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Last years

Luoyang, the region of his birthplace, was recovered by government forces in the winter of 762, and in the spring of 765 Du Fu and his family sailed down the Yangtze, apparently with the intention of making their way there. They travelled slowly, held up by his ill-health (by this time he was suffering from poor eyesight, deafness and general old age in addition to his previous ailments). They stayed in Kuizhou (in what is now Baidicheng, Chongqing) at the entrance to the Three Gorges for almost two years from late spring 766. This period was Du Fu's last great poetic flowering, and here he wrote 400 poems in his dense, late style. In autumn 766, Bo Maolin became governor of the region: he supported Du Fu financially and employed him as his unofficial secretary.

In March 768, he resumed his journey and got as far as Hunan province, where he died in Tanzhou (now Changsha) in November or December 770, in his 58th year. He was survived by his wife and two sons, who remained in the area for some years at least. His last known descendant is a grandson who requested a grave inscription for the poet from Yuan Zhen in 813.

Hung summarises his life by concluding that, "He appeared to be a filial son, an affectionate father, a generous brother, a faithful husband, a loyal friend, a dutiful official, and a patriotic subject."

Below is an example of one of Du Fu's later works. Like many other poems in the Tang it featured the theme of a long parting between friends, which was often due to officials being frequently transferred to the provinces:

It is almost as hard for friends to meet As for the Orion and Scorpius. Tonight then is a rare event, Joining, in the candlelight, Two men who were young not long ago But now are turning grey at the temples. To find that half our friends are dead Shocks us, burns our hearts with grief. We little guessed it would be twenty years Before I could visit you again. When I went away, you were still unmarried; But now these boys and girls in a row Are very kind to their father's old friend. They ask me where I have been on my journey; And then, when we have talked awhile, They bring and show me wines and dishes, Spring chives cut in the night-rain And brown rice cooked freshly a special way. My host proclaims it a festival, He urges me to drink ten cups— But what ten cups could make me as drunk As I always am with your love in my heart? Tomorrow the mountains will separate us; After tomorrow—who can say?

人生不相見， 動如參與商。 今夕復何夕， 共此燈燭光。 少壯能幾時， 鬢髮各已蒼。 訪舊半為鬼， 驚呼熱中腸。 焉知二十載， 重上君子堂。 昔別君未婚， 兒女忽成行。 怡然敬父執， 問我來何方。 問答乃未已， 兒女羅酒漿。 夜雨翦春韭， 新炊間黃粱。 主稱會面難， 一舉累十觴。 十觴亦不醉， 感子故意長。 明日隔山嶽， 世事兩茫茫。

— "To My Retired Friend Wei" (Zēng Wèi Bā Chǔshì 贈衛八處士)