BBC documentary “ Du Fu -China’s Greatest Poet ” spotlights a number of poems written by China’s “Shakespeare,” Du Fu. One of the poems recited in this documentary that resonates with me is The Eight Immortals of Drinking Immortals. Du Fu, a Tang dynasty poet, wrote this poem in the 7 th century. The poem revolves around the drinking habits of Li Bai, a Chinese poet and a great friend of Du Fu, and his seven colleagues, He Zhizhang, Li Jin, Li Shizni, Cui Zongzhi, Su Jin, Zhang Xu, and Jiao Sui (Warner & Kroll, 2015). These individuals are all well known for their love of alcoholic beverages. Li Bai and his colleagues lived in the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang dynasty. Du Fu wrote the poem not only to describe the drunkenness of Li Bai and his eight colleagues but also to celebrate as well as express his infinite admiration for them.
Despite their conviviality and excessive drinking behavior, these eight individuals described in the poem hold different positions in the society, including a prince, a prime minister, a Buddhist monk, a Taoist, poets, and artists. Du Fu wrote “The Eight Immortals of the Wine Cup” to not only protest against the accepted rules of etiquette but also to protest against the customs that favor the more naturalist philosophy of life. Conviviality and excessive drinking derived its origins in ching-t’an (“pure conversion”), a Taoist practice. At the time, Chinese bureaucrats saw drunkenness or excessive drinking of alcohol and wine as a permissible form of escape from conventional lives. In this respect, a number of intellectuals used to gather as well as engage themselves in witty dialogues as a way to relieve themselves from conventional lives.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
The “ Eight Immortals of the Wine Cup” was written during the Tang dynasty. During this time, the Tang dynasty men derived considerable enjoyment as well as considerable inspiration from drinking alcoholic beverages. For example, as described in the poem, Li Jin had the ability to drink three gallons of alcohol by daybreak while Li Bai had the ability to drink a gallon of wine and then write a significant number of poems (Warner & Kroll, 2015). Du Fu describes Li Jin’s drinking behavior by stating that whenever a wine cart passes, Li Jin’s mouth waters. On the other hand, Li Shi-Zhi is also a drunkard (Warner & Kroll, 2015). As described in the poem, Li Shi-Zhi can spend tens of thousands on alcohol while He Zhizhang, who was a statesman and a poet, can ride a horse while in a drunken state (Warner & Kroll, 2015). The entire poem describes the eight colleagues mentioned above and their love for alcoholic beverages. Just like many other Tang dynasty men, Du Fu also had developed excessive drinking behavior. This shows that during the Tang dynasty, the Tang dynasty men had a great desire to drink wine. In fact, Du Fu was occasionally referred to as the “ninth poet” immortal. In this respect, Du Fu wrote the poem to celebrate the drinking habits of his fellow literary men.
References
Warner, D. X., & Kroll, P. (Eds.). (2015). The Poetry of Du Fu . Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG.
