|
|
|
Krystal Yarbrough
English 496 Dr. Steve Eberly Research Paper |
Li Po and Tu Fu -- A "Friendly" Competition
Introduction
Chinese poetry is a genre that many student readers overlook. The fact that this genre is somewhat ignored
is distressing because the images presented in the poems are well worth
looking at. Two of the greatest Chinese poets, and the best known, are
Li Po and Tu Fu. Li Po and Tu Fu, being respected poets from the T'ang
Dynasty period, competed heavily with one another, but they have been called
friends by many scholars (Waley 20). In fact, many of the poems written
by the two are directed towards the other. Each of these poets use his
emotions and experiences in the T'ang Dynasty of China to create poems
that illustrate and comment on many different aspects of ancient Chinese
life. Also, both employ similar key images. However, by examining the "friendship"
poems for insights into their relationship, one discovers the contrast
between their attitudes toward life.
T'ang Dynasty
To truly understand the lives that inspired the poetry of Li Po and Tu Fu, it is necessary to look at
the history of the T'ang Dynasty. In 617 AD, Li Shih-min, the oldest son
of the Duke of T'ang, led a revolt against the Sui Emperor. A year of revolt
and invasion split China, and the people's lives were seriously disrupted.
The religious system was all but shut down as temples were destroyed in
battles. Then, in 618 AD, Li reunited China and placed his father on the
Emperor's throne, thus beginning the T'ang Dynasty. After the death of
his father in 627 AD, Li took over the throne under the name T'ai Tsung.
For the next 300 years, China was controlled by the T'ang Dynasty (Hurt
29). Unlike the previous dynasties, Li and the Emperors who followed encouraged
achievements in all types of culture, but poetry is the best known. The
collection of T'ang poetry includes more than 48,900 poems by 2200 authors.
Taoism became the most popular religion, and many of the poets received
inspiration from their understandings of the religion. In fact, book printing
using carved wooden blocks began during this dynasty, making poetry and
other forms of literature available for many more people than before. Out
of all the T'ang Dynasty poets, Li Po and Tu Fu are the two who are most
often mentioned in connection with the cultural and literary boom brought
on by the "Golden Age of China" (Cooper 23).
Life Similarities
By viewing similarities and differences in the two poets’ lives, the reader can obtain a greater understanding
of the reasons behind many of Li Po and Tu Fu’s poems. Li Po was born in
701 AD in an area outside China, giving rise to a rumor that this famous
Chinese poet was not even Chinese, rather of Turk ancestry. The family’s
story of an untraceable ancestor who had been banished from China due to
political reasons nearly a century before the family came to China also
fueled this rumor. Instead of letting the rumor ruin his future in the
T’ang Dynasty, Li Po went a step further and tried to claim that the ancestor
was a member of the Imperial Family of Li Shih-min, allowing him to call
the Imperial Prince "cousin" (Cooper 24). Li Po was never extremely interested
in government service, yet his family expected him to follow in this "ancestor’s"
footsteps. In order to avoid this trap, Li Po decided not to take the government
exam. However, he was allowed to take a low-ranking position due to his
unproven, yet impressive, family ties to the T’ang Dynasty (Waley 30).
During his service in the Chinese government, he first briefly met his
future rival, Tu Fu. Tu Fu’s entry into government service is even more
disappointing than Li Po’s. Tu Fu was born in 712 AD in Shao-ling. Tu Fu’s
family came from traceable greatness – his genealogy shows a link to the
great Emperor Yao. The family was also associated with Tu Yu, who married
an imperial princess, was made a marquis, did become one of the greatest
generals of the army, and was revered as a man worthy of a place in the
Confucian temple (Hurt 46). In his early life, Tu Fu showed great promise.
He was considered to hold extraordinary talent, and when he went to take
his government exam, he was expected to score highly. However, Tu Fu did
the unthinkable: he failed. There are many speculations on why he failed,
but the most prominent is that Tu Fu lacked the practicality to satisfy
the examiner (Cooper 38). Through the same special entry process afforded
Li Po, Tu Fu was allowed to take
a low position in the government. Tu Fu was probably unaware that he would
briefly meet his opponent in greatness because Li Po left the government
before Tu Fu due to a serious drinking problem; he began to write poems
as a result, giving him a head start. Tu Fu soon followed, but the short
lag may have been the reason that Li Po quickly reached a higher level
of fame (Shan Chou 48). Despite holding low positions in the Empire, each
poet was given a title by the government in order to show others that government
officials were the smartest people in China (Cooper 40). These menial government
jobs gave Li Po and Tu Fu a reason to write wonderful poetry and to compete
with each other. Each wanted to show the Chinese Empire that they were
worth more than a low-ranking position declared them. After Li Po’s removal
from office, many years passed. Then, somewhere between 745 and 750 AD,
Li Po ran into Tu Fu in a country wineshop near Lo-yang. The two traveled
together briefly. Then, when Tu Fu and his family settled in Shach’iu,
Li Po was living in the same region and often visited with the family of
his friend. Tu Fu, who had not been writing long, was not yet widely known,
so he practically worshipped Li Po and his fame. Soon the two friends were
separated by Po’s wanderings. They supposedly never saw each other again
(Cooper 88).
Mountain Imagery -- Li Po
Through analyzing selected poems, the reader can find many comparative key images. One major image used in
the poems is a mountain. Each poet wrote extensively about the beauty of
the mountains in the Western part of China (Cooper 96). Amazingly, each
poet wrote a poem about T’ai Mountain. The poems were published eight years
apart, with Li Po’s coming first, yet each show the respect, awe, and reverence
the poet has for the mountain. Li Po writes in "Wandering T’ai Mountain,"
"Higher up, I see islands of immortals, / sea-visions all silver and gold
towers" (Po 36). Li Po sees the mountain as a pathway to Heaven or, in
his case, the home of the Immortals. He also mentions meeting "jade goddesses"
who offer him a drink (Po 36). This image proves that Li Po feels that
the mountain is a place of enchantment and awe.
Mountain Imagery -- Tu Fu
Similarly, Tu Fu also speaks highly of T’ai Mountain. In "Looking At T’ai Mountain," Tu Fu wrote, "How
should I take the grandiose Mountain T’ai? /… I’ll climb up to the summit
and see, /the mountains around and below are wee!" (Fu 2). As one can see,
Tu Fu feels that T’ai is one of the grandest mountains due to its magnificent
height. Just as Li Po, he feels a surge of power from being near the top
of a natural wonder. However, unlike Li Po’s enchanted view of this mountain,
Tu Fu simply admires its height.
Water Imagery -- Li Po
Another key image in the poems is water, whether it be rain, a creek, or a river. In the Chinese culture,
water most often represents some form of change or conformity. This was
why, according to Chinese astrology, a person who had too much water flowed
in all directions and was unfocused (Shao Chou 56). Li Po uses water images
in his poetry to symbolize loss or mourning. In "At Ching-Men Ferry, A
Farewell," Po writes, "Crossing watery distances beyond Ching-men, / Here…the
river flows into boundless space. / Poor waters of home. / I know how it
feels: / ten thousand miles of farewell on this boat" (Po 5). Li Po is
speaking of the loss of his first wife and child who died in Ching-men
between 724-728 AD. He is leaving to find happiness yet is still consumed
by the sadness he is trying to leave behind. The "boundless space" Li Po
refers to is the unknown. Li Po also uses water in the form of tears to
represent sadness. The poem "Sent to My Two Children in Sha-Ch’iu" uses
the line "tears flowing like springs" to show Li Po’s daughter’s sadness
at the way her family is treated by her father. Li Po uses water to show
how his life has simply run out of control as a raging river does.
Water Imagery -- Tu Fu
In comparison, Tu Fu uses water to symbolize war and the weight of social wrongs. For example, in "Rain
on a Spring Night," Tu Fu writes, "At day-break in Chengdu where is red
and wet/ There you’ll see blooms bow under heavy weight" (Fu 182). Tu Fu
is referring to an area of China which was constantly torn by civil war
and bloodshed, which is represented by the "red and wet" and the bowing
blooms. Tu Fu knows that the people are suffering, yet it is as common
as an overnight shower during Spring. Tu Fu, being a follower of Confucianism,
sees no point in bloodshed, but realizes to some, it is no more important
than pouring water.
Drinking Imagery -- Li Po
Yet not all images used by the poets are similar. Images surrounding the act of drinking are in sharp
contrast. Li Po, a known alcoholic, sees drinking as a creative experience
that connects him with nature. In the poem "Out Drinking on Dragon Mountain,"
Li Po shows this connection with the forces of nature as he writes, "Soon
drunk, I watch my cap tumble in the wind, / dance in love – a guest the
moon invites" (Po 97). The wind is "dancing" with his cap, and he is trying
to communicate the feeling of honor by calling himself a guest in nature.
Another example of Li Po’s preoccupation with drinking is found in "Waiting
for Wine That Does Not Come." Li Po speaks of being in a natural setting
as "the perfect time to sip some wine" (Po 31). Li Po uses alcohol to find
comfort in nature and to cover his need for companionship, something he
lost after his exile from China.
Drinking Imagery -- Tu Fu
In contrast, Tu Fu’s interpretation of drinking is completely different. Tu Fu speaks of drinking in conjunction
with the depressing events in his life. For example, in "Composing When
Drinking Alone," Tu Fu laments about his unsuccessful life: "Confucianism
improves my state --- I doubt it’s true. / Bound by the official post low
and wee, /I feel ashamed toward the people free" (Fu 68). Tu Fu is showing
his sadness over the turn his life took after failing his governmental
exam. He was left with only a low position and his religion. Tu Fu shows
that drinking is a form of escape from his disappointing life, but not
the pleasant experience Li Po finds. These contrasting views are reinforced
by Arthur Cooper’s opinion of the poets. Copper writes, "While Li Po seems
to the Chinese to be a poet of the night and of man as a solitary animal
in his dreams, Tu Fu is rather a poet of the day and of man in his other
nature as a social being" (1). Li Po didn’t need a constant source of companionship,
so he drank to enjoy his often forced solitude. On the other hand, Tu Fu
needed people to survive, which is why he drank to cover his depression
when he was alone.
Li Po on Tu Fu
The most confusing part of the relationship between Li Po and Tu Fu is the poems written by the poets
to each other. Li Po’s poems to Tu Fu are inconsistent. In "Teasing Tu
Fu," Po emphasizes the fact that Tu Fu wears a farmer’s hat and says that
he has grown thin because of "all those poems you have been suffering over"
(Po 54). This poem is somewhat confusing. It is unclear whether Li Po is
teasing a friend or teasing a competitor. Li Po may think that since he
is more popular than Tu Fu is he can take liberties such as a satirical
poem. However, in "At Sha-Ch’iu, Sent to Tu Fu," Li Po’s seems to send
a message of friendly love and greetings. The lines that show Li Po’s feelings
toward Tu Fu would be lines 6-8: "And if/ local songs rekindle a feeling,
it’s empty. / My thoughts of you are like the Wen River, / sent broad and
deep on its journey south" (Po 55). This poem was written after Li Po and
Tu Fu had lost touch after Li Po began his wanderings through China. He
is sending his love and caring for Tu Fu south, just as the Wen River runs.
Li Po’s feelings for Tu Fu are unclear due to the existing poems that depict
them.
Tu Fu on Li Po
On the other hand, the poems by Tu Fu are not hard to understand. Tu Fu respected Li Po greatly and
wrote poems that showed his feelings toward him. In the poem "Dreaming
of Li Po, Two Poems," Tu Fu writes,
No news of you yet comes from the exile.
Knowing that how I think of you always,
But I’m afraid it’s not the soul of you old,
Since it’s a long way and nothing can be told. (Fu 114)
Tu Fu is expressing his concern for Li Po, who was exiled from China because of his involvement in an attempt to attack the current Emperor Suzong. Since Tu Fu has heard nothing about his friend, he is afraid that he is dead. However, his poem speaks of a dream in which he sees Li Po, and Tu Fu believes that the image he saw is proof that Li Po lives, but may not live to be an old man. Tu Fu also wrote "Thinking of Li Po at the End of the World." Tu Fu has not heard any news of his friend in a long while, and anxious about his condition, he writes, "When will news of you be brought by wild goose? / …Will you talk to the poet that died of despite, / By bestowing a poem on the Milo’s tide?" (Fu 118). Tu Fu is wondering where Li Po could be because he is worried about the man he admires so much. The Milo is a river in which Qu Yuan, a famous poet of the time, drowned himself in anger. Tu Fu could be speaking to two different situations in the last line of this poem. Either Fu believes that Li Po has wandered into the area of the river and is writing a poem in memory of Qu Yuan, of Fu believes that Li Po perhaps decided to end his own life in the same river, which was a choice of many poets in this period (Hurt 188). It is obvious from the poems Tu Fu wrote to Li Po that he cares greatly for him and is happy to call him friend.
Conclusion
In conclusion, Li Po and Tu Fu were two very different men. Each had their own way of writing in order
to present the idea and emotions they were feeling. The two men were friends
and competitors, something that not usually seen I the literary world.
Each man had a similar background, and the two managed to rise above adversity
to make something out of themselves. By examining the ways in which each
poet used key images and the way the two poets wrote to one another, it
is clear that Li Po and Tu Fu had very different attitudes about life itself.
Cooper, Arthur. Li Po and Tu Fu. Middlesex: Penguin Books, 1973.
Fu, Tu. One Hundred and Fifty Poems. Trans. Wu Junato. Hsi-an:
Shan-hsi jen min chu pan she, 1985.
Hung, William. Tu Fu: China’s Greatest Poet. New York: Russell & Russell,
1969.
Po, Li. The Selected Poems of Li Po. Trans. David Hinton. New York:
New Directions Publishing, 1996.
Shan Chou, Eva. Reconsidering Tu Fu. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1995.
Waley, Arthur. The Poetry and Career of Li Po. London: George Allen &
Unwin, 1979.