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Li Bo and Du Fu

Student blog post

While I read Li Bo’s poetry, I felt that Li Bo was lonely man and comported himself through drinking and traveling. In Drinking Alone with the Moon, he drinks alone but with moon and his own shadow. There is a legend that Li Bo died himself by drowning while trying to embrace the moon’s reflection on the water when he was drunken. And the legends about Li Bo’s death shows us how he loves wine and moon. In addition, in Sitting Alone by Jingting Mountain, he gets comfort through looking at the Jingting Mountain. In The Hardships of Traveling the Road I and In the Quite Night, you can see that Li Bo was traveling. I believe he is not good father if he had a family because he will not care his own family but drink wine, like to travel and appreciate landscapes.  However, his habit shows us that Li Bo believed in Daoism deeply. When he describes his dream in A Song on Visiting Heaven’s Crone Mountain in a Dream: On Parting, there are many fantasies and colorful imagery.

Unlike Li Bo, Du Fu’s poetries are about the reality of his country, Tang Dynasty. He missed the glorious time of Tang Dynasty in the past and how people’s lives are pitiful. Because government officials did not follow Confucian duty and An Lushan Rebellion brought chaos in Tang Dynasty, the time period was gloomy and sorrowful. In Autumn Meditations, he express the capital of Tang is like a chessboard. There are many political power struggle and government does not care its citizens as it did before. In Spring Prospect, he is in full of sorrow. Even spring comes and blooms flowers, people spend hard time and it is hard to meet family.

Both of the poets lived in same time period in Tang Dynasty and experienced An Lushan Rebellion which brought chaos to even Chang’an, which is the capital of Tang. However, their poetry’s’ themes are different. They are included sorrow but they are different types of sorrow. I felt that Li Bo tried to forget about the bad issues and comfort himself while Du Fu deplore the situations of ordinary people and criticize government that it does not work properly.

 

  1. What would you be like if you lived in Chang’an at the same time period-engaging in the problem or getting out from?
  2. Comparing today’s musician, Is Li Bo similar for spending his life with wine and living freely?
  3. Is it true that when one uses money like Li Bo, money comes right back to one?

Short Paper #1- Epic of Gilgamesh

short paper prompts

In the Epic of Gilgamesh, after Gilgamesh and Enkidu killed a giant Humbaba, they cut down and chose timber of cedar which of Humbaba guarded.  Then they made a huge door with cedar to delight Enlil because Enlil sent Humbaba to guard the Cedar Forest and its trees and they killed Humbaba and cut the cedar.  They sent it to Nippur that is sanctuary of Enlil.

The behaviors of Gilgamesh and Enkidu are unusual toward Enlil.  The reason why Enlil sent Humbaba to the Cedar Forest is that he wanted people not to cut the cedars.  In the Epic of Gilgamesh, there is a quote “In order to safeguard the forest of cedars, Enlil has appointed him to terrify the people” on page 112.  However, Gilgamesh and Enkidu not only cut the cedars and killed Humbaba.  They did not followed what Enlil who is God said.  Even though Gilgamesh is two third god and Enkidu is one half beast, they are lower than a complete God, Enlil.  These behaviors are against Enlil.  I believed that ancient people feared God more than modern time’s people.  Nonetheless, Gilgamesh and Enkidu fight against a god’s will.  They made a big door and sent it to Nippur where is the sanctuary place of Enlil to be apologized from Enlil.  However, it seems that they flattered to Enlil.

This passage leave me wanting to know the further story.  If I were Enlil in the epic, I would not forgive Gilgamesh and Enkidu because they ignore what I said.  I expect Enlil would hate and give them punishment.  In the Epic of Gilgamesh’s brief summary on page 97, after the second challenge, the gods make a decision that Gilgamesh or Enkidu must die.  When the gods make the decision, Enlil might support that one of them should die.

When I read the epic, I felt I have a cultural ignorance.  In this story, Gilgamesh was son of Ninsun who is a goddess.  He was able to predict the future through dream.  God such as Shamash who is another God in the epic answer his question through dream. Predicting future is one of ancient priest roles in ancient religion.  Moreover, he was wise as god, brave and stronger than any other people.  But at the same time, he was a king of Uruk.  In my art history class, I learned that religion played very important role in ancient society such as Babylon or Sumer and priests were classified as high social class people.   In this epic, Gilgamesh played two role.  One is priest and the other is king.  I learned that a person who has religious power could have power in a politic.