Visiting the Temple of the Former Lord

Du FuJinzhang Book Company (Jinzhang Shuju) · ChinaJun 2024

4.6

Word count: 4.2K words
Chapters: 48

Summary

"Visiting the Temple of the First Lord (the Temple of Liu Zhaolie lies six li east of Fengjie County)" is one of the poems by the Tang poet Du Fu.

Editor's review

Du Fu's poem "Visiting the Temple of the First Lord" takes the Temple of Liu Zhaolie, six li east of Fengjie County, as a site of commemoration, interweaving the shrine before his eyes with events of the Three Kingdoms and giving voice to the poet's sense of his own circumstances in a time of disorder. The piece is not long, yet it has a dual quality of historical reflection and lyric expression: on the one hand it recalls the achievements and regrets of Liu Bei and his ministers, on the other it uses the ancient site to express his own worries while drifting in the southwest, reading with a deep, forceful cadence that typically embodies Du Fu's "poetry as history" method and his concern for country and family. This edition, printed by Shanghai Jinzhang Book Company, presents the poem as a single piece, making it easy for readers to concentrate on close reading of one Du Fu poem without being overwhelmed by the complete works. It is suitable as an entry point for studying Du Fu's Kuizhou-period works or examining poetry on Three Kingdoms themes, and also suits classical poetry lovers for bedside reading, using one poem to glimpse Du Fu's way of moving from scene to feeling and from past to present.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Classical poetry lovers wishing to closely read a single historical poem by Du Fu
Students and researchers studying Du Fu's Kuizhou-period works
General readers interested in poetry on Three Kingdoms themes
Language teachers needing a short text for classroom use

Not a good fit for

Beginners seeking a systematic understanding of Du Fu's life and the full corpus
Readers who prefer long narrative or modern vernacular interpretation
Beginners needing detailed annotations and line-by-line explanation

Reading tips

Read the whole poem first, mark place names and personal names, then look up background on the Temple of the First Lord and clarify who is being commemorated.
Read it against Du Fu's other Kuizhou poems to feel how historical reflection and personal circumstance intertwine.
Read it aloud two or three times, attending to the forceful rhythm of the seven-character lines and feeling the sound and emotion of Du Fu's poetry.
After reading, write a short note of about a hundred words recording where in the poem the ancient site turns into personal lament.

About the publisher

Jinzhang Book Company (Jinzhang Shuju) China · Founded in 1901

Jinzhang Book Company (Jinzhang Shuju) was a private publishing and distribution house in Shanghai during the late Qing and early Republican periods, issuing traditional works by lithographic printing. Judging from the 1,194 titles in the collection, its publishing focused on classical poetry, Eastern philosophy, historical reading, traditional Chinese medical texts, and canonical works, along with books on literary appreciation. Representative titles include the poetry and prose collections of Du Fu and Ouyang Xiu; historical works such as the Book of Han and Zizhi Tongjian; classical texts such as the Book of Documents and Mencius; and specialized and literary classics such as Treatise on Cold Damage and Li Sao. Its author resources cover major figures across the ages, including Du Fu, Ban Gu, Sima Guang, Zhang Zhongjing, Qu Yuan, Ouyang Xiu, and Tang Shenwei, reflecting the house's characteristic reliance on traditional scholarship and medical literature while serving general readers. Public information on its early history and operational details is limited, so no conjecture is offered here.

版权信息
【怀锦水居止二首】杜甫
【子规】杜甫
【立春】杜甫
【漫成一绝】杜甫
【老病】杜甫
【南楚】杜甫
【寄常征君】杜甫
【寄岑嘉州（州据蜀江外）】杜甫
【移居夔州郭】杜甫
【船下夔州郭宿，雨湿不得上岸，别王十二判官】杜甫
【雨不绝】杜甫
【崔评事弟许相迎不到应虑老夫见泥雨…必愆佳期走笔戏简】杜甫
【宿江边阁（即后西阁）】杜甫
【夜宿西阁，晓呈元二十一曹长】杜甫
【西阁口号（呈元二十一）】杜甫
【西阁雨望】杜甫
【不离西阁二首】杜甫
【西阁三度期大昌严明府同宿不到】杜甫
【西阁二首】杜甫
【阁夜】杜甫
【西阁夜】杜甫
【瀼西寒望】杜甫
【入宅三首（大历二年春，甫自西阁迁赤甲）】杜甫
【赤甲】杜甫
【卜居】杜甫
【暮春题瀼西新赁草屋五首】杜甫
【园】杜甫
【竖子至】杜甫
【示獠奴阿段】杜甫
【秋野五首】杜甫
【溪上】杜甫
【树间】杜甫
【课小竖鉏斫舍北果林，枝蔓荒秽，净讫移床三首】杜甫
【寒雨朝行视园树】杜甫
【季秋江村】杜甫
【小园】杜甫
【自瀼西荆扉且移居东屯茅屋四首】杜甫
【茅堂检校收稻二首】杜甫
【东屯月夜】杜甫
【东屯北崦】杜甫
【从驿次草堂复至东屯二首】杜甫
【暂往白帝复还东屯】杜甫
【刈稻了咏怀】杜甫
【上白帝城（公孙述僭位于此，自称白帝）】杜甫
【上白帝城二首】杜甫
【武侯庙（庙在白帝西郊）】杜甫
【八阵图】杜甫

FAQ

How does this poem differ from Du Fu's other historical poems?

This poem takes a specific shrine as its footing, moving from the ancient site before the eyes to historical figures and then back to his own situation; its scale is smaller and its emotion more concentrated. Compared with famous pieces such as "Shu Xiang," it relies more on the trigger of actual geography, and readers can understand the concreteness of its commemoration by referring to the Three Kingdoms remains around Fengjie.

Can I understand this poem without annotations?

This edition prints the poem as a single piece and offers limited annotation. The poem involves Three Kingdoms figures such as Liu Bei and Zhuge Liang and places in Fengjie; readers with basic knowledge of the Three Kingdoms can largely understand it. If allusions and place names prove obstacles, read alongside an annotated selection of Du Fu's poems or a history of the Three Kingdoms.

Why read a single piece rather than Du Fu's complete works?

A single-piece edition helps concentrate attention and read one poem thoroughly. For readers making initial contact with Du Fu's historical poems, closely reading one complete work first makes it easier to grasp the structural features of Du Fu's poetry—moving from scene to history and from history to feeling—than browsing the complete works, and it also facilitates repeated reading aloud and note-taking.

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About the author

Du Fu Author · Chinese

Du Fu was a realist poet of the Tang dynasty, styled Zimei and self-named Shaoling Yelao. His ancestral home was Xiangyang, and he was born in Gongxian, Henan. He served as Left Remonstrator and as an adjunct员外郎 of the Ministry of Works, and is known to later generations as Du Shiyi and Du Gongbu. During the An Lushan Rebellion he was displaced and wandered from place to place, later settling in the Thatched Cottage in Chengdu. About 1,500 of his poems survive, most collected in The Complete Works of Du Gongbu. He is revered as the "Sage of Poetry," his verse is called "poetry as history," and he is ranked alongside Li Bai as "Li and Du." His writing confronts social reality and personal hardship, covering war and displacement, the sufferings of the people, landscapes, and everyday reflections; his style is deep and forceful, his language precise and varied, and his influence on later poetry is profound. This site holds 31 of his works, including complete collections such as The Complete Works of Du Fu and The Collected Poems of Du Fu, as well as individual pieces such as "Again Showing Zongwu," "Visiting the Temple of the First Lord," "Song of the Year's End," and "The Ninth Day." His works are commonly classified under ancient poetry, Eastern philosophy, and culture.