Selected Poems of Tu Fu

Tu Fu

Tu Fu (AD 712-770) is China's greatest classical poet. He radically altered the poetry of the High T'ang period; in addition to making formal innovations in language and structure, he extended the range of acceptable subject matter to include all aspects of public and private experience, thus becoming in the words of the translator David Hinton, "the first complete poetic sensibility in Chinese literature".

This edition of "The Selected Poems of Tu Fu" is the most comprehensive selection of his work available in English. David Hinton conveys the ambiguity and density of the originals in his translations, while retaining a scholar's devotion to the text. The poems are complemented by the translator's introduction, notes to the poems and biography of Tu Fu. Together these form a fascinating portrait of a uniquely sensitive spirit during one of the most tumultuous periods in Chinese history.

About the Author

Tu Fu (712-770) hoped to become a career civil servant but failed the examinations. He met Li Po in 744, an influential friendship for him although the poets met again only once. He held some official positions but the whole country was disrupted by the An Lushan Rebellion of 755, and his last 15 years were lived in constant personal unrest. Nearly 1500 poems by him have been preserved.

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