Editing Du Fu (section)

=== War ===
The [[An Lushan rebellion]] began in December 755, and was not completely suppressed for almost eight years. It caused enormous disruption to Chinese society: the census of 754 recorded 52.9&nbsp;million people, but ten years later, the census counted just 16.9&nbsp;million, the remainder having been displaced or killed.{{Sfn|Hung|1952|p=202}}
During this time, Du Fu led a largely itinerant life unsettled by wars, associated famines and [[Emperor of China|imperial]] displeasure. This period of unhappiness was the making of Du Fu as a poet: Eva Shan Chou has written that, "What he saw around him—the lives of his family, neighbors, and strangers– what he heard, and what he hoped for or feared from the progress of various campaigns—these became the enduring themes of his poetry".{{Sfn|Chou|1995|p=62}} Even when he learned of the death of his youngest child, he turned to the suffering of others in his poetry instead of dwelling upon his own misfortunes. Du Fu wrote:<ref name="ebrey2006"/>

{{blockquote|Brooding on what I have lived through, if even I know such suffering, the common man must surely be rattled by the winds.}}

In 756, [[Emperor Xuanzong of Tang China|Emperor Xuanzong]] was forced to flee the capital and abdicate. Du Fu, who had been away from the city, took his family to a place of safety and attempted to join the court of the new emperor ([[Emperor Suzong of Tang China|Suzong]]), but he was captured by the rebels and taken to Chang'an.{{Sfn|Hung|1952|p=101}} In the autumn, his youngest son, Du Zongwu (Baby Bear), was born. Around this time Du Fu is thought to have contracted malaria.{{Sfn|Hung|1952|p=110}}

He escaped from Chang'an the following year, and was appointed Reminder when he rejoined the court in May 757.{{Sfn|Hung|1952|p=108}} This post gave access to the emperor but was largely ceremonial. Du Fu's conscientiousness compelled him to try to make use of it: he caused trouble for himself by protesting the removal of his friend and patron [[Fang Guan]] on a petty charge. He was arrested but was [[pardon]]ed in June.{{Sfn|Hung|1952|p=108}} He was granted leave to visit his family in September, but he soon rejoined the court and on 8 December 757, he returned to Chang'an with the emperor following its recapture by government forces.{{Sfn|Hung|1952|p=121}} However, his advice continued to be unappreciated, and in the summer of 758 he was demoted to a post as Commissioner of Education in Huazhou.{{Sfn|Hung|1952|p=130}} The position was not to his taste: in one poem, he wrote:
{{Text and translation|Language=[[Chinese language|Chinese]]|
<poem>I am about to scream madly in the office,
Especially when they bring more papers to pile higher on my desk.</poem>
|<poem>{{lang|zh|束帶發狂欲大叫，
簿書何急來相仍。}}</poem>
|from "Early Autumn, Miserable Heat, Papers Piling Up" ({{lang-zh|t=早秋苦熱堆案相仍|p=Zǎoqiū kǔrè duī'àn xiāngréng}}); translation by William Hung.{{Sfn|Hung|1952|p=132}}
}}

He moved on in the summer of 759; this has traditionally been ascribed to famine, but Hung believes that frustration is a more likely reason.{{Sfn|Hung|1952|p=142}} He next spent around six weeks in Qinzhou (now [[Tianshui]], Gansu<!-- DO NOT LINK, see [[MOS:GEOLINK]] for further guidance --> province), where he wrote more than sixty poems.