Integrated Humanities and Social Sciences Term 1 Portfolio Art as a reflection of society Appreciation of Chinese Art Tang Dynasty

y Poetry Du Fu Spring View

Names: Cally Tan Ying Tong Kwok Jing Hong Mebelle Aw Ying Ying Nicholas Sara Ann Class: G7 Contents: >Brief history of Du Fu >Why he was famous during his era >Description of the work of art (Spring View) >How this piece of art reflects its society back then

Brief history of Du Fu
Born into a scholarly family in 712 in Gongxian, Henan province, China. Du Fu received a traditional Confucian education. However, he failed in the imperial

civil service examinations in 735. As a result, he spent much of his youth travelling. During his travels, he won renown as a poet and met other poets of the Tang Dynasty period, including the great Li Bai. Unfortunately, he never met Li Bai again after his travels despite his strong admiration for him. Basically, he spent much of his life wandering and repeatedly attempting to gain court positions. His early poetry, which celebrates the natural world and bemoans the passage of time, caused him to be noticed among many people. He suffered periods of extreme personal hardship, and as he matured his poems began to express profound compassion for humanity. An expert in all the poetic genres of his day, he is renowned for his impressive classicism and skill in prosody. He was also master of the lshi, or "regulated verse" genre. He died 770, at the age of 58.

Why was Du Fu famous?

Du Fu was famous during his time because the Tang dynasty was a golden age of chinese literature and arts, he had become one of Chinas most valued poets, who included his personal history as well as the theme of morality and Chinas history! A golden age refers to a flourishing and outstanding period in a countrys history. Due to his set backs, Du Fu was able to comprehend what he wrote and thus resulted in his well written poetry which were filled with realistic emotion. He often mentioned of the war (lushan rebellion), his conflicts with family, and his despaired heart in his content of his poems which he eperienced it first hand. He was able to reach out to his audience and touch their hearts with his vivid elaboration and possessed the ability to convey his words with short phrases. It was beauty in its simpliest form!

Description of the poem <<Spring View>>

Original Chinese version of the poem :

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English translated version of the poem : Spring View The country is broken, though hills and rivers remain, In the city in spring, grass and trees are thick. Moved by the moment, a flower's splashed with tears, Mourning parting, a bird startles the heart. The beacon fires have joined for three months now, Family letters are worth ten thousand pieces. I scratch my head, its white hairs growing thinner, And barely able now to hold a hairpin.

This poem describes the experience of the loyalist Du Fu who is caught behind enemy lines when rebel forces during the An Lu-Shan rebellion have overrun the capital, Chang-an. In eight lines of poetry, Du Fu outlines the despair of those affected by war and juxtaposes the sorrows of human affairs with the enduring beauty of nature. The poem describes the warfare of the rebellion and the countrys government. Du Fu is expressing the words of thousands of people who are suffering in poverty as well as the constant conflict through literature. He has a compassionate heart for them and and explains

in the poetry how the war has caused many hardships and sorrows to the people, and that Du Fu is hoping that it ends soon. He outlines the despair of those affected by the rebellions taking place and relates human affairs to surrounding nature about their enduring perseverance.

How did the Spring View relate to the society back then?
Back then, havoc and chaos were everywhere and there was no such thing as peace. Due to the Lu Shan rebellion, innocent people were suffering under hardships and there was unrest within the capital. This poetry Spring View demonstrates the peoples sorrows and their sadness while going through such experiences. Du Fu says my white hair is growing thinner, barely able to hold a pin. It shows that the rebellion was dragging for a long time which could have piled the deaths of Chinas people.