Despite the fact that Du Fu is usually mentioned in the same breath as Virgil, Dante and Shakespeare by Sinologists around the world, the Chinese poet-sage, also an immortal in the East Asian cultural sphere, has still remained largely unknown in the Western world.
However, with the screening of "Du Fu, China's Greatest Poet", the first English-language documentary feature about the poet, the days of Du Fu as China's best-kept literary secret seem to be just numbered.
Inspired by the 1952 eponymous book by William Hung, the one-hour film features the elegant, meditative recital of Du Fu's masterpieces by veteran British actor Ian McKellen, whose performance of Shakespeare's works has already held the world spellbound.
It is written and presented by Michael Wood, an accomplished television historian who also helmed other China-related docuseries such as "The Story of China" (2016) and "The Story of China's Reform and Opening Up" (2018).
From the Yellow River to the Yangtze Gorges, and down to the forested hills of Hunan province, Wood embarked on a pilgrimage to a number of places such as the poet's birthplace Gongyi in Henan province, the Tang Dynasty (618-907) capital Chang'an, today's Xi'an, and the Du Fu Thatched Cottage in Southwest China's Chengdu city.
Along the way, he met and talked to ordinary people, dancers and musicians, who helped to tell the enchanting story of the poet whose writings have resonated through the centuries, giving voice to the pain of common folks caught up in war, corruption, famine and natural disasters.
Born in 712, the age of Beowulf in Britain, Du Fu lived under the reign of the Tang Emperor Xuanzong (713-756), a time marked by extraordinary prosperity, inclusiveness and cultural accomplishment.
However, as the An Lushan Rebellion of 755 floored the empire, Du Fu, the former civil servant at the Tang court, was forced to become a porter under the rebel rule. Then he escaped, took his family on the road as refugees, and endured starvation and suffering. Through ups and downs, the poet never ceased writing, pouring out his concern for his country and people as well as celebrating the simple joys of life.
Wood's journey on the ground and Sir Ian McKellen's readings also mesh with meaty interviews with noted scholars specializing in Chinese literature, to help present a clearer picture of the poet's life experiences, literary significance and his friendship with Li Bai, who has rivaled Du Fu for the title of China's greatest poet.
"Chinese people really value the recording of history and Du Fu is better than anyone at reflecting history in his poetry. That's because historical events are mirrored in his own life and spiritual journey," noted Zeng Xiangbo, a professor of ancient Chinese literature at Renmin University of China, who translated William Hung's work.
Du's poetry reflects the experience and transforms it, so it becomes a part of the emotional vocabulary of the Chinese culture, said American Sinologist Stephen Owen, who in 2016 completed the eight-year-long project to translate Du Fu's 1,400 poems into English.
Owen's six-volume book marks the first time that one of the world's most prolific poets' existing collections has been translated into English, which is expected to make Du's work more accessible to a broader readership.
Aside from Owen's translation, McKellen's readings in the film also feature translations by William Hung, Albert Davis, author of Tu Fu (1971), and Burton Watson, author of The Selected Poems of Du Fu (2003).
Below are three of Du Fu's poems translated by Owen. In the first piece, Du sings of his bohemian and charismatic friend Li Bai; in the second, he expresses his love for Taishan Mountain as well as his lofty aspirations; and in the third, he grieves for the war-torn state and is concerned about his family from afar.
Song of Eight Drinking Immortals
Li Bai makes a hundred poems out of one quart of ale,
in the marketplace of Chang'an he sleeps in the tavern.
The Son of Heaven called him to come,
he wouldn't get on the boat,
he himself declared: "Your subject is an immortal in his ale."
Gazing on the Peak
And what then is Daizong like?
over Qi and Lu, green unending.
Creation compacted spirit splendors here,
Dark and Light, riving dusk and dawn.
Exhilarating the breast, it produces layers of cloud;
splitting eye-pupils, it has homing birds entering.
Someday may I climb up to its highest summit,
with one sweeping view see how small all other mountains are.
View in Spring
The state broken, its mountains and rivers remain,
the city turns spring, deep with plants and trees.
Stirred by the time, flowers, sprinkling tears,
hating parting, birds, alarm the heart.
Beacon fires stretch through three months,
a letter from family worth ten thousand in silver.
I've scratched my white hair even shorter,
pretty much to the point where it won't hold a hatpin.
Source: China Daily