He didn't show fame all his life, but he had high expectations, despised the rich and powerful in clothes, unscrupulously mocked the hierarchical order centered on political power, criticized the phenomenon of political corruption, and carried forward the heroism in the prosperous Tang culture with a bold rebellious attitude. Li Bai's anti-power thought is becoming more and more conscious and mature with the enrichment of his life practice. In the early days, it was mainly manifested in the equal requirements of "self-improvement, not being human" and "making friends with princes", as he said in his poem: "I was drunk in Chang 'an, and five kings and seven people shared a glass of wine. In the face of heroic spirit, the romantic spirit will fall behind others! " ("Liu Yelang gave the judge Xin") "Encourage the nine masters to make waves and be young and ignorant." ("Ode to the Jade Pot") He sometimes makes grandiose remarks that show contempt for powerful people, such as "Gold and white jade buy songs and laugh, and get drunk and tired, and despise princes" ("Remembering the past" sent the county yuan to join the army). But his main performance is inner pride. With the understanding of the actual situation of high-level power groups, he further exposed the opposition between Buyi and dignitaries: "Zhu Yu buys songs and laughs, wasting talents." (The fifteenth time of "Ancient Style") "The sparrow is in the phoenix nest, and it is holding the phoenix." ("Bo Gu" article 39. The ugly behavior of those who stole power because of flattering the emperor is even more ironic, such as: the cart flying dust, the pavilion is dark in the afternoon. China is more expensive than gold, and Lianyun has a room. He Huihe was dubbed cockfighting. When the rainbow is dried in one breath, pedestrians are afraid. There is no such thing as washing your ears, only Yao and your feet! In "Dream on Mount Tianmu", he made the loudest voice: Ah, how can I solemnly bow and scrape to those high officials whose sincere faces will never be seen! The significance of this artistic generalization in Li Bai's poems is as important as Du Fu's famous sentence "The wine and meat in Zhumen stink, and the bones on the road freeze to death" ("Ode to 500 words from Beijing to Fengxian").
In the deteriorating political situation at the end of Tianbao, Li Bai also linked anti-dignitary with extensive social criticism. For example, Answering the King on Twelve Cold Nights not only fought bravely for the fallen sages, but also expressed disappointment and contempt for the imperial court: If there is no Beihai in Li See, where can there be heroic spirit? If you don't look at Pei Shangshu, there are three feet of wormwood thorns in the earth grave. Teenagers have long wanted to go to the Five Lakes. Seeing this, I will spare Zhong Ding. Li Bai even sharply reprimanded Xuanzong himself in the way of satirizing modern people in his poems, such as "Feeling the Book, My Friend", "Ancient Style" and "Ascending to the Far Sea". In a word, it can be said that he developed the anti-power theme in Tang poetry to the point of dripping and hearty. Ren Hua said that Li Bai "lived for decades and never lost his color for a day" ("Miscellaneous Words Send Li Bai"). This consciousness of never giving in to powerful people and bravely fighting for self-dignity is an important content of attaching importance to personal value since Wei and Jin Dynasties, and it is also a tradition of attaching importance to strength and character. It is under the new historical conditions that Li Bai inherited and carried forward this excellent tradition and became a star in poetry.