Du Shenyan, with the courtesy name Bijian, was born in Xiangyang, Xiangzhou. He came from the Du family in Jingzhao and was talented but proud of his abilities. He was known as one of the “Four Friends of Literature” along with Li Qiao, Cui Rong, and Su Wei. Let’s learn about Du Shenyan’s story together with the editor of History Encyclopedia.
His family comes from a prominent background, with officials from his ancestors dating back three thousand years. His family can be considered a household of eunuchs. And the person we’re going to talk about today, perhaps you haven’t heard of his name, but you must have heard of his grandson’s name. His grandson’s name is Du Fu. Well, he’s no stranger to the Poet Saint, right. His grandson is a poet saint, but he doesn’t have to rely on his own grandson to become famous. In the era he lived in, he was the most famous figure at that time.
He had outstanding literary talent since childhood and was very good at writing five character poems. At that time, he was already very famous in their hometown. Before taking the imperial examination, he was hired as a staff member by the county magistrate in their county. Later, at the age of twenty-five, he passed the imperial examination and became a jinshi. In the second year, he was granted an official position, which was relatively fast compared to others. But his official positions were not very large. He served as a ninth grade junior official for more than 20 years until he was promoted to Luoyang magistrate by the court at the age of 52.
There is actually a very interesting legend about his promotion. According to some unofficial historical records, when selecting this official position, an exam was required, and the person in charge of the exam was Su Weiwei, who was a very famous person. Later, he and Du Fu’s grandfather were known as the Four Friends of Literature. After Du Shenyan finished his exam and passed it, he said to others, ‘Su Wei is going to die this time.’ Others quickly asked him, ‘Why is this?’? As a result, he said that he saw the article I wrote and was not ashamed to death. There are many fictional elements in this story, but it is not difficult to see that Du Shenyan is a very arrogant person. In historical records, it is said that he likes to talk big and often speaks without restraint. It is said that once he fell ill and a group of his good friends went to visit him. As a result, he actually told them, ‘When I was alive, none of you had a chance to become famous, and your radiance was overshadowed by me.’. Now I’m going to die, your tails haven’t lifted up to the sky yet. Although this statement is very interesting, according to some experts’ research, it also contains a lot of fictional elements.
But from these aspects, it can be clearly perceived that he is a person who loves to talk big. His big words are reflected in himself, and he highly praises his achievements. He believes that he is already more skilled than Qu Yuan, Song Yudu, and his calligraphy has surpassed that of Wang Xizhi and others. You see, when they say this, he is the most powerful person in the world.
However, besides liking to talk big, he is also very knowledgeable, at least because of his existence, he led Tang poetry to a new height. However, it was also due to his habit of speaking without restraint that he had bad luck shortly after serving as the magistrate of Luoyang. He was demoted to Jiangxi, and this time his future began to face risks. After he arrived in Jiangxi, he had conflicts due to poor relationships with his colleagues. As a result, his two superiors plotted to frame him, arrested him in prison, and prepared to execute him. At that time, his second son, Du Fu’s uncle, was only sixteen years old. He even took out a knife to kill Du Shenyan’s boss, and he was also chopped to death by the military academy. Because he was helping his father Du Shenyan, his filial piety had a great impact at that time, and his father was acquitted.
Three years later, Du Shenyan’s friend spoke well of him in front of Wu Zetian, so he was summoned by the emperor and even appointed as a fifth rank official. At that time, the emperor asked him if he was happy, so he wrote a joyful poem in front of the emperor to express his joy. After the age of 58, he was finally able to accompany the emperor, but he was a little confused about the situation. At that time, the emperor’s male pet Zhang Yizhi and others had great power, and he had a good relationship with these people, which laid the foundation for his later demotion. After the people of the Li family regained the throne, they killed all of Wu Zetian’s male pets, including Zhang Yizhi, and he was implicated as a result. It was said that at the age of sixty, he was demoted to Vietnam and died four years later.
Perhaps many people don’t know about him, but everyone will definitely know about Du Fu, and his influence on Du Fu can be said to be very significant. If it weren’t for his tendency to talk big, then with his own talent, he should still have a smooth career in the officialdom.
