By the Lake

Tu Fu

HISTORICAL CONTEXT
The poem reflects the state of war and tragedy the people suffered.
Tu Fus works reveal his loyalty and love of the country, his aspirations
and frustrations, his unbounded sympathy for the sad plight of the
common people.
The most directly historical context of his poems are those commenting
on military tactics or the successes and failures of the government, or the
poems of advice which he wrote to the emperor.
The An Lushan rebellion led him to a life of war, just like most of China.
His poem By the Lake is a small poem describing the beauty of a part of
china before it was stripped of its beauty.

THE AN LUSHAN REBELLION

The An Lushan Rebellion was a devastating rebellion against the Tang

Dynasty of China. It began in 755.
The rebellion began when General Yang declared himself emperor of
northern china.
The rebellion was an attack led to strip power of the Tang dynasty.
The rebellion continued for almost 15 years. But the effect lasted much
longer. It took the life time of 3 tang emperors to finally quash the
rebellion.
The poem by the lake is a reflection of the tragedy of the split in China.

There is no doubt that the rebellion resulted in a major death

toll, in general, and that the Tang empire's population was
greatly reduced.
Tu Fus wretched life during the war, his encounters with
refugees, draftees, and recruiting officers. His own sufferings
aroused in him a sincere and broad concern for humanity that
gave poignancy to his poems.
Tu Fu possesses a remarkable power of description, with which
he vividly presents human affairs and natural scenery.
In the poem, there is a constant reference about the directions
of south and north. Implying the division that China suffered.

THE TANG DYNASTY

It is considered as the greatest age for Chinese poetry.
Chinese culture flourished and further matured during the Tang
era.
The country was very prosperous in terms of trade, culture,
economy, etc.
The people who belonged to this dynasty engaged themselves in
various sporty activities like polo and archery. They also
celebrated festivals in a very grand manner.

The Tang Emperor, Ming Huan, reigned from 713-756 and

was patron to Wang Wei, Li Bo, and Tu Fu. In mid-reign, he
fell in love with Yang Guifei, the wife of his eighteenth
son.
The struggle for power between Yang Guifei's brother and a
General named An Lushan caused the latter to rebel in 755
and occupy the capital, Chang'an.
Corruption at the Tang court prompted a rebellion, led by
General An Lushan, against the capital city of Chang'an.
(An Lushan Rebellion, 755-762).
The Tang empire was fatally shaken and a prolonged era of
internal strife brought the Tang dynasty to an end in 907.

TU FUs POETRY
Undoubtedly the greatest of the Tang
dynasty poets, Tu Fu related his own
life rather intimately to the rise and
fall of the Chinese dynasty.
Whenever anything occurred that had
wide consequences for the Chinese
people at large, Tu Fu himself
reacted to these particular events
with a great deal of passion and
emotion.
Tu Fu was an eyewitness to the
historical events in a critical period
that saw a great, prosperous nation
ruined by military rebellions and wars
with border tribes.

Tu Fu who had fled with his family attempted to make his way back to
join the exiled court of the new Emperor but the rebels captured him
and held him in prison in Changan. During this time Tu Fu wrote a large
number of very powerful poems.
Eager to serve the country, Tu Fu was helpless in stopping its disasters
and could only faithfully record in poems his own observations and
feelings.
While some of his poems reflect his mood in happier moments, most of
them tell of his poverty, separation, his longing for his family, his
terrible life during the war an his encounters with refugees and
recruiting officers.

He liked to write in a structured form of poetry that was called Lu Shi

or regulated poetry. The style has balancing couplets.

His poems were simple and about common topics people experience and can
relate to.
His poems reflect the hard realities of war, people dying next to rich rulers,
and primitive rural life.
It is thought that he lived in a simple hut near the end of his life where he
wrote many of his best realist poems
He also liked to write about realistic things. His style of poetry is called
Realist.
Here is a famous couplet as an example:
Behind redden doors stink wine and meat; But upon the road die frozen
men.

ABOUT THE POEM

By the Lakeis an expression of Tu Fus own observations and
feelings regarding the disaster.
The extract contrasts nature with man as it explores the
ramifications of the An Lushan Rebellion that took place in
China in 755.
Shows his sympathy over the destruction and anguish in the
hearts of the Chinese people due to the war and rebellion.
Expresses the emotional effect resulting from the political
movement.

The old fellow from Shao-ling weeps with stifled sobs as he walks furtively by the
bends of the Sepentine on a day in spring.
Inthe waterside palaces the thousands of doors are locked. For whom have the
willows and rushed put on their fresh greenery?
I remember how formerly, when the Emperor's rainbow banner made its way into
the South Park, everything in the parkseemed to bloom with a brighter colour.
The First Lady of the Chao-yang Palace rode in the same carriage as her lord in
attendance at his side, while before the carriage rode maids of honour equipped
with bows and arrows, their white horseschamping at golden bits.
Leaning back, face skywards, they shot into the clouds; and the Lady laughed
gaily when a bird fell tothe ground transfixed by a well-aimed arrow. Where are
the bright eyes and the flashing smile now?
Tainted withblood-pollution, her wandering soul cannot make its way back. The
clear waters of the Wei flow eastwards, and Chien-ko isfar away: between the
one who has gone and the one who remains no communication is possible.
It is human to have feelingsand shed tears for such things; but the grasses and
flowers of the lakeside go on for ever, unmoved.
As evening falls, the city isfull of the dust of foreign horseman. My way is
towards the South City, but my gaze turns northward.

THEMES
The ill-effects of the An Lushan Rebellion
Contrast between past and present
Contrast between man and nature