The Chinese Poem - Term Paper Example

?“My Thatched Roof is Ruined by the Autumn Wind.” The Chinese Tu Fu (also known as Du Fu) lived from 712 until 770 A.D. and was one of the most celebrated poets of the period known as “High Tang” in Chinese literature. He was so respected that he received the name “The Sage of Poetry” and wrote more than 1400 poems in the course of his life. (Xiaoxiang and Liping, p. 60). The poem entitled “My Thatched Roof is Ruined by the Autumn Wind” was written towards the end of his life and its theme is the sadness and distress, along with the physical suffering, that an older man experiences when his lowly cottage is damaged by the wind, letting the cold and the rain stream in to his humble home. This poem displays many of the attitudes that are found in a Confucian approach to life, and it can be read on a literal level, as a lament on the trials of life for a person who is poor, or on a figurative level, as a lament on the lack of success he has had in his professional life. One of his translator’s Burton Watson simply calls Tu Fu “the eliciter of superlatives!” (p. xi) and explains that Tu Fu came from an illustrious family which included the famous Du Yu (222-284) who was a commentator on the works of Confucius, and Tu Fu’s grandfather Du Shenyan (died in 708) who was “an official in the Tang bureaucracy and one of the outstanding poets of hi time. (p. xii). It seems that being in the Tang civil service and having an interest in Confucian thought and poetry writing was a family tradition,then, because this is the same path that Tu Fu followed in his own life. Over the years Tu Fu has been recognized as one of China’s greatest poets, and Young explains that this view is “partly based on admiration for his technical brilliance, a fluent mastery of traditional forms combined with an originality that gives rise to an apparently effortless innovation” (p. 77). The other reason that Young gives for the poet’s reputation is that “the poet’s vision of existence is what wins readers … Tu Fu is a great-minded, great-hearted poet with a commanding imagination.” (pp. 77-78) We can see examples of both these qualities in the poem “My Thatched Roof is Ruined by the Autumn Wind.” The form of the poem is traditional, with plenty of reference to the natural world, including the season, the weather and the location. The innovation, however, is that the elements are merged with the very realistic description of actual events. In stylistic terms, critics note that he was able to use a large range of different styles and techniques, and one consistent feature is often mentioned: “One other characteristic of Du Fu’s poetry merits particular notice, since in helps to explain the perennial appeal of his work -; his realism.” (Watson, p. xix) The description of the pieces of thatch is very realistic, so that the reader can visualize how they form “whirls” (line 4) in the swirling gusts of wind, and how they get caught in the trees, (line 9) which is a strange place for thatch to be, showing how disruptive the wind is on this occasion. The thatch is caught up high, or down low in the puddles, (line 11) and this vivid description causes the reader to reflect on the damaged house and its inhabitants which are caught in the middle. Tu Fu uses the qualities of objects in the world to illuminate and make real the images of the poem for example the clouds are compared to ink, (line 23) and the cotton quilts, which are supposed to be soft and warm, are compared to iron (line 27). These images make the reader vividly feel the emotions and sensations that the writer feels. Tu Fu appears not to have been a very accomplished bureaucrat, and his many travels indicate that he fell out with important people and was forced to end his life in relative poverty. The poem shows that old age and poverty make the poet powerless against the forces of the wind, but also when he tries to shout at the children who take away the escaped portions of thatch, he finds he has no voice. The poem shows anger at the weather, and also at the children, but it is not the kind of anger that brings any release of the pressure that he feels. A striking feature of the poem is how very honest it is about the feelings that the old man has, and he does not hide the immediate consequences for him and his family. It is as if this disaster caused by the wind is a symbol of all the struggles in his life, and his inability to gather together enough resources to keep himself and his family safe from whatever bad things come along: “I have lived through upheavals and ruin/ But have no idea how I shall pass/ this night of soaking.” (lines 34-46) This line is an example of what critics regard as a very direct but also subtle manipulation of the art of poetry and of the reader: “We value him, quite rightly, for his realism, directness and candor. But we should also recognize his artfulness, the cunning management of the medium and of the reader’s response …” (Young, p. 82) Anyone reading this is bound to have sympathy for the poet, because despite all his efforts he has not managed to keep the weather out, and by implication the dampness can cause serious health problems, as well as the misery of sitting in a damp room and waiting for the storm to pass. This is like a metaphor of a Confucian scholar who has to endure all that life throws at him, and cannot expect any comfort at all. He must just suffer it and bear all the indignity and pain that comes to him. There is an element of self-pity in the poem, but the poet also mentions his little boy, and this creates sympathy as well. Furthermore, the end of the poem opens the focus out to embrace all of the “poorest gentlemen/of all this world.” (lines 40-41) This reveals a wider vision and brings the poem into a more universal dimension: “… we associate Tu Fu with a vigorous poetry that manages to transcend unhappiness and melancholy by its enormous range and immense humanity.” (Young, p. 82) The poet seems to be saying that he would gladly sacrifice himself if in so doing he could make life a bit more comfortable for all those people in the world, who like himself, need shelter and a warm and dry place for themselves and their families. This sentiment is as relevant in the modern high technology world as it was in Tang dynasty China. There are plenty of homeless people and poor families in the world who have to live in shanty towns, refugee camps and makeshift houses. In a figurative sense the wind and rain could mean war, disasters, and oppression, and many people would be able to identify areas of overlap with their own lives when reading this poem. It is likely that Tu Fu was describing a real event in this poem, although he may have exaggerated it slightly when he speaks in the last line of “death by freezing.” (line 48). The rain coming in and his powerlessness may also refer symbolically to his trials and tribulations in his working life, because he was not as successful in work as his illustrious forefathers. He may also have doubted his own genius as a poet, and writing this poem was perhaps his way of working through his own disappointment both in work and in his art. His poem gives a voice to himself and those who have no voice, not in a literal sense, but in a figurative sense. Through the poem his voice lives on, and even more than a thousand years later people in different cultures can reflect on his words and learn from them. This is a masterful poem, showing a morality and philosophy very different from western traditions, but nevertheless, it overlaps in some ways which are translatable across time and space and culture. Tu Fu speaks of the hardships of life, and the need to get through them, and keep in our minds the possibility that some day “a great roof” (line 40) can be provided for the poorest people. He is talking about social justice, and the requirement that we look out for those less fortunate than ourselves, and this is as valuable a lesson now as it was in the days when he wrote this poem. References Tu Fu (also known as Du Fu), “My Thatched Roof is Ruined by the Autumn Wind.” In Norton Anthology of World Literature, volume B. Watson, Burton. The Selected Poems of Du Fu. New York: Columbia University Press, 2002. Xiaoxiang, Li and LiPing, Yang. Gateway to Chinese Classical Literature. Singapore: Asiapac Books, 2005, pp. 60-62. Young, David. Five Tang Poets: Wang Wei, Li Po, Tu Fu, Li Ho, li Shang-yin.Oberlin, OH: Oberlin College Press, 1990. Read More