A literal legacy set in stone

Falling leaves rustle as they come through the air;

The Yangtze seems endless with its waters rolling on incessantly.

A thousand miles from home, I'm grieved at autumn's plight;

Sick for years, alone I'm on this height.

Homesick, Du left Fengjie by boat to reach Jiangling and Gong'an counties in Hubei in 768. At the end of that year, he drifted to Hunan province and climbed the Yueyang Tower by the Dongting Lake.

Facing the vast and magnificent lake, Du thought of his wandering in his later years and the disasters that had befallen the country. In an emotional state, he wrote the famous poem On Yueyang Tower.

Neither home folk nor friends have sent me any message;

Sick and old I can travel but by boat.

War is raging on the northern ends;

And I lean over the railings, shedding tears.

Because of financial difficulties, Du could not go north to his hometown Gongxian, and was stranded in Hunan. In the winter of 770, he perished on a small boat heading from today's Changsha to Yue-yang in Hunan.