⬅️ 唐诗 Tang Poems
Li Bai (701-762 AD) was one of the most prominent poets not only in Tang Dynasty but also in Chinese history. Of about 1100 poems extant attributed to Li Bai, 34 were selected in the anthology Three Hundred Tang Poems. His literary talent, heroic and unrestrained character and affection for wine drinking won him many nicknames such as Immortal Poet (诗仙), Ousted Immortal (谪仙人) and Wine Immortal (酒仙).
There is a dispute among historians regarding where Li Bai was born. It is widely believed that Li Bai was born in Suiye (碎叶, Suyab, located in present day Kyrgyzstan), an ancient silk road city which was absorbed into Tang Empire. Li Bai's ancestors were forced into exile to the far west in Sui Dynasty as a punishment for some unknown crime they committed. His family became merchants there and their business was quite prosperous.
When Li Bai was five years old, Li Bai's father moved the family back to Jiangyou, in modern Sichuan province (四川江油). He read and studied extensively at young age. In his twenties, Li Bai sailed out of Sichuan and began his travelings. During the first year, he gave out most of the wealth he brought from home to his needy friends.
After many wandering years, recommended by his friend He Zhizhang (贺知章), Li Bai was summoned to the imperial court in Chang'an. Emperor Xuanzong (玄宗) held a banquet for Li Bai, and personally seasoned the soup for him. Later Emperor Xuanzong gave Li Bai a post at Hanlin (翰林),the royal academy, to write eulogistic odes and poems for the emperor. However, on some occasions, Li Bai was drunk when the emperor summoned him to the court. Sometimes the footmen of emperor had to spray cold water on Li Bai's face to wake him up. But every time Li Bai could perform his art of writing beautifully. Emperor Xuanzong showed unusual tolerance to Li Bai's bizarre behavior. Once at a banquet before writing a poem for the emperor's favorite concubine Yang Guifei (杨贵妃). Li Bai, already drunk, asked Yang Guifei to grind ink and Gao Lishi to remove his boots for him. Gao Lishi (高力士), who supported Emperor Xuanzong to take over the throne and thereafter became one of the most powerful political figures of the time, took great offense at this request although he did help Li Bai to take off his boots. After this incident, there were several times when Emperor Xuanzong wanted to promote Li Bai but only changed his mind at the persuasion of Gao Lishi and Yang Guifei. Knowing the perspective of his political career was limited under this circumstance, Li Bai indulged himself even more in drinking and eventually asked permission from the emperor to retire from the imperial court. His request was granted. In addition, Emperor Xuanzong also gave Li Bai a large amount of gold and silver as a gift to send him off.
After leaving the imperial court, Li Bai started to wander again for over ten years, writing poetry and meeting friends, including other great poets of Tang such as Du Fu (杜甫) and Gao Shi (高适). In 755 AD, An-Shi Rebellion broke out. Emperor Xuanzong fled to Sichuan and abdicated. The Crown Prince succeeded to the throne. It was the Emperor Su (肃宗). In the meanwhile, Li Bai was summoned to serve as an advisor for Prince Yong (永王), Emperor Su's younger brother. The next year a war broke out between Emperor Su and Prince Yong. Prince Yong was defeated and killed. Li Bai was captured and sentenced to death. Since Li Bai was nationally known for his poetry, many people pleaded for clemency for him, including the famous great general Guo Ziyi (郭子仪). It was said that two decades ago Li Bai saved Guo Ziyi from a court martial against Guo. To return this favor, already a top general of Tang Dynasty, Guo Ziyi pledged his rank in exchange for Li Bai's life. Eventually the sentence for Li Bai was reduced to exile. But later his punishment was reprieved while he was still on his way to the exile destination. Two years later, Li Bai died at age 61. There were several versions about the circumstances of his death. One of them was particular striking. One night after Li Bai got drunk, he tried to embrace the reflection of the moon in river. He fell off the boat and drowned.
