Young and promising
Li Bai studied a wide range of subjects in his boyhood. In addition to Confucian classics and ancient literary and historical masterpieces, he also browsed the books of hundreds of schools of thought, and was "good at swordsmanship" ( "Book with Han Jingzhou"). He believed in the popular Taoism at that time very early, and liked to live in seclusion in the mountains and forests, seek immortality and learn Taoism. At the same time, he also had political ambitions to make contributions, claiming that he would "apply Guan Yan's words, seek the emperor's skills, and strive for success". With his wisdom, he is willing to serve as the assistant to the emperor, so that the whole region can be settled and the sea county can be settled." ("Dai Shoushan's Reply to Meng Shaofu's Transfer of Documents"). On the one hand, he should be an unworldly hermit and immortal, and on the other hand, he should be the emperor's assistant and minister. This formed the contradiction between being born in the world and joining the world. However, actively joining the world and caring about the country were the mainstream of his life's thoughts and the ideological foundation that formed the progressive content of his works. The poems Li Bai wrote in Shu during his youth have remained very few, but like Chapters such as "Visiting Dai Tianshan Taoist Unexpectedly" and "Mount Emei Moon Song" have shown outstanding talents.
Farewell relatives and travel far away
In the 13th year of Kaiyuan (725 AD) , Li Bai left Shu, "went to the country with a sword, said goodbye to relatives and traveled far away". He took a boat along the river and left the gorge, and gradually went further and further away. The mountains of his hometown gradually disappeared and became unrecognizable. Only the water flowing out of the Three Gorges still followed him, pushing Following his boat, he was about to be sent to a strange and distant city.
Taibai made a Qingping adjustment map
[1] What Li Bai didn’t expect was that in Jiangling There will be an extraordinary meeting. He actually meets Sima Chengzhen, a Taoist priest revered by three generations of emperors. Sima Chengzhen, a Tiantai Taoist priest, not only learned a complete set of Taoist spells, but also wrote good seal script, and his poems were as elegant as immortals. Xuanzong respected him very much. He once summoned him to the inner palace to ask for scriptures, built a balcony for him, and sent his sister Princess Yuzhen to study Taoism with him. Li Bai was able to see this favored Taoist priest. Naturally, he was very happy and sent his poems and essays for his review. Sima Chengzhen admired Li Bai very much at first sight because of his majestic appearance and extraordinary qualifications. When he read his poems and essays, he was even more amazed and praised him as "very talented." The spirit of immortality can be compared with the appearance of the eight extremes of the gods." Because he saw that Li Bai not only had extraordinary appearance and bearing, but also had superhuman talents and writings, and he was not obsessed with the glory and officialdom of the world. This was what he had been doing in the court for decades. He had never met such a talented person in the wild, so he praised him with the highest praise from Taoism. This means that he has "immortal roots", that is, he has the innate factors to become an immortal. Later, He Zhizhang praised him as an "immortal". Almost everyone regarded him as an extraordinary person. This is the general impression given by Li Bai's demeanor and poetry style. Li Bai was delighted by Sima Chengzhen's high evaluation. He was determined to pursue "Wandering to the Eight Extremes" Such an eternal and immortal world. When he was excited, he wrote a great poem "Ode to Dapeng Encountering Rare Birds", using Dapeng as a metaphor for himself and exaggerating the size and speed of Dapeng. This was the first time Li Bai became famous all over the world. From Jiangling, he began his journey of thousands of miles. Li Bai went south from Jiangling, passed through Yueyang, and then went south to one of the destinations of his trip. But while boating on Dongting Lake, something happened An unfortunate thing happened: Wu Guanzhi, Li Bai's traveling companion from Shu, died of a sudden illness (or was beaten to death). Li Bai was so sad that he fell beside his friend and cried loudly, "weeping all the way and then bleeding." Because he cried so painfully, passers-by shed tears when they heard him. Encountering such misfortune on the journey, he was really helpless, so Li Bai had to temporarily bury Wu Guide by the Dongting Lake, and continued his journey eastward, determined to reach the southeast. After the tour, he came to carry the bones of his friends. Li Bai came to Mount Lu, where he composed the popular song "Looking at the Waterfall of Mount Lu". Li Bai arrived at Jinling, the old capital of the Six Dynasties. The mountains and rivers here are majestic, tigers are on the dragon's plate, and the palaces of the Six Dynasties are clearly visible in his mind. .This not only aroused many emotions in Li Bai,
Taibai Drunk Picture
[2] but also aroused his pride in the era he lived in. He believed that the capital of the past had become a mess. There is nothing to admire in the decadent atmosphere, and it is not as good as the current emperor who rules from the top, and the world presents a peaceful scene. Although the domineering power of Jinling has disappeared, the children of Jinling received Li Bai with affection. When Li Bai bid farewell to Jinling , Wu Ji pressed wine, and the children of Jinling greeted each other attentively and frequently raised glasses to encourage people to drink. The feeling of farewell was like a river flowing in the east, flowing through people's hearts and making it unforgettable. After bidding farewell to Jinling, Li Bai walked from the river
"A year has passed, and Li Bai is still a guest in Chang'an. He has no chance to take up the post, and he feels a little depressed. His friends sincerely invite him, hoping that he can go to live in seclusion in Qingshan Zhiyang, but Li Bai has no intention of going. This time he went to Chang'an. Li Bai was disappointed and a little angry with his ideal of making achievements, but had no success. He went to the prince's door to ask for help, but he was extremely dissatisfied. He could only leave Chang'an with the sigh of "It's difficult to travel, but it's hard to go back." .
Given gold and returned it
The 42-year-old Li Bai was recommended by Princess Yuzhen, the sister of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty (it is said that she was recommended by the Taoist priest Wu Yun). Talents are appreciated and treated with great courtesy. Li Yangbing's "Preface to the Thatched Cottage Collection" says: "When a chariot comes down to greet you, it's like seeing Qihao (one of the "Four Haos in Shangshan" between Qin and Han Dynasties)". "I give food on a seven-treasure bed, and use a spoon to serve rice." "." But Tang Xuanzong only asked him to serve the Imperial Academy and be his literary attendant. Three years later, Tang Xuanzong "gave him money and released him".
Li Bai Pictures
Three years later Living in Chang'an gave Li Bai a better understanding of all kinds of corruption and darkness in the court. Being "granted and released" by Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty was a watershed in Li Bai's political career. In the first year of Tianbao (742 AD), due to Princess Yuzhen and He Zhizhang praised him so much that Xuanzong admired Li Bai's poems and called him into the palace. On the day Li Bai entered the palace to see him, Xuanzong came down to greet him, "put food in front of him on a seven-treasure bed, and spooned the soup with his own hands." Xuanzong When asked about some contemporary affairs, Li Bai relied on his half-life study and long-term observation of society. He was confident and answered fluently. Xuanzong greatly appreciated it, and immediately ordered Li Bai to serve in the Imperial Academy. His duties were to draft proclamations and accompany the emperor. Whenever Xuanzong had a banquet or outing, he would order it. Li Bai's attendants used his agile poetic talent to compose poems to record his achievements. Although he did not record his merits, his words were passed down to later generations to show off to future generations. Li Bai was so favored by Xuanzong that his colleagues were envious of him, but some people also became obsessed with it. Jealousy. When he was in Chang'an, in addition to serving Hanlin and accompanying the emperor, Li Bai often walked in Chang'an City. He found that in the prosperity of the country, there was a deep crisis, and that was the one who was closest to the emperor. The tyrannical eunuchs and the arrogant relatives enveloped Chang'an and China like dark clouds, giving Li Bai a strong sense of oppression. At the same time, Li Bai's dissolute behavior was slandered by Zhang Tan, a Hanlin scholar, and there was a conflict between the two. Li Bai was deeply moved by the corruption of the government and the slander of his colleagues. He wrote a poem "Hanlin Studying Words to the Scholars of Jixian" to express his intention to return to the mountain. Unexpectedly, at this time, he was awarded a gold release. Also, this seems to have surprised Li Bai very much. It seems that Li Bai said something inappropriate when he was given the gold release this time.
Traveling far again
Tianbao three years (744 AD) In the summer of that year, Li Bai arrived in Luoyang, the eastern capital. Here, he met Du Fu, who was not meeting him. The two greatest poets in the history of Chinese literature met. At this time, Li Bai had become famous throughout the country, but Du Fu was in his prime, but was trapped in Luocheng.
Li Banned Immortal Statue
[4] Li Bai is eleven years older than Du Fu, but he did not use his talent and reputation to be arrogant in front of Du Fu; Du Fu, who was rich and alcoholic" and "all his friends are old", did not bow his head in praise in front of Li Bai. The two of them established a deep friendship as equals. When they were in Luoyang, they made an appointment next time in Liang Song (today's Liang Dynasty). They met in the Shangqiu area of ??Kaifeng to visit Taoism and seek immortality. In the autumn of the same year, the two of them went to the Liang and Song Dynasties as promised. They expressed their feelings and happiness here, and used the past to comment on the present. They also met the poet Gao Shi here, who was also a poet at this time. There was no official position. However, the three of them each had great ambitions and the same ideals. The three of them had a great time traveling, commenting on articles and poems, and talking about the general trend of the world. They were all worried about the hidden dangers of the country. At this time, Li and Du were both in their prime, and this time the two of them The creative discussions had a positive impact on them in the future. In the autumn and winter of this year, Li and Du broke up again, each looking for a Taoist disciple to make Zhenlu (the secret text of Taoism) and teach Taoism. Li Bai arrived. Gao Tianshi, a Taoist priest from the Qing Dynasty in Ziji Palace in Jinan Prefecture (today's Jinan, Shandong), taught him Taoism. From then on, he officially performed Taoist rituals and became a Taoist priest. Later, Li Bai went to Anling County, Texas, and met people in this area who were good at writing talisman and seal script. The Gailao built the True World for him. This time, Li Bai achieved perfect results in his quest for immortality. In the autumn of the fourth year of Tianbao (745 AD), Li Bai and Du
It is very consistent with the poet's character. But no matter which way he died, it was directly related to his participation in Yongwang Li Lin's rebellion. Because Li Bai exiled Yelang and ended his legendary and bumpy life shortly after he was pardoned and returned. It is an indisputable fact.