712-770
Poet

Life and Career. Known as the "Sage of Poetry," Du Fu was born into an aristocratic family in Gong County, Henan Province. Given a strict, traditional Confucian education, he wrote his first poems at age seven and was associating with the literati by the time he was fourteen. Du's traditional education made him a gentleman with great integrity and high moral standards while sharpening his appetite for success. After he turned twenty he traveled extensively in China to see life firsthand. When he was thirty-three he met Li Bai, who was already a nationally known poet, and thereafter maintained a strong admiration for his older contemporary. During the 740s and early 750s he held a series of minor government posts. But during the political and military turmoil associated with the An Lushan revolt that threatened the Tang dynasty around 755, he was often jobless and...