Du Mu – The Nostalgic Libertine

Du Mu (803 – 852 AD) was one of the late Tang’s greatest poets.

Some of his most famous poems reflected on past days of song and wine.

This has gained him a reputation as a nostalgic libertine, a ‘heartless man’ one of his poems put it. 

He said of his own work:

既无其才，徒有其意，篇成在纸，多自焚之。
I lack talent [for poetry], I only have strangeness. When I form [a poem] on paper, I often burn it.

– Du Mu, Preface to Poems

In fact, his incredible talent has enchanted readers’ for over a thousand years.

Contents

Biography

803 – 828: Early life & family background

Du Mu (杜牧 [Dù Mù]) was born in the Tang dynasty capital of Chang’an (today’s Xi’an) to a wealthy and well-known family of officials.

His paternal grandfather, Du You (735 – 812), was a famous Tang dynasty official and historian. 

He passed away when Du Mu was 10 years old. Soon after, Du Mu’s father (Du Congyu), a mid-level official also passed away.

Du Mu would later claim that he had a difficult, poverty-stricken youth. 

He wrote that he moved constantly, ate wild vegetables and didn’t have candles.

Lost privilege

Du Mu was, unlike his father, disadvantaged in not inheriting the right to be an official.

This right, yin (胤), passed down to eldest sons, which Du Mu was. 

However, his father had not risen high enough by the point of his passing for Du Mu to qualify for it.

Fortunately, Du Mu and his brother Du Yi (? – ca.851), passed the imperial exams on their first attempt. Du Mu was 25 when he passed his. 

Success here secured them positions as officials.

Making a name for himself

Before Du Mu had taken his exams, his reputation was growing.

Young imperial exam graduates circulated their writings to build up their name.

Du Mu’s ‘Fu on Afang Palace’ (阿房宫赋) (822) was well-received by Chang’an scholar-officials.

In it, Du argued that dynasties often destroyed themselves.

呜呼！灭六国者，六国也，非秦也。族秦者，秦也，非天下也。【….】秦人不暇自哀，而后人哀之。后人哀之而不鉴之，亦使后人而复哀后人也。
Lamentable – the Six Kingdoms were destroyed by the Six Kingdoms, not by the Qin dynasty [221 – 206 BC]. The Qin dynasty was by destroyed itself, not by anything under heaven [….] The Qin people had no chance to lament themselves, yet people of later generations lament them. If later people lament them but do not reflect on them, these later people will be lamented by other later people in turn.

– Du Mu, ‘Fu on Afang Palace’

This was a prescient subject.

Just over 60 years before, the An Lushan Rebellion (755 – 63) had almost destroyed the dynasty.

Ever since, the empire had lost power and territory. 

Factional struggle, military defeats, and uprisings had all played a role in this decline.

For reference, it’s worth noting that the late Tang was approximately contemporary with:

• Alfred the Great’s reign as King of the West Saxons (r. 871 – c. 886) and then King of the Anglo Saxons (r. c. 886 – 899)
• Dublin (841) and Iceland (c. 872) founded by the Vikings
• The first phase of the Holy Roman Empire (c. 800) beginning.

828: More exams & first post

As with other leading examination candidates, Du Mu was given further exams after passing the Jinshi.

These were held in the empire’s second city, Luoyang (in today’s Henan Province).

The first official post Du Mu was appointed to was in Chang’an, as the Editor in the Institute for the Advancement in Literature.

This was a prestigious but relatively lowly position (after all, it was his first position). However, Du Mu left it after only a few months.

828 – 33: Entering Shen Chuanshi’s entourage

Du Mu entered the entourage (or official retinue) of the official Shen Chuanshi (769 – 835).

Shen was a family friend and working with him would advance Du’s career.

Du followed Shen to a number of postings in Hongzhou (today’s Nancheng, Jiangxi Province) and Xuanzhou (today’s Xuancheng, Anhui Province).

Du’s work would likely have involved drafting documents and other minor administrative tasks.

Poetry and singing girls (meeting Zhang Haohao)

Officials’ culture involved attending dinners with drinking, poetry, and singing girls.

These girls entertained diners with singing, dancing, and playing instruments. (They are likely an early inspiration of Japan’s Geisha’s, too). 

It was in Xuanzhou that Du first met Zhang Haohao, the subject of one of his most famous poems, Poem For Zhanghaohao.

She was first a singing girl and then personal concubine of Shen Chuanshi’s younger brother, Shen Shishu.

About five years later, Du Mu and Zhang Haohao met again by chance, in Luoyang. 

By this time, Zhang was no longer with Shen. She told Du Mu her sad story.

Writing the preface to Li He’s collected works

Whilst Du Mu was in Xuanzhou, he was involved in a strange and wonderful moment in Chinese literary history.

It took place late at night in early December, 831.

Fifteen years earlier, the above-mentioned Shen Shishu, had been given a collection of poems by his friend.

The friend had died soon after, at the age of only 26. 

This effectively gave Shen the obligation to write a preface (or organise one being written) to publish the poems with. 

The friend was none other than Li He (ca. 790 – 816), one of Chinese poetry’s most unusual yet most brilliant figures.

That evening, Shen was drunk and reflected on his ongoing failure to organise Li’s poems. 

So, he sent a messenger to a surprised and uncooperative Du Mu.

Eventually, however, Du Mu relented. He got out of bed and went to Shen’s quarters to read the unique, intense poetry.

The preface he wrote for it was in turn, unusual:

云烟绵联，不足为其态也；水之迢迢，不足为其情也；春之盎盎，不足为其和也；秋之明洁，不足为其格也；风樯阵马，不足为其勇也 [….]
Clouds and mist continuously flowing don’t adequately express his manner. Waters stretching into the far distance don’t match his emotions. Spring’s flourishing has not his harmony. Autumn’s bright purity has not his strict form. Masts in wind and battle horses have not his bravery [….]

– Du Mu, ‘Preface to Li He’s Collected Poems’

The flattering words in this extract are flattering. 

However, throughout the rest of it, Du Mu clearly expresses his disapproval of Li. 

This was in part because Du, then aged 29, was still high-minded about political matters and the purpose of poetry.

833 – 35: Yangzhou

In 833, Du was sent to work in Yangzhou (in today’s Jangsu Province) as a judge and later private secretary for Niu Sengru (780 – 849). 

This was a prosperous city positioned at the beginning of the Grand Canal. 

Niu was still engaged in intense factional political fighting with his rival, Li Deyi (787 – 850).

Fortunately for Du, he managed to stay out of this.

Around this time, Du’s poetry also began to develop in new ways.

In particular, he began to write more personal, reflective poetry than he had before. 

835 – 37: Self-demoted & the Sweet Dew Incident

In 835, Du Mu was transferred to the capital, Chang’an to work as an investigating censor.

However, around this time his good friend, Li Gan became involved in political intrigue against the court’s eunuchs. 

This resulted in Li’s banishment to the south, a severe punishment that led to his death 6 months later.

In order to avoid punishment by association with his friend (a common occurrence), Du requested a transfer to Luoyang.

His request was granted, but his position had no duties.

His timely move helped him avoid the Sweet Dew Incident.

At the time, the emperor Wenzong (r. 827 – 840) plotted with officials to assassinate the courts’ powerful eunuchs. 

(The plot was called ‘Sweet Dew Incident’ because it was to begin with the emperor instructing the Eunuchs to visit some auspicious dew. Their assassins would ambush them.)

His plot – and assassins – were discovered and halted. This led to a purge of many officials and a huge loss of power for the emperor.

It was further blow to the weakening dynasty.

837: Brother’s blindness

In 837, Du Mu left Luoyang to take his brother, Du Yi, to a famous doctor in Chang’an over his eyesight.

Sadly, the doctor couldn’t help Du Yi (who had only just passed his imperial exam a few years earlier).

The brothers then travelled to Xuanzhou where Du Mu had found a post. 

En route, they passed through Yangzhou, where Du Mu had lived – in happier times – just a few years before.

Whilst here, he wrote the following poem whilst staying in the Chanzhi Temple with his brother.

842: Back to the capital

Du was appointed Rectifier of Omissions of the Left in the capital in 838.

On his way back to the capital, he settled his brother in Jiangzhou.

When in the capital, he successfully petitioned to have his deceased friend Li Gan posthumously pardoned. 

In 840, he was promoted to Vice Director of the Catering Bureau. The following year, he was made Vice Director of the Board of Review.

842 – 49: Governor in the provinces

Between 842 – 42 Du served as the governor of Huangzhou (in today’s Hubei Province).

His position was much higher than it had been in the capital, but Huangzhou was a relatively out-of-the-way place.

(A few centuries later, the Song poet and calligrapher Su Shi (1137 – 1101) would famously be exiled here.)

Du felt that his former superior’s rival Li Deyi (who was now back in power) was behind this appointment.

In 844, he was appointed censor in Chizhou (in today’s Anhui Province). Whilst here, he was visited by the poet Zhang Hu (ca. 792 – ca. 853).

Zhang was seeking patronage from Du. And it appears here that the two poets became friends.

Stephen Owen also comments on how Zhang helped inspire Du:

In Zhang Hu, Du Mu saw poetry not as a means for advancement but as a means to speak back to those in power.

– Stephen Owen, The Late Tang: Chinese Poetry in the Mid-Ninth Century (827 – 860), (Cambridge (Massachusetts): Harvard University Press, 2006), p. 296

849 – 52: Return to the capital 

After nearly 9 years away from the capital, Du returned to the capital.

He was appointed to a position at the same position (and therefore same level) as he had been in before he left. This clearly frustrated him.

He also needed to support his growing family, including his brother. Whilst in Chang’an, he requested a position as governor in Hangzhou, but was denied.

At the same time, his literary reputation was still growing. He met one of his young admirers, Li Shangyin (813 – 838) during this time.

(Li would go on to become (after his lifetime) the most famous late Tang poet.)

In 850, Du was granted a request to serve as governor in Huzhou (in today’s Zhejiang Province).

He was recalled to the capital a year later to serve as a Drafter.

Unfortunately, the same year (851) his brother passed away.

The following year, Du fell ill in the winter and died. He had clearly suspected this would happen, as he wrote his own tomb inscription.

Du the poet

Du Mu’s most famous poems have gained him a very specific reputation as a regretful womaniser. 

However, the reality was more complex.

Although only an estimated 20% of his output survives, there are many types of poems by him.

This includes ones on more political, high-minded themes.

After all, like many Tang poets, a large part of his career was spent seeking advancement in the government. 

He likely didn’t see himself primarily as a poet, but as a scholar-official who wrote poetry.

This is true even of China’s two most famous poets, Li Bai (701 – 762 AD) and Du Fu (712 – 770 AD) (not a relative of Du Mu).

On his own poetry, Du Mu remarked:

某苦心为诗，本求高绝，不务绮丽，不涉习俗，不今不古，处于中间。
I do not devote myself to great beauty. And I do not venture into the familiar and common. I am neither ancient not modern – I place myself between them.

– Du Fu, Preface to Poems

Stephen Owen summarised this further: 

A poet could present himself both as deeply engaged with political life and as no less deeply resistant to it. Such a poet was Du Mu.

– Stephen Owen, The Late Tang: Chinese Poetry in the Mid-Ninth Century (827 – 860), (Cambridge (Massachusetts): Harvard University Press, 2006), p. 257

Du Mu even looked down upon his contemporary Bai Juyi (772 – 846), who was a famously politically un-engaged poet.

But at the same time, he clearly admired him. And his poem Zhang Haohao was clearly inspired by Bai’s famous Pipa Ballad.

Du Mu’s calligraphy style

The Tang dynasty was not just a great age of poetry. It was also a great age of calligraphy. 

Du Mu’s style of calligraphy is very distinct. 

This adds even more expression and idiosyncrasy to his poetry. 

It is a very free and imbalanced style consisting of varying thicknesses of strokes and characters.

During the late Tang, especially during the Yuanhe reign (806 – 820) of the second Xianzong Emperor, many calligraphers begin favouring thin and vigorous brushstrokes. 

This differed from the thicker strokes of the earlier Tang periods. Du’s surviving calligraphy partially reflects this trend.

Du’s brushstrokes often appear both slow and leisurely. 

This leads to characters having unusual quirks, such as mis-sized components or occasionally dissimilar styles between characters that follow on from one another.

He favoured running script which often crossed over into near grass script with some characters and strokes.

Poem About Zhang Haohao (张好好诗 [Zhāng Hǎohǎo Shī]) is Du Mu’s only surviving original ink calligraphy piece. 

It is narrative poem written in running script on hemp paper. It is made up of 322 characters arranged in forty-six rows.

Zhang Haohao was a young courtesan that Du Mu met in 829 in Hongzhou, Jiangxi Province. 

Girls like Zhang often came from lower class families or had been sold into prostitution by their ex-husbands. 

Their roles were often a mixture of entertainer, hostess and prostitute. Today, many historians see them as the predecessors to Japan’s Geishas.

The famous Song dynasty calligraphy treatise Notes on Xuanhe Era Calligraphy (宣和书谱) (1120 AD) mentions Poem About Zhang Haohao. It comments on how the style suits the content well.

The content is based on a recollection of the young Zhang’s beauty. 

As the piece states in its opening lines, Zhang was just 13 years old when Du first saw her. At the time she was a singer in the ‘pleasure quarters’.

The poem goes on to talk about how Du saw Zhang many years later, by which point she was a concubine for a wealthy man. 

Like his ‘Venting Feelings’ poem at the beginning of this article, Poem About Zhang Haohao is tinged with a sense of sadness and regret over times gone by.