A moonlit night by tu fu biography

The Tang dynasty (618-907) is often known as the golden age of Chinese poetry, and the apex of its cultural glory, the High Tang, was marked by China’s two greatest poets of all time: Li Bai (701-762) and Du Fu (712-770).

Though the question of who is China’s greatest poet, Li or Du, recurs throughout Chinese literary history and commentary, as the incredible influence Du Fu (杜甫, also written as Tu Fu) has had in the development of Chinese history cannot be omitted.

As Stephen Owen, a great Sinologist and prolific translator, observed, poets in China’s history were often advised to imitate Du Fu (Owen, 1981).

While Li Bai’s greatness was seen as part of nature, uncontrolled by man and perhaps the result of immortal heritage, Du Fu’s excellence is seen as resting in his versatility, innovative style, and his treatment of subjects ignored by his contemporaries.

While Li Bai was admired even by his contemporaries as a lively poet who defied conve