Tang Poetry

Suddenly thought of another poem when I was studying Chinese literature in secondary school. The poems of Du Fu (杜甫, AD 712-770) were most expressional of the outlook of social unrest and the feeling of the people in that period.

A Portrait of Du Fu

Du Fu was in Changan when An Lushan’s army took the capital. He wrote “春望, Chun Wang, Looking Around in Spring”:

A seal script carving of the poem

国破山河在，          Guo po shan he zai,
城春草木深。           Cheng chun cao mu shen.
感时花溅泪，           Gan shi hua jian lei,
恨别鸟惊心。           Hen bie niao jing xin.
 烽火连三月，           Feng huo lian san yue,
家书抵万金。           Jia shu di wan jin.
白头搔更短，           Bai tou sao geng duan,
 浑欲不胜簪。           Hun yu bu sheng zan.

(Translation of the poem to English)

Mountain and rivers still remain even though the state fell,
Spring is in the city while grass and bushes are tall.
Seeing so much misery flowers are shedding tears,
Hearing so many parting words birds are startled.
Flames of battle have been raging till March,
A family letter is worth of ten thousand tales of gold.
I find my white-hair shorter when scratching it,
There is no way to fasten the hairpin on my head.