Du Fu's Final Day with a Devout Pilgrim

$50.00
by Art Aeon

Shop Now
Du Fu’s [ 杜 甫 ] Final Day with a Devout Pilgrim is a fictional narrative poem about the poetry and life of Du Fu (712-770), the great Chinese poet revered as the ‘Poet-Saint.' It unfolds imaginary dialogues between Du Fu and a fictional character called ‘Bright Moon’: An earnest young admirer of Du Fu who visits the sick, frail poet stranded on his worn boat-hut adrift on the Yangtze River on his final day. Entreated by Bright Moon, who wishes to be his new pupil, Du Fu reminisces about his happy youth, how he studied poetry and recites classic poems of Li Bai (701-762), Wang Wei (701 -761), and Tao Yuan Min (365–427) for the sincere pilgrim to appreciate. Du Fu relates to the new pupil his indignations, frustrations, agonies, and utter despairs on vile, corrupted rulers. He expresses his sincere and compassionate sympathy for the helpless, innocent common people by recounting his own experiences, which he had bravely revealed in his heart-rending and moving ballads. Suddenly, sick and frail Du Fu collapses and swoons. When he recovers, he relates his mysterious dream to his elated pupil: Li Bai comes to see Du Fu on his boat; they celebrate their blissful reunion by exchanging poetic chants. The full moon was rising on the Yangtze River. Unexpectedly, Li Bai jumped off the skiff as if trying to soar up to the moon. Then Du Fu awoke from the strange dream. When he finishes recalling his dream, a bright shooting star falls. Du Fu blesses Bright Moon to write pure, earnest poems deep from his heart and soul. Then he gently passes away in peace.

Customer Reviews

No ratings. Be the first to rate

 customer ratings


How are ratings calculated?
To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. It also analyzes reviews to verify trustworthiness.

Review This Product

Share your thoughts with other customers