Toboku

A Chinese poet of the late Tang dynasty. He also excelled in prose. He was called Little Du to distinguish him from Du Fu (Daito), a senior poet of the same family. His pen name was Muzhi. He went by the name Fanchuan. He was a Jinshi in 828 (the second year of the Taihe era). He seems to have indulged in entertainment in his youth, and is well known for his erotic poetry, which sometimes leaned towards decadence. However, behind this lies the bitterness of a poet born into a distinguished family whose grandfather Duyou became prime minister, but who faced the Tang dynasty on the verge of collapse and was forced to continue working as a lowly local official to earn money for the medical expenses of his younger brother, who suffered from an eye disease. This is why Du Mu's poems, such as "Once every ten years, I wake up from my dream of Yangzhou, and the name of the blue mansion is blessed with happiness," often show cynical inflection and leaps of imagination. As a result, his collection of poems contains only a few frivolous works, and is characterized by elegant quatrains such as "Spring in Jiangnan" and "Standing in Qinhuai." Other well-known works include "Ode to the Epang Palace" and "Poem of Du Qiu Niang."

Du Mu's seriousness as a writer can be seen in his annotations to the book on military strategy, The Art of War, and in the strong and courageous nature of his political treatises. He can be said to be the legitimate successor to the classical Chinese movement that began in the mid-Tang Dynasty. He has written twenty volumes of Fanchuan Anthology and seven volumes of Fanchuan Poetry Anthology.

[Kazuo Noguchi January 19, 2016]

“Kanshi Daikei 14 Morimaki” by Torao Ichinozawa (1965, Shueisha)”

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

中国、晩唐の詩人。散文にも秀でた。同族の先輩詩人である杜甫(とほ)（大杜(だいと)）と区別して小杜(しょうと)とよばれる。字(あざな)は牧之(ぼくし)。樊川(はんせん)と号した。長安（陝西(せんせい)省西安）の出身。828年（太和2）の進士。若いころは遊興にふけった人のようで、ときとして退廃にまで傾いた近体の艶詩(えんし)でよく知られるが、その裏面には、祖父杜佑(とゆう)が宰相となったほどの名門に生を受けながら、崩壊寸前期の唐王朝に直面し、かつ眼病に悩む弟の医療費をかせぐために低い地方官暮らしを続けざるをえなかった詩人の苦渋がある。「十年一たび覚(さ)む揚州の夢、贏(あま)し得たり青楼薄倖(はくこう)の名」など杜牧の詩が往々にしてシニカルな屈折と飛躍を示すのはそのためである。したがってその詩集には軽薄なものはごく少数しか残されておらず、「江南春」「泊秦淮(しんわい)」など清麗な絶句に特色がある。ほかに「阿房宮賦」「杜秋娘(しゅうじょう)詩」などが知られる。

　文学家としての杜牧の真面目(しんめんもく)は、兵法の書『孫子(そんし)』に注釈を施したり、また、その政治論文にうかがわれる、骨格の勁(つよ)い剛直さと気概とにある。中唐に端を発した古文運動の正当な継承者といえよう。『樊川文集』20巻、『樊川詩集』7巻がある。

［野口一雄　2016年1月19日］

『市野沢寅雄著『漢詩大系14　杜牧』（1965・集英社）』

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