Li Bai

Lore & Background

Much of Li Bai's life is reflected in his poems, which describe places he visited, friends he saw off on journeys, his dream-like imaginings with shamanic overtones, current events, and nature. His early poems were written during a 'golden age' of internal peace and prosperity under an emperor who promoted the arts. This ended with the An Lushan rebellion, which devastated northern China; Li Bai's poems from this period took on new tones. He did not live to see the end of the chaos.

Li Bai is generally considered to have been born in 701, but his birthplace is debated: some believe Mianyang, Sichuan, others Suyab in ancient Chinese Central Asia (present-day Kyrgyzstan). His family moved to Jiangyou, near Chengdu, when he was about five. He read Confucian classics and other materials, composed poetry before age ten, and engaged in activities such as taming wild birds, fencing, riding, hunting, and aiding the poor. He claimed to have killed several men for chivalrous reasons before age twenty.

Li Bai married four times, first in 727 to a granddaughter of a former minister, and second in 744 to a woman from the Zong family. His life took on a legendary aspect, including tales of drunkenness and chivalry, and the well-known story that he drowned while reaching from his boat to grasp the moon's reflection in the river.

Reader's Guide

Li Bai is a central figure in Chinese poetry, with around 1,000 extant poems. His works were collected in the important Tang anthology 'Heyue yingling ji' (753) and 34 appear in 'Three Hundred Tang Poems' (first published in the 18th century). Translations of his poems began appearing in Europe around the same time; Ezra Pound's 'Cathay' (1915) includes 11 of Li Bai's poems. His poems became models for celebrating friendship, nature, solitude, and drinking. Famous poems include 'Waking from Drunkenness on a Spring Day,' 'The Hard Road to Shu,' 'Bring in the Wine,' and 'Quiet Night Thought,' still taught in Chinese schools. In the West, multilingual translations continue to be made. Li Bai is depicted in the 'Wu Shuang Pu' ('Table of Peerless Heroes') by Jin Guliang.

Did You Know?

• Li Bai's courtesy name Taibai refers to the planet Venus, which was associated with the color white; his mother reportedly dreamt of Venus while giving birth to him.
• He is known by the nicknames 'Immortal of Poetry,' 'Wine Immortal,' 'Banished Transcendent,' and 'Poet-Knight-Errant.'
• The romanization 'Li Po' comes from the Wade-Giles system, not from a different pronunciation of his given name in Standard Chinese.
• The expression 'Three Wonders' denotes Li Bai's poetry, Pei Min's swordplay, and Zhang Xu's calligraphy.

Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)

"Flying waters descending straight three thousand feet,Till I think the Milky Way has tumbled from the ninth height of Heaven." — Li Bai "Here it is night: I stay at the Summit Temple.Here I can touch the stars with my hand.I dare not speak aloud in the silenceFor fear of disturbing the dwellers of Heaven." — Li Bai "Before bed, the bright moon was shining. Now, I think the ground has a frost covering. I raise my head … to view the bright moon, Then I lower my head … and I think of home." — Li Bai "Before my bed the moonlight glittersLike frost upon the ground.I look up to the mountain moon,Look down and think of home." — Li Bai