 During the Kan 'ei era of the Edo period ( 1624 – 1643 ) , <unk> <unk> ( <unk> ) of the Ming Dynasty 's Collective Commentary on Du Fu 's <unk> ( <unk> , <unk> <unk> ) was imported into Japan , and it gained explosive popularity in Confucian scholars and <unk> ( townspeople ) class . The commentary established Du Fu 's fame as the highest of all poets ; for instance , Hayashi <unk> , a notable Confucian scholar , commented in Vol . 37 of <unk> <unk> that <unk> [ Du Fu ] was the very best poet in history and praised <unk> <unk> 's commentary for its simplicity and readability , while he criticized old commentaries during the Yuan Dynasty were too unfathomable . Matsuo Bashō , the greatest haiku poet , was also strongly influenced by Du Fu ; in Oku no Hosomichi , his masterpiece , he cites the first two lines of A Spring View ( <unk> ) before a haiku as its introduction and also many of his other haiku have similar wording and themes . It is said that when he died in Osaka during a long travel , a copy of Du Fu 's poetry was found with him as one of a few precious items which he was able to carry around . 
