In 746 , he moved to the capital in an attempt to resurrect his official career . He took the civil service exam a second time during the following year , but all the candidates were failed by the prime minister ( apparently in order to prevent the emergence of possible rivals ) . He never again attempted the examinations , instead petitioning the emperor directly in 751 , 754 and probably again in 755 . He married around 752 , and by 757 the couple had had five children — three sons and two daughters — but one of the sons died in infancy in 755 . From 754 he began to have lung problems ( probably asthma ) , the first of a series of ailments which dogged him for the rest of his life . It was in that year that Du Fu was forced to move his family due to the turmoil of a famine brought about by massive floods in the region .