The Canonization of Du Fu in the Context of East Asian Literature

Abstract

Abstract In such regions of the East Asian cultural sphere as China, Korea and Japan, the canonization of Du Fu was a relatively lengthy process. It was achieved mainly because of strong support from three different cohorts: the first cohort is the Chinese literary giants who expressed strong commendations of Du Fu, the second cohort is the Japanese scholars who conducted rigorous evaluation of Du Fu’s poetry within academic frameworks, and the third cohort is the Korean royals who directly contributed to the rise of Du Fu’s poetry. The first two cohorts are unofficial, while the latter one is official but not without amicable interactions with the masses. Korean literature was in tune with the character of Du Fu’s poetry because it displayed a strong tendency towards politics; Japanese literature, on the other hand, was somewhat not, for it hardly included coverage on issues of social politics. Du Fu was given the highest literary recognition in both Korea and Japan for his poetic prowess, and his poetry was used by the state in both regions to serve different purposes; this goes to demonstrate that the two countries made their own culturally-driven decisions when accepting the influence of Chinese culture. It is a norm in East Asian literature for literary canons, whether old or new, to coexist, regardless of type or level, and such a norm is particular to the admission of literary works into literary canons within the East Asian cultural sphere.