In front of this chronicle, there is an introduction written by Heng, director of Sichuan Literature and History Research Institute, saying that "this chronicle was compiled in Du Fu's life and the time and place when Du Fu's poems were written, which is clear at a glance, everything is unknown, timely by year, and has a pedigree", and he is quite confident in his family's attitude and the accuracy of textual research. "Fan Fan" also emphasizes that "when the editor writes this first draft, the language should be well-founded and consistent with historical facts everywhere, and those who cannot be tested should be in doubt"; He especially criticized the predecessors for "paying for Du Fu's birthday", and "this problem is based on new evidence and may have been solved". It serves to show that the discovery of Du Fu's birthday is an important achievement praised by editors. At the meeting of the Presidium of the World Peace Council held in 196 1, it was decided to list Du Fu as a world cultural celebrity and commemorate him next year, that is, the anniversary of his birth1250th. Although the editor can't predict this, he can find out the exact date of birth, which can be said to be full of enthusiasm and glory.
However, the main evidence of chronology comes from Du Fu's poems. It is inevitable why no one has explained it for thousands of years. Hongye, who lives in America, took the lead in asking questions. He published "How to Write Du Fu" in the special issue of Nanyang Business Daily on New Year's Day of 1962, and introduced his experience in writing Du Fu: the greatest poet in China (Harvard University Press, 1952 edition). In the first chapter of the book, he clearly stated: "We can't know the month, date or even season of Du Fu's birth." (Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 20 1 1 version, translated by Zeng) will certainly pay special attention to new discoveries. But he doesn't agree with this statement, thinking that "a little textual research will find traces of forgery", such as Chronicle of Du Gongbu's Poems and Birthday Offering on the first day of the first month is a life of "increasing years and prolonging life"; It is not the mother's misfortune or birthday "(this article has been included in the appendix of the Chinese translation), so it is unacceptable. Then in April of the same year 1 1, Beijing Evening News published Xiao Difei's "Is Du Fu's birthday the first day of the first month?" "(later included in the revised edition of Du Fu Studies by Qilu Bookstore 1980) coincides with Hongye's view that the evidence is too weak to be conclusive. In view of Du Fu's two poems, he made a more detailed analysis: "According to our traditional custom, anyone who enters the New Year's Day is one year older, so anyone who enters the New Year's Day is qualified to say' 40 Ming has passed' on New Year's Eve, not necessarily the first birthday of the first month"; In the Tang Dynasty, on the first day of the Lunar New Year, as usual, a big family wanted to drink some wine. ..... It's a routine to say that it's better to offer longevity, which can't prove that this day is Du Fu's birthday. ..... Even if it is a normal banquet, it is inevitable that there will be a birthday ceremony between the two parties, not to mention that it is Cao on the first day of the first month, so it is not surprising to offer a birthday. "In short, it is an ancient custom to add one year to the New Year's routine, and it is an old custom to drink on the first day of the Lunar New Year, but the chronology is far-fetched, leading to over-interpretation.
After many years, Zheng Qian, who moved to Taiwan Province, wrote Du Fu's birthday in 1973 (included in Da 'an Publishing House 1992 edition of Longyuan Calligraphy), and refuted the evidence cited in the chronology one by one: First of all, in view of Du Fu's Chronology of Poetry in Jingzhao, he thought that "the title seems to be different, and it is probably Du Fu's. I have never heard of this book, only the quotations from Du Fu Chronicle are of unknown origin and look suspicious "; Secondly, it is pointed out that the phrase "forty years after tomorrow" is because of the New Year, and has nothing to do with birthdays. The author of Du Fu's chronicle can't use western customs to solve the problems of ancient China from modern times. Then, it is analyzed that the sentence of "offering a birthday is more like a gift" is to wish people a long life, not the so-called birthday celebration in modern times. Read the whole poem carefully and "there is no birthday at all"; Finally, another article written by Du Fu in January is inspected, and it is emphasized that its content "does not mention the happiness or mood of birthday at all" and "can be a powerful disproof". Compared with predecessors, it is more detailed and thorough.
After textual research by Hong, Xiao, Zheng and others, it is obvious that the new theory advocated by Du Fu Chronicle is difficult to understand. But things didn't go as expected, and some people believed it. 197 1 year, People's Literature Publishing House published Guo Moruo's Li Bai and Du Fu, including Li Bai and Du Fu Chronology. In the column of "the first year of Xuanzong (7 12)", it is written impressively: "Du Fu was born in Yaowan, Gongxian County, Henan Province on the first day of the first month." Although there is no reference on the basis, it should refer to the chronicle. Guo Moruo either can't see the criticism of Hong and Zheng, or can't see it. What you haven't seen can be ignored, and what you haven't seen doesn't need to be harsh. Just like Zheng Qian after him, in addition to the red leaves, it is also "unheard of" and I don't know Xiao Difei's opinion. In the era of poor communication, it is completely understandable. Xiao's article is close at hand, but Guo Moruo has never paid attention to it, which makes people feel very surprised. This is probably related to the writing purpose of Li Bai and Du Fu. In order to meet the needs of the audience, he tried to ridicule and belittle Du Fu. For a Du Fu expert like Xiao, it must be "different ways, no common cause, no common goal", dismissive and reasonable. In addition, Xiao's exposition failed to attract corresponding attention, which was also related to the overall atmosphere at that time. The academic circles are busy holding a series of activities to commemorate Du Fu's birthday, and it is obviously inappropriate to suddenly raise objections to his date of birth. In order to cooperate with related activities, People's Literature Publishing House has edited and published three essays on Du Fu studies since 1962. The content of the third episode is exactly the thirty-six papers published by 1962 from October to September, three of which are Xiao Difei's, which fully proves his influence in this field. However, the book does not choose "Is Du Fu's birthday on the first day of the first month? ",even in the index of newspapers and periodicals in the same period attached to the book, there is no sign of it. Is it deliberately concealed in order to maintain a harmonious and festive situation? The reason is quite intriguing.
With Guo Moruo's position in the academic circles at that time, his opinions were undoubtedly more widely recognized. Xiao Di, Department of Non-classical Literature, Chinese Department of Shandong University, later edited and annotated a book Selected Poems of Du Fu (People's Literature Publishing House, 1980 edition). Xiao not only participated in writing the first draft, but also reviewed some second drafts, but failed to participate in the final draft. The chronology of Du Fu in the appendix to the book actually says that Du Fu was born on the first day of the first month, and he didn't take his opinion seriously at all. This chronicle of Du Fu was reprinted in 198 1, further expanding its influence. Although some scholars such as Chen think that "Du Fu's birthday should not be on New Year's Day or even in the first month" (Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, Chapter 1 of Du Fu's Comments, 1982 edition), many people are still misled by this. Zhou Caiquan's "Uncle Du Ji" even compared it with Wen Yiduo's annotation on Mr. Shao Ling's chronicle: "All Du Fu's chronicles are based on this spectrum except the smell spectrum." (Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 1986 edition) Although there is no direct mention of the issue of birthdays, we should hold a positive opinion on it. Wang Shijing was educated by Xiao Difei at the National Southwest Associated University in his early years, and later wrote A Compendium of Du Fu's Chronicle, which was successively included in Du Fu's Poems (Sichuan Literature and Art Publishing House, 1986 edition) and Du Fu's Dictionary (Henan University Press, 201kloc-0 edition), although it does not really mean that Lao Du was born. In recent years, some works and anthologies still regard the first day of the first month as Du Fu's birthday, but the media who don't know exactly are relishing it and adding fuel to the fire. In fact, it's all just selling things. After all, what if I don't know Du Fu's birthday? This does not harm the poet's broad mind and profound atmosphere at all, nor does it prevent us from continuing to study those vivid and moving poems.