(Belmont University Professor Corinne Dale developed this assignment.)
Please go to the Web sites below and read the essays and poetry assigned (you have the option of listening to the audio and/or viewing the video).
Read “The Chinese Scholar-Official”
Read the comments on Tang Poetry, including the following subtopics:
- An introduction to Tang Poetry
- Tang Poetry and the Civil Service Examination
- Poetry a Part of Everyday Life
- Tang Poetry and Regulated Verse
- Three Prominent Tang Poets
- all Related topics on Li Bo and Du Fu
Read the following poems by Du Fu
- “A Song of Painting: To General Cao Ba”
- “Passing the Night at Headquarters”
- “Dreaming of Li Bai (1)”
Read the following poems by Li Bo (Li Bai)
- “[You ask me why I dwell in the green mountain]”
- “Ziyi Song”
- “On Climbing in Nan-king to the Terrace of Phoenixes”
- “Moon Over Mountain Pass”
After completing the readings, please answer the following two questions.
Each answer should range from 250-500 words.
- In what ways does Du Fu represent the classical Chinese literati (gentleman scholar-poet)? Use specific examples from the poems to illustrate each point.
- Poetic style (regulated verse, nature symbolism, and use of poetic language)
- Political position (witness to history)
- Social position (family background, place in society)
What particular aspects of his life and times made his poetry especially appealing? What unusual and especially brilliant aspects of his poetry have led scholars to consider him the foremost poet of the Tang Dynasty? Be sure to give examples from the poetry.
- How does Li Bo establish a persona as an outsider—that is, as radically different from the Confucian poet-scholar typical of classical China?
Refer to specific examples from his poetry to describe his
- family and educational background
- political and social points of view
- religious stance
- personal behavior
What was appealing about a poet who in so many ways violated the classical Chinese expectations for a poet?
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