He passed the jinshi ("Presented Scholar") level of the imperial civil service examination in 828 at the age of 25, and began his career as a bureaucrat holding a series of minor posts,[3] first as an editor of at the Institute for the Advancement of Literature.

In 835 he was appointed investigating censor and returned to the capital where, possibly concerned about being drawn into a factional dispute involving his friend Li Gan who had opposed Zheng Zhu, he asked to be transferred to Luoyang.

[5] Du Mu held many official positions in various locales through the years, but he never achieved a high rank, perhaps due to enemies made in the factional dispute at the imperial court in 835.

[6] 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 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.

[7] 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: Silvery candle, autumnal light, chills the painted screen With small fan, of light silk gauze, she swipes at the flitting fireflies On the palace steps, the night is cool, like water Laying down, she gazes, the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl stars Du Mu enjoyed traveling in the misty mountains of southeast China, especially Xuanzhou, and remembering the fallen Southern dynasties, as exemplified by his poem "Written on the Kaiyuan Temple at Xuanzhou" (Tí Xuānzhōu Kāiyuán Sì 提宣州開元寺): He wrote a commentary on The Art of War[8] and many letters of advice to high officials.

A twenty-book collection of his prose works, Fan Chuan Wen Ji (Chinese: 樊川文集; pinyin: fánchuān wénjí), survives.