My heart is in a world of water and crystal, My clothes are damp in this time of spring rains.

Another reason identified by the Chinese historian William Hung is that Chinese poems are typically extremely concise omitting circumstantial factors that might be relevant but which could be reconstructed by an informed contemporary. Du Fu's political comments are based on emotion rather than calculation: his prescriptions have been paraphrased as "Let us all be less selfish let us all do what we are supposed to do". His greatest ambition was to serve his country as a successful civil servant but he proved unable to make the necessary accommodations.

Along with Li Bai (Li Bo) he is frequently called the greatest of the Chinese poets. Of his poetic writing nearly fifteen hundred poems have been preserved over the ages. His greatest ambition was to serve his country as a successful civil servant but he proved unable to make the necessary accommodations.