Little Primer of Du Fu, Poems 26 - 30

[x_los]

This is week 6/7 on David Hawkes' Little Primer of Du Fu. I'll replicate the poems themselves here, but this book contains considerable exegesis, so I do advise you to grab this copy.

 

This week we're reading poems 26 through 30, inclusive.

 

How to Read Chinese Poetry has two chapters on forms Du Fu uses extensively:

 

Ch 8, Recent Style Shi Poetry, Pentasyllabic Regulated Verse (Wuyan Lüshi) 

Ch 9, Recent Style Shi Poetry, Heptasyllabic Regulated Verse (Qiyan Lüshi) 

 

Three other chapters on other verse forms Du Fu sometimes employs, or which people quoting Du Fu employ, also mention him:

 

Ch 10,  Recent Style Shi Poetry, Quatrains (Jueju): some mention of Du Fu’s “Three Quatrains, No. 3”

Ch 14, Ci Poetry,  Long Song Lyrics on Objects (Yongwu Ci): some mention of Du Fu's “Beautiful Lady” (Jiaren)

Ch 18, A Synthesis:  Rhythm, Syntax, and Vision of Chinese Poetry: some mention of Du Fu’s poem “The Jiang and Han Rivers” 

 

Additional Reading for this Week: Chapter 18

Comments

30. 八陣圖 Bā zhèn tú

[x_los]

八陣圖
Bā zhèn tú

功 蓋 三 分 國
1. Gōng gài sān-fēn guó,
名 成 八 陣 圖
2. Míng chéng bā zhèn tú.
江 流 石 不 轉
3. Jiāng-liú shí bù zhuǎn,
遺 恨 失 吞 吳
4. Yí hèn shī tūn Wú!

Read Aloud: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZzHnHGQ0kM

The Eight Formations

Of the achievements surpassing those of all others in that divided world of the Three Kingdoms, that which won him greatest renown was the construction of the Eight Formations. The great stones stand unmoved by the river’s currents, a lasting memorial to his regret at having failed to swallow Wu.

Re: 30. 八陣圖 Bā zhèn tú

[x_los]

“There are several different interpretations of this last line. One of them, according to the twelfth-century poet Su Tung-p’o, was revealed to him by Tu Fu himself in a dream.” oh well okay.

Wang Anshi: my hobbies include giving the poor any food, and reforming the fucked exam system
Su Dongpo: well I wrote a really elegant poem about how that sucks lol enjoy
*pedalos away*
'hit 'em with a LOT of references, bitches love references--'
ppl are really hungry?
'all the more reason for them to taste my savoury--'


AGAIN this guy!!

Re: 30. 八陣圖 Bā zhèn tú

[superborb]

I'm a little surprised that 3/5 poems in this post didn't have Baike articles. Not notable enough?

Re: 30. 八陣圖 Bā zhèn tú

[x_los]

That seems weird, they're Du Fu's part of the Tang 300 I believe?