The original text and translation of the Biography of Li Bai in the Old Tang Book are as follows:
Original text:
Li Bai, courtesy name Taibai, was the ninth grandson of Emperor Xingsheng. First, at the end of the Sui Dynasty, he moved to the Western Regions due to his crimes. At the beginning of the Shenlong period, he returned to Brazil and left for Brazil. When Bai was born, his mother dreamed of Chang Geng Star, so she ordered him to live there. He was proficient in poetry and calligraphy at the age of ten. After a long time, he hid in Minshan Mountain. There are rules in the state examination, but it should not be done. Su Ting was the governor of Yizhou. When he saw Bai Yizhi, he said: "This son is talented and intelligent. He has learned a lot since he was young. He can be compared with others." With great wealth, he was appointed as a guest in the city. Together with Kong Chaofu, Han Zhun, Pei Zheng, Zhang Shuming, and Tao Mian, he came to the mountain and drank heavily every day, which was named "Zhuxi Liuyi".
At the beginning of Tianbao, he entered Kuaiji from the south and was good with Wu Jun. Jun was called, so Bai also went to Chang'an. I went to see He Zhizhang. When Zhizhang saw his article, he sighed: "My son, you are banishing an immortal!" He told Xuanzong that he summoned him to the Jinluan Palace to discuss the world affairs and write a poem.
The emperor gave him food, he made the spoon himself, and there was an edict to offer it to the Imperial Academy. Bai You and the drinkers were drunk in the market. The emperor was sitting in the agarwood pavilion, feeling something. He wanted to get Bai as a piece of music. He called him in, but Bai was already drunk. He looked at the water on his left and right sides, and after a while, he wrote and wrote a poem. It was graceful and precise without leaving any thoughts.
The emperor loved his talent and met him at several banquets. He served the emperor in vain, got drunk, and made the powerful man take off his boots. The powerful man was noble, so he was ashamed, and he wrote his poem to stimulate Yang Guifei. Bai Zizhi knew that he was not tolerated by people who were close to him, so he was unrestrained and did not cultivate himself. He and Zhizhang, Li Shizhi, Ruyang King Li Jing, Cui Zongzhi, Su Jin, Zhang Xu and Jiao Sui were called the "Eight Immortals of Wine". He begged to return to the mountain, and the emperor gave him gold to release him. Bai Fu floated around, took a boat with Cui Zongzhi to quarry stones to Jinling, and sat in the boat wearing a palace robe, as if there was no one else around.
Anlu Mountain rebelled and turned to Susong and Kuanglu. King Yong Lin appointed him as an assistant in the palace. Lin raised an army and fled back to Pengze. Lin was defeated and should be executed. At the beginning, when I was traveling to Bingzhou, I saw Guo Ziyi and was surprised. Ziyi tried to break the law, but was saved in vain. At this time, Ziyi asked to be released from the official position to redeem him, and there was an edict to Liu Yelang. He will be pardoned, but he will also find the sun, and he will go to jail for doing things. At that time, Ruosi of the Song Dynasty sent three thousand Wu soldiers to Henan and went to Xunyang. He released the prisoners and appointed him as a staff officer. He resigned soon after. Li Yangbing was ordered by Tu, and Bai followed it.
Dai Zongzhi was summoned by Zuo Shiyi, but Bai died at the age of more than sixty. During the day and night, I spent a good time with Huang Lao. I traveled to Niuzhuji to reach Gushu. I was delighted with the green mountains of my family and wanted to die. After his death, he was buried at the east foot of the mountain. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, Fan Chuanzheng, the envoy of Xuanshe Observer, offered sacrifices to his tomb and banned woodcutting. After interviewing the descendants, only the second granddaughter was married to a commoner's wife, and she still behaved well. Because of her weeping, she said: "The ancestors aspired to be buried in the Qingshan Mountains, and they were buried at the east foot. This was not the original intention." It was said that the burial was to be re-buried, and two monuments were erected. He told the second daughter that he would change his wife to a nobleman, saying that he would be lonely, poor, virginal, and unwilling to remarry. Chuanzheng sighed and returned her husband to the corvée service.
During Emperor Wenzong's reign, Bai Ge's poetry, Pei Min's sword dance, and Zhang Xu's cursive script were designated as the "three unique arts".
Translation:
Li Bai, whose courtesy name is Taibai, is the ninth generation grandson of Emperor Xingsheng. His ancestors were exiled to the Western Regions for crimes at the end of the Sui Dynasty. In the early years of Shenlong's reign, his ancestors fled back from the Western Regions and lived in Brazil (in today's Sichuan).
When Li Bai was born, his mother dreamed of the Taibai star, so she named him Taibai. At the age of ten, he began to read poetry and books. When he grew up, he lived in seclusion in Minshan.
The state and county where he was at that time recommended him for the Youdao imperial examination, but he did not take the examination. When Su Ting was the governor of Yizhou (now Chengdu, Sichuan), he saw Li Bai and thought he was an extraordinary person. He said: "This young man is a genius. If he studies harder, he can be compared with Xiangru."
However, Li Bai likes to do tricks, learn fencing, and wants to be a knight-errant. He despises property and is willing to give charity. Li Bai also lived in Rencheng (today's Jining, Shandong Province), where he lived with Kong Chaofu, Han Zhun, Pei Zheng, Zhang Shuming, and Tao Mian in Xilai Mountain. He indulged in drinking all day long and was known as the "Liuyi of Zhuxi" at that time.
In the early years of Tianbao, Li Bai traveled south to Kuaiji (now Shaoxing, Zhejiang) and became friendly with Wu Jun. Wu Jun was summoned to Beijing, so Li Bai also arrived in Chang'an. Li Bai went to visit He Zhizhang; He Zhizhang saw his poems and said with emotion: "You are an immortal from heaven who was demoted to the earth." Speaking of Li Bai in front of Xuanzong, Xuanzong summoned Li Bai in Jinluan Palace to discuss major contemporary events. Li Bai then wrote a poem. Emperor Xuanzong gave Li Bai something to eat, and personally served him a spoon, and issued an edict ordering him to serve as a sacrifice to the Imperial Academy.
Li Bai was still drunk with drunkards in the market. Emperor Xuanzong was sitting in the Chenxiang Pavilion. Suddenly he felt some emotion in his heart and wanted Li Bai to write lyrics for him, so he summoned Li Bai into the palace, but Li Bai was already drunk. Wash his face with water, wake up from the drunkenness, give him a pen, and write it down. The words are tactful and gorgeous, and the meaning is precise and clear, without leaving any thoughts. Xuanzong loved his talent and held banquets to summon him several times.
Li Bai once drank with Emperor Xuanzong. When he got drunk, he asked Gao Lishi to take off his shoes for him. Gao Lishi was always noble and considered it a shame to take off Li Bai's shoes, so he criticized the flaws in Li Bai's poems to anger Concubine Yang. Emperor Xuanzong wanted Li Bai to become an official, but Concubine Yang blocked him from behind. Li Bai himself knew that he would not be tolerated by Xuanzong's closeness, and he became more undisciplined and uninhibited. He Zhizhang, Li Shizhi, Ruyang King Li Jing, Cui Zongzhi, Su Jin, Zhang Xu, and Jiao Sui were called the "Eight Immortals of Wine".
Li Bai earnestly requested to be sent back to the mountains, and Emperor Xuanzong rewarded him with gold and brocade to let him go. Li Bai was wandering around, and once took advantage of the moonlight at night to take a boat from Caiguji to Jinling with Cui Zongzhi. He was wearing a palace brocade robe given by the emperor and sat in the boat as if there was no one next to him.
Anlushan rebelled, and Li Bai moved between Susong and Kuanglu.
King Yong Li Lin hired him to serve as an assistant under the imperial court. When King Yong Li Lin raised an army, he fled back to Pengze. King Yong failed, and Li Bai should be executed according to his crime. At first, Li Bai visited Bingzhou and met Guo Ziyi. Li Bai regarded Guo Ziyi as a strange person. At that time, Guo Ziyi broke the law, and Li Bai rescued him, so that he was not punished.
At this time (when Li Bai was about to be executed) Guo Ziyi was willing to relieve himself from his official position to atone for Li Bai's sins, so the imperial court issued an edict to banish Li Bai to Yelang for a long time. Coinciding with the amnesty, he returned to Xunyang, and was convicted of an incident and imprisoned. At that time, Song Ruosi led 3,000 soldiers from Wu to go to Henan. They passed by Xunyang, released Li Bai, and appointed him as a marching staff officer. Not long after, he resigned from the staff post.
Li Yangbing was appointed magistrate of Dangtu County, and Li Bai went to defect. After Daizong ascended the throne, he called Li Bai to serve as Zuo Shiyi. However, at this time, Li Bai was already dead, aged over sixty.
In his later years, Li Bai was fond of Huang Lao's studies. He came to Gushu via Niuzhuji. He liked to leave home and visit Qingshan. He also wanted to die here. When he died, he was buried at the east foot of Qingshan.
In the last years of Yuanhe, Xuanshe's observation envoy Fan Chuanzheng paid homage to his tomb and ordered a ban on cutting firewood and grazing around Li Bai's tomb. Fan Chuanzheng visited Li Bai's descendants and found that only two of his granddaughters had married commoners and still behaved like everyone else. They said sadly: "My ancestors wanted to be buried in Qingshan. They were temporarily buried at the east foot. This is not right." His original idea."
So Fan Chuanzheng moved him to Qingshan and erected two stone tablets there. He also told Li Bai's two granddaughters that they would be remarried to noble families. The second granddaughter said that she was destined to be lonely and poor and to devote herself to the common people, so she did not want to remarry again. Fan Chuanzheng rewarded and praised them, and exempted their husbands from corvee service.
During the reign of Emperor Wenzong of the Tang Dynasty, an edict was issued to collectively refer to Li Bai's songs and poems, Fei Min's sword dance, and Zhang Xu's cursive script as the "Three Wonders".