Board of Review in 841. Starting in 842 he was made governor of a succession of small poor rural prefectures, first Huangzhou, then Chizhou and Muzhou. Du was dissatisfied with the appointment and he appeared to blame it on Li Deyu. He began to feel his career was a failure and he expressed his dissatisfaction in his poems. In 848 Du Mu returned to Chang'an after being appointed Vice Director of Merit Titles and was awarded his old post in the History Office. He was transferred to the post of the Vice Director of the Ministry of Personnel in 849, then was appointed governor of Huzhou in 850 at his own request. He was recalled to Chang'an in 851 to the post of Director of the Bureau of Evaluation and Drafter, and was appointed to the office of Secretariat and Drafter in 852. He fell ill that winter and died before the next lunar year. Works Du Mu was skilled in shi, fu and ancient Chinese prose. He is best known as the writer of sensual, lyrical quatrains featuring historical sites or romantic situations, and often on themes of separation, decadence, or impermanence. His style blends classical imagery and diction with striking juxtapositions, colloquialisms, or other wordplay. He also wrote long narrative poems. Poetry One of his best-known poems is "Qingming Festival" (Qingming Festival is a day of remembrance for the dead when people visit the graves of their ancestors to pay respect.) {| ! style="width:12em;"| ! style="width:45em;"| |- | 清来 清明時節雨紛紛， 路上行人欲断魂。 借問酒家何處有？ 牧童遥指杏花村。 | Qingming Festival On day of Qingming Festival, a drizzly rain falls. On the road, the traveller, disconsolate. Enquiring, where can an inn be found? A cowherd boy points, far away, to Apricot Blossom Village. |} Another well-known one is Autumn Evening. It tells of a lonely concubine at the palace whose fan has lost its purpose now that summer has ended. This is taken to be an allusion by the poet of his frustrations at his family's decline in influence. The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl in the poem refers to the story of two separated lovers who can only meet once a year and who were used to name the Altair and Vega stars: {| ! style="width:12em;"| ! style="width:45em;"| |- | 秋夕 銀燭秋光冷畫屏， 輕羅小扇撲流螢。 天階夜色涼如水， 臥看牛郞織女星。 | Autumn Evening Silvery candle, autumnal light, chills the painted screen With small fan, of light silk