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Du Fu

Historical Figure
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

Tang dynasty poet revered for morally serious, historically grounded verse on war, hardship, family, and public duty.

Detailed Definition
Du Fu is often called a poet-historian because his poems bear witness to rebellion, poverty, displacement, and the suffering of ordinary people. His art joins technical mastery with compassion and civic conscience. In poetry, his name suggests moral gravity, humane realism, and the capacity of lyric speech to preserve both private feeling and the wounds of an age.
Example
Example in poetry:
A poet might use Du Fu as an emblem of poetry shaped by war, exile, and public conscience; His poems about ordinary suffering can inspire modern political verse; Du Fu’s name may suggest compassion joined to historical witness; A poem could compare a refugee’s torn coat to the humane realism of Du Fu
Additional Notes
Du Fu is often called the poet-historian because his verse records war, famine, displacement, family separation, and public duty with humane precision. In poetry studies, he is valuable for showing how lyric feeling can become historical testimony. References to Du Fu may suggest moral seriousness, Confucian responsibility, exile, ageing, and the poet’s painful obligation to see private suffering within public catastrophe.
Also Known As
Tu Fu Dufu Du Shaoling Du Zimei Poet-Historian
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