Reconsidering Tu Fu

Tu Fu is, by universal consent, a great poet of the Chinese tradition. In the epochal An Lu-shan rebellion, he alone of his contemporaries consistently recorded in poetry the great events and pervasive sufferings of the time. For a millennium, Tu Fu’s poetry has been accepted as epitomizing the Chinese moral conscience at its highest, and as such his work has been placed almost beyond the reach of criticism. In Reconsidering Tu Fu, Eva Shan Chou defuses these formidable problems by examining Tu Fu as both a cultural monument and a poet. She investigates the evolution of his stature as an icon and shows its continuing effect upon interpretations of Tu Fu’s work. Dr Chou provides translations of many poems, both well known and obscure. Her analyses are both original in their formulation and considerate of the many fine readings of traditional commentators.

• Informed, jargon-free analysis of poetry of China’s greatest poet • Both major and less well-known poems translated and context supplied • A comprehensive analysis that links Tu Fu’s life, work and emergence as a cultural icon

Foreword James R. Hightower; Preface; Part I. The Legacy of Tu Fu: 1. Historical background and biography; 2. The cultural legacy; 3. The poetic legacy; Part II. Social Conscience: Compassion and Topicality in the Poetry: 4. Subject matter; 5. Realism; 6. Stylized realism; Part III. Juxtaposition I: A Structural Principle: 7. Juxtaposition defined; 8. Examples; 9. Juxtaposition and other structures; Part IV. Juxtaposition II: A Biographical Analogue: 10. Chronology; 11. Mechanism; 12. Solipsism; 13. Coda; Conclusion: Sincerity reconsidered; Selected editions of the works of Tu Fu; Works cited; Poems by Tu Fu; Index.