Publisher's Synopsis
Du Fu (杜甫, 712-770), also known as Poet-Sage (诗圣), was a great realist poet (伟大的现实主义诗人) in China's Tang Dynasty (唐朝, 618-907). Although Du Fu's reputation was not prominent during his lifetime, his reputation eventually spread far and wide, which had a profound impact on Chinese and Japanese literature. In particular, Du Fu's influence in Chinese classical poetry is very far-reaching. Sometimes reading Du Fu's poems may feel depressing, however, after a careful thinking, they'll move a noble soul. In fact, the reputation of Du Fu is not only because of his high literary attainment or because he has left many wonderful poems that have been handed down to this day, but it's because many of his poems have revealed his sad and compassionate thoughts and sentiment. As such, a total of about 1500 poems by Du Fu have been preserved, and most of them are collected in the Du Gongbu Collection (杜工部集). Du Fu used these poems to record the suffering and happiness of the contemporary China. That's why Du Fu is also called "Poet Saint" by his descendants, and his poetry is called History of Poetry (诗史).
The book has 7 chapters in the following order: Chapter 1: Basic facts about Du Fu (第一章：关于杜甫的基本事实)Chapter 2: Overview of Du Fu's life (第二章： 杜甫的生平概况)Chapter 3: Du Fu's final years and death (第三章：杜甫的晚年与死亡)Chapter 4: Du Fu and Li Bai (第四章：杜甫和李白)Chapter 5: Poetic style (第五章：诗歌风格)Chapter 6: Du Fu's famous poems (10) (第六章：杜甫怀古诗 (10首))Chapter 7: Legacy and Influence (第七章：遗产与影响) The current book volume, China's Famous Personalities 3, is a Level 2 Chinese reading practice book. It would introduce you to the life and biography of Du Fu (杜甫传), one of the most revered poets in the history of Chinese poetry. The new volume in the China's Famous Personalities Series (必须了解的中国名人) includes both the Chinese text (simplified characters) and pinyin Romanization. With about 500 unique Chinese characters, the volume would be suitable for the beginners, lower intermediate and advanced level Chinese language learners (HSK 1-6). Overall, the reading series offers you a variety of elementary level books (Level 1/2/3/4/5/6) to understand China as well as practice Chinese reading fast.
