![]() ![]() While Li Bai was admired even by his contemporaries as a lively poet who defied conventions, Du Fu’s poetry, which more often followed the rules of poetic form, both expanded and changed those conventions by introducing new perspectives and topics such as his family, unremarkable but common life events, and more immediately personal depictions of war (Owen, 1981). While Li Bai’s greatness was seen as part of nature, uncontrolled by man and perhaps the result of immortal heritage, Du Fu’s excellence is seen as resting in his versatility, innovative style, and his treatment of subjects ignored by his contemporaries. As Stephen Owen, a great Sinologist and prolific translator, observed, poets in China’s history were often advised to imitate Du Fu (Owen, 1981). ![]()
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