This chapter considers the irreducible complexity of Du Fu’s relationship to the Tang empire in his late poetry from Kuizhou. During this period, his poems repeatedly portray miniature versions of the empire in the ostensibly private, domestic affairs that occupied his attention in a region where he had no property and few friends. Readers have been divided as to the significance of these poems: for some, that he should have continued even in his exile to see the empire everywhere he turned has evidenced his continuing commitment to the Tang; to others, the patent absurdity of some of these miniature empires has suggested a mockery of imperial pretensions. This chapter argues that both of these antithetical interpretations are correct. As soon as Du Fu seeks to assert his continued connection with the values of the empire, he recognizes the absurdity of his overreach; and as soon as he recognizes the absurdity of his overreach, he acknowledges the darker ways in which he remains dependent, even in Kuizhou, upon imperial hierarchies of questionable justice.
{"title":"Ironic Empires","authors":"Lucas Rambo Bender","doi":"10.2307/j.ctv18b5c09.9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv18b5c09.9","url":null,"abstract":"This chapter considers the irreducible complexity of Du Fu’s relationship to the Tang empire in his late poetry from Kuizhou. During this period, his poems repeatedly portray miniature versions of the empire in the ostensibly private, domestic affairs that occupied his attention in a region where he had no property and few friends. Readers have been divided as to the significance of these poems: for some, that he should have continued even in his exile to see the empire everywhere he turned has evidenced his continuing commitment to the Tang; to others, the patent absurdity of some of these miniature empires has suggested a mockery of imperial pretensions. This chapter argues that both of these antithetical interpretations are correct. As soon as Du Fu seeks to assert his continued connection with the values of the empire, he recognizes the absurdity of his overreach; and as soon as he recognizes the absurdity of his overreach, he acknowledges the darker ways in which he remains dependent, even in Kuizhou, upon imperial hierarchies of questionable justice.","PeriodicalId":151166,"journal":{"name":"Reading Du Fu","volume":"1 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123663446","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Foundings of Home:","authors":"Jack W. Chen","doi":"10.2307/j.ctv18b5c09.6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv18b5c09.6","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":151166,"journal":{"name":"Reading Du Fu","volume":"9 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"123680671","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Index","authors":"","doi":"10.2307/j.ctv18b5c09.18","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv18b5c09.18","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":151166,"journal":{"name":"Reading Du Fu","volume":"55 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"125704635","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"List of Figures","authors":"","doi":"10.2307/j.ctv18b5c09.3","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv18b5c09.3","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":151166,"journal":{"name":"Reading Du Fu","volume":"21 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"128005224","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Feeding the Phoenix:","authors":"X. Tian","doi":"10.2307/j.ctv18b5c09.11","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv18b5c09.11","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":151166,"journal":{"name":"Reading Du Fu","volume":"83 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"131360877","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"List of Contributors","authors":"","doi":"10.2307/j.ctv18b5c09.17","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv18b5c09.17","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":151166,"journal":{"name":"Reading Du Fu","volume":"148 Pt 5 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"126318575","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Acknowledgments","authors":"","doi":"10.2307/j.ctv18b5c09.4","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv18b5c09.4","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":151166,"journal":{"name":"Reading Du Fu","volume":"80 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"134231425","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
This essay examines the common notion, beginning in the Song period, that Du Fu is a difficult poet to read and understand. By comparing the lexical range and allusions found in a representative set of Du Fu’s works with the vocabulary and literary-historical knowledge found in a range of medieval educational texts, I argue that if Du Fu’s poetry, in both shi and fu forms, would likely be understandable to any Tang period reader with a basic literary education. Moreover, on a basic linguistic and cultural level, Du Fu’s poetry appears to have been no more difficult than that of Wang Wei, a poet who does not have a similar reputation for difficulty. Du Fu’s poetic language does make demands of his readers, but those demands are not based on the difficulty of his vocabulary and allusions.
{"title":"Sources of Difficulty","authors":"Christopher M. B. Nugent","doi":"10.2307/j.ctv18b5c09.12","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv18b5c09.12","url":null,"abstract":"This essay examines the common notion, beginning in the Song period, that Du Fu is a difficult poet to read and understand. By comparing the lexical range and allusions found in a representative set of Du Fu’s works with the vocabulary and literary-historical knowledge found in a range of medieval educational texts, I argue that if Du Fu’s poetry, in both shi and fu forms, would likely be understandable to any Tang period reader with a basic literary education. Moreover, on a basic linguistic and cultural level, Du Fu’s poetry appears to have been no more difficult than that of Wang Wei, a poet who does not have a similar reputation for difficulty. Du Fu’s poetic language does make demands of his readers, but those demands are not based on the difficulty of his vocabulary and allusions.","PeriodicalId":151166,"journal":{"name":"Reading Du Fu","volume":"28 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2020-09-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"124038019","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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