Li Bai (701-762), courtesy name Taibai and Qinglian Jushi, was born in Chengji, Longxi (now Tianshui City, Gansu Province). His birthplace is controversial. One theory is that he was born in Guo Moruo in modern times. Suiye City on the Suiye River in Kyrgyzstan belonged to the Anxi Protectorate of Tang Dynasty (today's Tokmak City, Chuhe Prefecture). Another saying since ancient times is that he was born in Changlong County, Mianzhou (today's Jiangyou City, Mianyang, Sichuan). At the end of the Sui Dynasty, his ancestors moved to the Western Regions due to crimes. When he was young, he moved with his father to Qinglian Township, Mianzhou. Li Bai grew up in Changlong County, Mianzhou, Jiannan Road (now Jiangyou City, Mianyang, Sichuan Province) when he was young. There is also a saying that he was born in Qin'an County, Tianshui, Gansu Province in the Chengji Period of Longxi. There are titles such as "Poetic Immortal", "Poetic Hero", "Jiu Immortal", "Exiled Immortal", etc. Together with Du Fu, they are called Big Li Du (Xiao Li Du refers to Li Shangyin and Du Mu).
According to the "New Book of Tang", Li Bai is the ninth grandson of Emperor Xingsheng (Liang Wuzhao King Li Hao). According to this statement, Li Bai has the same clan as the kings of Li and Tang Dynasty, and is the younger brother of Tang Taizong Li Shimin. . It is also said that his ancestor was Li Jiancheng or Li Yuanji; according to the "Old Book of Tang", Li Ke, Li Bai's father, was the captain of Rencheng.
In the third year of the Anshi Rebellion (756), he was angry at the difficult times and joined the shogunate of Yong Wang Li Lin. Unfortunately, King Yong and Suzong had a struggle for the throne. They were defeated and implicated, and he was exiled to Yelang (in today's Guizhou). On the way, he was pardoned and wrote "Early Departure from Baidi City". In his later years, he wandered around the southeast, and soon died of illness. It is also said that he "died from illness caused by drunkenness" (see "Li Hanlin's Poems" by Pi Rixiu). It is also said that he died suddenly due to drinking (see "Old Book of Tang"). It is also said that he fell into the lake drunk and drowned by catching the moon. This theory has been around since ancient times and is widely circulated.
His works are unconstrained, romantic and unrestrained, with strange artistic conceptions and brilliant talents. His poems are like flowing clouds and flowing water, as if they were made in heaven. Li Bai's poems have been recited for thousands of years, and many of his poems have become classics, such as "cutting off the water with a knife, the water will flow again, raising a cup to relieve sorrow, and sorrow will become more sorrowful." Li Bai's artistic achievements in poetry are considered the pinnacle of Chinese romantic poetry. Li Bai's poems are included in Volumes 161 to 185 of the Complete Poems of the Tang Dynasty. There is "Collection of Li Taibai" handed down from generation to generation. Du Fu once commented on Li Bai's articles: the pen fell in the storm, and the poem became the weeping ghosts and gods.
The Tang Dynasty implemented a policy of focusing on agriculture and suppressing business. Anyone whose ancestors were merchants or whose ancestors had done business could not take the imperial examination. Li Bai happened to commit these two crimes, so he was banned from taking the imperial examination. For this reason, in the thirteenth year of Kaiyuan (AD 725), Li Bai left Shu, "went to the country with his sword, said goodbye to his relatives and traveled far away".
Meeting a Taoist priest in Jiangling leads to a journey of thousands of miles.
Li Bai had an extraordinary meeting in Jiangling. He met Sima Chengzhen, a Taoist priest revered by three generations of emperors. Li Bai saw this favored Taoist priest and sent him his poems for review. Sima Chengzhen admired Li Bai's majesty and extraordinary aptitude at first sight. When he read his poems, he was even more amazed, praising him as "having the spirit of an immortal and capable of traveling to the eight extremes with the spirit." Because he saw that Li Bai not only had extraordinary appearance and bearing, but also had extraordinary talents and writings, and he was not obsessed with the honors and officials of the world. This was a talent he had not seen in the government and in the public sector for decades, so he used the highest Taoist Praise him with words of praise. This means that he has "immortal roots", that is, he has the innate factors to become an immortal. It has the same meaning as He Zhizhang later praised him as an "immortal", and regarded him as an extraordinary person. This is the general impression that Li Bai's demeanor and poetry style give people.
Li Bai was delighted by Sima Chengzhen's high evaluation. He is determined to pursue an eternal and immortal world like "Wandering to the Eight Extremes of the Divine World". When he was excited, he wrote a great poem "Ode to the Dapeng Encountering a Rare Bird", using the Dapeng as a metaphor for itself and exaggerating the size and speed of the Dapeng. This is Li Bai's earliest famous article. From Jiangling, he began his journey of thousands of miles.
Li Bai went south from Jiangling, passed through Yueyang, and then went south, then arrived at one of the destinations of his trip.
But while boating on Dongting Lake, an unfortunate thing happened. Li Bai's traveling companion from Shu, Wu Guanzhi, died of a sudden illness (other versions say he was beaten to death). Li Bai was so grief-stricken that he fell beside his friend and cried loudly, "weeping all the way and then bleeding." Because he cried so painfully, passers-by burst into tears.
For almost two years, he traveled between the two places, still relying on others to make a living.
In the second year of the Yuan Dynasty, Li Bai, who was in his early sixties, returned to Jinling due to illness. In Jinling, his life was quite difficult, and he had no choice but to seek refuge with his uncle Li Yangbing, who was the county magistrate in Dangtu.
In the third year of the Yuan Dynasty (762 AD), Li Bai was seriously ill. He gave the manuscript to Li Yangbing on his sick bed, composed the "Death Song" and passed away at the age of sixty-one.
Baidu Encyclopedia
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