Tu Fu

Fu Du

Translated works of an eight-century Chinese poet, known for his innovations in language and structure

The Selected Poems of Tu Fu

Li Po

The poems of two of China’s most influential classical poets: Tu Fu, called “China’s Shakespeare” (BBC), and Li Po, the subject of Ha Jin’s The Banished Immortal and “China’s most beloved poet” (The New Yorker) A Penguin Classic Li Po (AD 701–62) and Tu Fu (AD 712–70) were devoted friends who are traditionally considered to be among China's greatest poets. Li Po, a legendary carouser, was an itinerant poet whose writing, often dream poems or spirit-journeys, soars to sublime heights in its descriptions of natural scenes and powerful emotions. His sheer escapism and joy is balanced by Tu Fu, who expresses the Confucian virtues of humanity and humility in more autobiographical works that are imbued with great compassion and earthy reality, and shot through with humour. Together these two poets of the T'ang dynasty complement each other so well that they often came to be spoken of as one – 'Li-Tu' – who covers the whole spectrum of human life, experience and feeling. For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.

Poems

A new and substantially expanded version of Hinton’s landmark translation of Tu Fu, published on the thirtieth anniversary of that original edition A newly translated and substantially expanded version of Hinton’s landmark Tu Fu, published on the thirtieth anniversary of the original edition Tu Fu (712–770 C.E.) has for a millennium been widely considered the greatest poet in the Chinese tradition, and Hinton’s original translation played a key role in developing that reputation in America. Most of Tu Fu’s best poems were written in the last decade of his life, as an impoverished refugee fleeing the devastation of civil war. In the midst of these challenges, his always personal poems manage to combine a remarkable range of possibilities: elegant simplicity and great complexity, everyday life and grand historical drama, private philosophical depth and social engagement in a world consumed by war. Through it all, his is a wisdom that can only be called elemental, and his poems sound remarkably contemporary: Leaving the City It’s bone-bitter cold, and late, and falling frost traces my gaze all bottomless skies. Smoke trails out over distant salt mines. Snow-covered peaks slant shadows east. Armies haunt my homeland still, and war drums throb in this far-off place. A guest overnight here in this river city, I return again to shrieking crows, my old friends.

The Selected Poems of Tu Fu: Expanded and Newly Translated by David Hinton

Tu Fu (712-770 C. E.) has for more than a millennium been widely considered by the Chinese to be their greatest poet, and Hinton's originalSelected Poems played a key role in extending that reputation to America. Most of Tu Fu's best work was written in the last decade of his life as he fled the devastation of civil war. In the midst of his refugee struggles, Tu Fu's always personal poems managed to encompass a remarkable range: elegant simplicity and great complexity, everyday life and grand historical drama, private philosophical depth and social engagement in a world consumed by war. Through it all, his wisdom grew only more elemental: "Armies haunt my homeland still, and war / drums throb in this far-off place. A guest // overnight here in this river city, I return / again to shrieking crows, my old friends."

Expanded and Newly Translated by David Hinton

Wang Wei

Li Ho

Five great poets of the T'ang dynasty (eighth and ninth centuries A.D.) are represented in this collection: Wang Wei, Li Po, Tu Fu, Li Ho, and Li Shang-Yin. Each poet is introduced by the translator and represented by a selection that spans the poet's development and career. These constitute some of the greatest lyric poems ever written.

Wang Wei, Li Po, Tu Fu, Li Ho, Li Shang-yin

Five Tʻang Poets

David Hinton

For over a millennium, Chinese literati have almost unanimously considered Tu Fu (712-770 A.D.) to be their greatest poet. Tu Fu radically altered poetry as he found it in 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 translator David Hinton, “the first complete poetic sensibility in Chinese literature.” This edition of The Selected Poems of Tu Fu is the only comprehensive selection of the poet's work currently available in English. While retaining a scholar's devotion to the text, Hinton has attempted “to recreate Tu Fu's poems as new systems of uncertainty." By reflecting all the ambiguity and density of the originals, he has created compelling English poems that significantly alter our conception of Chinese poetry. Included with the poems are the translator’s introduction and translation principles. as well as a biography of Tu Fu; together these provide a fascinating portrait of a uniquely sensitive spirit during one of the most tumultuous periods in Chinese history.

Tu Fu

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