陳師道等，專門探究杜詩奇峭的一面，形成了「江西詩派」，之後的王安石、蘇軾、陸游、文天祥也都在一定程度上受到了杜甫的影響，文天祥在獄中作了200首集杜甫五言詩，自序裡說：「凡吾意所欲言者，子美先為代言之。」杜甫更廣泛的影響是，杜甫的作品將律詩從文字上的遊戲變成了抒發政治抱負的載體，對後來的詩人政治題材的寫作奠定了基礎。

海外

杜甫不只在中國流名，還揚名海外。1481年，朝鮮王朝將杜詩翻譯成韓文，叫《杜詩諺解》。他對日本文學影響相對較晚，直到十七世紀他在日本擁有和在中國一樣的名聲。杜甫對松尾芭蕉的影響尤深。杜甫也是美國作家雷克斯羅斯最喜歡的作家。

杜甫對後人的影響還有道德方面的。二十世紀，美國現代詩人雷克斯羅斯認為杜甫所關心的是人跟人之間的愛，人跟人之間的寬容和同情：「我的詩歌毫無疑問地主要受到杜甫的影響。我認為他是有史以來在史詩和戲劇以外的領域裡最偉大的詩人，在某些方面他甚至超過了莎士比亞和荷馬，至少他更加自然和親切。」

地位

杜甫在其有生之年以及去世後的一段時間，沒有受到多少嘉獎和重視，高仲武編《中興間氣集》專門選錄從肅宗到代宗末年這一時期的詩，竟未選錄杜詩。《河嶽英靈集》亦未選杜詩。今存唐人選唐詩十種選本中，除韋莊《又玄集》選杜甫七首詩外，其餘選本均不選杜詩。

公元十世紀初，五代詩人韋莊找到了草堂遺址，重新修建茅屋，所以得以保存。

到了宋朝，杜甫的聲名達到了頂峰，蘇軾首倡杜詩「集大成」說，其《書唐氏六家書後一首》詩云：「杜子美詩，格力天縱，奄有漢、魏、晉、宋以來風流。」。

宋朝理學的發展確保了杜甫作為詩的典範和他的至高無上的地位，蘇軾闡釋了理由：「古今詩人眾矣，而子美獨為首者，豈非以其流落饑寒，終身不用，而一飯未嘗忘君也歟！」他思考的能力鑄就了他的影響力，出于他對建立良好社會秩序的嚮往，他深受政治家的推崇，改革家也學習他對窮人的悲憫，文學家學習他在藝術手法上的創新。清初文學家金聖嘆，把杜甫所作之詩，與屈原的《離騷》、莊周的《莊子》、司馬遷的《史記》、施耐庵的《水滸傳》、王實甫的《西廂記》，合稱「六才子書」。在當代，杜甫對國家的忠心和對人民的關切被重新詮釋為民族主義和社會主義的含義，而他本人因為使用「人民的語言」而受到現代研究者的讚賞。

紀念建築

• 杜甫草堂，有二處，分別位于四川省成都市和甘肅省成縣，前者較著名。

• 杜甫江閣，位于湖南省長沙市。

• 杜甫故里，位于今河南省鞏義市。

• 少陵台，位于山東省兗州市。

• 杜公祠，位于陝西省西安市長安區少陵原畔。

• 全國現有八處杜甫墓

　• 杜甫陵園，位于河南省鞏義市城區西北5公里處的康店鎮康店村西部邙嶺上，占地34畝，有杜甫墓，及其長子杜宗文，次子杜宗武之墓。

　• 杜甫墓祠，位于湖南省平江縣安定鎮小田村。

注釋

參考

• 杜甫，2003，《杜工部集》 上海古籍出版社，上海市，ISBN 978-7-5325-3587-3

• 黃珅，2004，《杜甫心影錄》 中華書局，上海市，ISBN 978-7-101-03983-2

• 郭永榕，1996，《杜甫文學遊歷：杜少陵傳》 文史哲出版社，台北市，ISBN 978-957-549-023-2

• 曾棗莊，2001，《杜甫在四川》 學海出版社，深坑鄉，台北市，ISBN 978-957-614-183-6

• 蕭滌非，1983，《唐詩鑑賞辭典》 上海辭書出版社，上海市，ISBN 978-7-5326-1723-4

• 謝思煒，2005，《唐詩名家誦讀:杜甫詩》人民文學出版社，北京市，ISBN 978-7-02-005075-8

• 莫礪鋒，1998，《杜甫評傳——中國思想家評傳叢書》 南京大學出版社，江蘇省 ISBN 978-7-305-01797-1

• 華文軒，2001，《古典文學研究資料匯編·杜甫卷·上編》 中華書局 ，上海市 ISBN 978-7-101-02801-0

• 莫礪鋒，《杜甫的文化意義》（上，下），中央電視台《百家講壇》，2004年9月。

• 洪業著，曾祥波譯：《杜甫：中國最偉大的詩人》（上海：上海古籍出版社，2011）。

• 葉嘉瑩：《葉嘉瑩說杜甫詩》（北京：中華書局，2007）。

• 葉嘉瑩：〈杜甫詩在寫實中的象喻性〉。

• 葉嘉瑩：〈杜甫七律詩演進的幾個階段〉。

• 葉嘉瑩：〈談李白、杜甫的友誼和天才的寂寞〉。

• 馮至：《杜甫傳》（北京：人民文學出版社，1980）。

• 吉川幸次郎著，李寅生譯：《讀杜札記》（南京：鳳凰出版社，2011）。

• 倪豪士：〈過去與現在：對杜甫詩歌的個人解讀〉。

擴展閱讀

• McMullen, David L. "Recollection without Tranquility: Du Fu, the Imperial Gardens, and the State." (Archive) Asia Major (FR), vol. 14-2, 2001. p. 189-252.

• Motsch, Monika. "Slow Poison or Magic Carpet: The Du Fu Translations by Erwin Ritter von Zach." (Archive) In: Alleton, Vivianne and Michael Lackner (editors). De l'un au multiple: traductions du chinois vers les langues européennes Translations from Chinese into European Languages (EN, FR. Éditions de la maison des sciences de l'homme (Les Editions de la MSH, FR), 1999, Paris. p. 100-111. ISBN 978-2-7351-0768-1, 9782735107681.

外部鏈接

• 杜甫詩選全集共一千一百四十一首

• 杜甫

• 見證歷史的杜甫杜甫——生平事蹟

• 杜甫草堂