More than a thousand years after his death, Du Fu is still admired as one of China’s greatest poets, yet he was deeply disappointed by his failure to also become a great statesman. During Du Fu’s lifetime, China was devastated by the An Lushan Rebellion which cost millions of lives. As a Confucian, Du Fu wished to help the emperor to restore social order and to alleviate the suffering of the common people, but he never became more than a low ranking official. The following two poems were written by Du Fu under the same title "Qu River". The poems reflect Du Fu’s deep frustration over his failed attempts to guide official policy.
曲江 Qu River
Number One
一片花飞减却春,one piece flow fly reduce decline spring
风飘万点正愁人。wind wave/float ten thousand spot (petals) just sorrow person
且看欲尽花经眼,for the time being look desire end flower pass eye
莫厌伤多酒入唇。no be disgusted with sadness a lot wine go in lips
江上小堂巢翡翠,river on small pavilion nest emerald bird
苑边高冢卧麒麟。garden beside high tomb crouch Qilin
细推物理须行乐,in detail deduce object reasoning should perform happiness
何用浮荣绊此身 why use floating glory hinder this body
Translation:
Every one of these blowing petals diminishes the spring.
A man can grieve as ten thousand pass by on the wind.
For now I watch the flying petals about to wither in my sight,
And I am no longer tired of drinking too much wine.
The emerald kingfisher nests in a thicket by the river.
While Qilin statues crouch in the garden beside great tombs.
When we search for the meaning of life, we realize that we should find joy
Why let moments of fleeting glory hinder the joys of the here and now?
Number Two
朝回日日典春衣, court return day day pawn spring clothes
每日江头尽醉归。 Everyday river head exhaust drunk return
酒债寻常行处有, wine debt common go place have
人生七十古来稀。 people life seventy ancient come rare
穿花蛱蝶深深见, to cross flower butterfly deep deep see
点水蜻蜓款款飞。 skim water dragonfly slowly slowly fly
传语风光共流转, pass along words wind light together flow turn
暂时相赏莫相违. temporary each other appreciate no each other parting
Translation:
Every day I return from court and pawn my spring robes,
And every day, I get so drunk by the river head before going home
Wherever I go, I owe money for wine.
Since ancient times, few people have lived to the age of seventy.
Deep in the flowers, a wandering butterfly appears.
Skimming the water, a dragonfly slowly glides.
Tell these beautiful scenes that we could all be one, roaming together
For a while, enjoying each other’s company without parting.
Translation notes:
In the first poem, the author laments the end of spring and states that we should not let the fleeting nature of glory hinder our joys. The second poem is even more depressing, beginning rather brutally with the poet pawning his robes and getting drunk by the river every day. It is possible to translate words five and six of the second line differently. Out of context, they could mean “tipsy,” or “drinking my limit,” and others have translated them this way. We believe that “drinking” and “end” mean getting pretty thoroughly drunk here, and that there is a dark note of despair in what otherwise could be a rather typical Chinese poem about having some wine and communing with nature. Other drinking and nature poems do have an element of sadness, of having turned away from a more active style of living. They have also incorporated the idea of not having any money, but they’ve generally done so by painting an almost enviable picture of rustic simplicity, e.g. a humble thatched hut, a small garden, a drink shared with a neighbor. They are often suffused with a Taoist or Buddhist ideal of stillness and contemplation.
Du Fu was a Confucian and was very much concerned with right behavior. In the second poem, an urban man is pawning his robes and seeing his creditors everywhere. He seems very alone though he works at the seat of power. Du Fu also notes that few people have ever lived to the age of seventy; in other words he doesn’t expect that he will live much longer. He spends the first half of the poem saying nothing about nature other than referencing the river and telling us that he is in debt, that he drinks daily, that he doesn’t expect to live to his 70s, and that he still works for the court. This is not a contemplative or idyllic opening.
The second half of the poem is a more typical work about drinking and longing to be one with the beauty of the natural world, but we note that Du Fu emphasizes the transitory quality of these moments and of the world around him. There is no mention of mountains, the moon, a tall pine, or other more enduring natural sights, only delicate butterflies and dragonflies. Du Fu hopes to join with them “for a while,” implying that he doesn’t expect to enjoy such beauty for long. At the time of writing Qu River, Du Fu probably knew that he would soon be banished from the court.
The cause of the banishment was Du Fu’s loyalty to his friend and patron, Fang Guan. Fang Guan had been a chancellor to Suzong’s father, who was known as the Bright Emperor. During the An Lushan rebellion, the Bright Emperor escaped from Chang’An, and Suzong, who was the crown prince, declared himself the new emperor not long after. The Bright Emperor sent Fang Guan to recognize Suzong as the new emperor and to give his son the imperial seal. The new emperor was initially pleased with Fang’s arrival and offered him a senior position at court. However, it was later revealed that Fang Guan, while he was the chancellor to the Bright Emperor, advised the Bright Emperor to have Suzong share military commands with several of his brothers, each acting independently from each other and in different geographical territories. Suspicious of Fang’s loyalty to him, the new emperor stripped Fang Guan of much of his power. Du Fu then revealed himself to be either a very good Confucian or a very poor politician (or both) when he protested Fang’s demotion. After Du Fu’s protest, the new emperor grew concerned that Du Fu was inappropriately loyal to Fang, and he ordered the judicial system to interrogate him. This was a fairly unusual step to take given that Du’s ranking was very low as a government official. The result of the interrogation was that Du Fu was cleared of all criminal suspicions and pardoned by the emperor, but he was “banished” in the sense of being reassigned to a more provincial post.