However , as Hung notes , he " is the only Chinese poet whose influence grew with time " , and his works began to increase in popularity in the ninth century . Early positive comments came from Bai Juyi , who praised the moral sentiments of some of Du Fu 's works ( although he found these in only a small fraction of the poems ) , and from Han Yu , who wrote a piece defending Du Fu and Li Bai on aesthetic grounds from attacks made against them . Both these writers showed the influence of Du Fu in their own poetic work . By the beginning of the 10th century , Wei Zhuang constructed the first replica of his thatched cottage in Sichuan .