Coincidences between Horace and Chinese poet Du FU (8th century AD) 2. The seasons and human life

Abstract

Obs. For reasons of coherence, it is reproduced, almost ipsis uerbis, the abstract of first article, under the same title.
It is almost impossible that to 8th century imperial China would come echoes, albeit diffuse, of Latin literature of eight centuries earlier. Eventual similarities between authors of both literatures shall therefore be considered as coincidences. Even like that, however, the fact is still interesting.
This is what happens in what concerns some similarities between the work of Du Fu, a Chinese poet from the 8th century, and Horace, Roman poet of the 1rst century BC: the celebration of the seasons, especially autumn and spring, the praise of moderation, in the style of aurea mediocritas, the paintings of nature, the detachment of material goods, all this brings together these two poets from such different cultures and from such different historical times. The present article intends to reflect on this thematic proximity, using the steps of the two poets, even if these are coincidences; an approach that is not usual in the study of both literatures. After analyzing, in the first part of this study, published before, the presence of the subject of aurea mediocritas, moderation, the detachment of material goods, this second part will study the proximity between both poets in what concerns another thematic area: the seasons and their relationship with human life.