Du Fu 's popularity grew to such an extent that it is as hard to measure his influence as that of Shakespeare in England : it was hard for any Chinese poet not to be influenced by him . While there was never another Du Fu , individual poets followed in the traditions of specific aspects of his work : Bai Juyi 's concern for the poor , Lu You 's patriotism , and Mei Yaochen 's reflections on the quotidian are a few examples . More broadly , Du Fu 's work in transforming the lǜshi from mere word play into " a vehicle for serious poetic utterance " set the stage for every subsequent writer in the genre .