Publications
Publication details [#14720]
Jiang, Yin. 2020. A Metaphor of Despair and Consciousness: A Discussion of the Suite Poems Chanting Withered and Sick Trees by Du Fu. Literature, History, and Philosophy (文史哲) 4 : 89–167. 94+167 pp. ![DOI logo](https://benjamins.com/logos/doi-logo.svg)
Abstract
The suite poems including “The Sick Cypress,”“The Withered Palm,”“The Sick Orange,”and “The Withered Nanmu”written by Du Fu in A.D.761,changed the former style of metonymy when chanting trees,and transformed from reposing emotions to the metaphor of social reality.The poems contain unprecedented profound consideration on individual,society,and dynasty,involving many significant themes such as popular destitution,emperor's misconduct,and dynasty decline.The overall disillusionment from people's livelihood to individual fate reflects the great change of Du Fu's thought in his later years,and reveals his mental state of releasing political aspiration and focusing on poetic creation.In this sense,the suite poems can be regarded as the most insightful broadening in his later period of creation.