Let's start with Li Bai. Li Bai was born in Sichuan. He was brilliant when he was young, and he was proficient in poetry at the age of ten. Until he was twenty years old, the local officials recommended him through a branch, but he didn't respond. Since then, I have never participated in the imperial examination. Since God has given talents, let them be used! It is his life creed and principle to return after thousands of women leave. Even He, a famous poet in Beijing at that time, could not help admiring his poem: Zi, fallen immortal! Later, on the recommendation of He, Li Bai was made an academician by Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty. Of course, this academician's application is supernumerary, and it can only be made up when other academicians are promoted or retired to make room. So they can't enjoy the salary of the state, which is determined by the system of the Tang Dynasty. Most people who can enter the Hanlin Academy are Jinshi, while Li Bai is a civilian. The reason why Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty awarded Li Bai Hanlin as an imperial edict may also be because his diploma was too low. Throughout his life, he was arrogant, materialistic, contemptuous of powerful people and unrestrained. He especially doesn't like Gao Lishi's servile appearance. On one occasion, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty called him into the palace to write poems. He borrowed wine to force Gao Lishi to take off his boots and let Yang Guifei learn ink for him. He offended Gao Lishi, was calculated by Gao Lishi, and was finally expelled from Chang 'an.
To put it bluntly, Li Bai is a pure scholar. He doesn't know the dangers of the imperial court and the official sea, and he doesn't know the basic truth that it is better to offend a gentleman than a villain. In fact, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty wanted to reuse Li Bai, but Gao Lishi and Yang Guifei tried their best to stop him from being promoted at the crucial moment. Imagine the flourishing age of the Tang Dynasty, with talented people and literati. Li Bai is the only person who can get a spoon for him personally, which shows Tang's appreciation. Li Bai was such a heavy drinker that he drank almost all the pubs in Chang 'an, which was unmatched by any poet in the Tang Dynasty. He drinks every day and gets drunk every time. When he is drunk, he will lie in someone else's pub and fall asleep. The Tang Xuanzong wanted to listen to Li Bai's new song, but he couldn't find him, so he had to let Gao Lishi take a group of eunuchs and look around Chang 'an. His good friend Du Fu's poems prove this point: Li Bai has hundreds of poems about fighting wine, and he sleeps in a restaurant in Chang 'an. The son of heaven didn't get on the boat, calling himself Brewmaster. For Li Bai, wine has both advantages and disadvantages. What is lost is that because of his nature, he frankly offended some people he shouldn't have offended because of his drunken gaffes. I was too old to get a tight job and almost died. What I got was a great poet.
Besides, Du Fu. Du Fu was born in gongyi city. He is ten years younger than Li Bai. Unlike Li Bai, Du Fu took the imperial examinations many times, but he tried again and again. Finally, he presented a triple gift to the court, which attracted the attention of Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty and gave it to Cao Jun, a soldier of Jingzhao Mansion. A few years later, An Shi Rebellion broke out and he was captured. After that, he ran away and went on a trip. The official worshipped you to clean up the mess, and was demoted for writing about saving Fang. After the design of Nanchang VI, he was either an official or a hermit, and finally entered Sichuan and lived in Chengdu Caotang. Yanwu guarded Sichuan and hired him as Foreign Minister of the Ministry of Industry. After Yanwu's death, Du Fu left Sichuan and died on a boat in Xiangshui. Although Du Fu worked as a small official several times, the interval was very short.
He spent most of his life in exile, poverty and illness. Especially in his later years, life was even more miserable. His hut was destroyed by the autumn wind, which was a true portrayal of his life at that time. He personally witnessed the pain brought to the people by the Anshi Rebellion, so he wrote a lot of poems that deeply reflected the sufferings of the lower class, such as Li San and San Bie.
Li Bai is open and wild, while Du Fu is restrained and forbearing. Their personalities are very different and their styles are diametrically opposed. At that time, Li Bai was very famous in the Tang Dynasty. Compared with Li Bai, Du Fu is much less famous, and even Li Bai looks down on his poems. For this reason, Li Bai once wrote a poem about Daoshan to satirize Du Fu. It was not until Yuan Zhen wrote a comment for Du Fu that people noticed his poems. Although their poetic styles are different, their ways of death are strikingly similar, all related to water. Li Bai lived in Tushan in his later years. I accidentally fell into the lake and drowned because I drank too much while watching the moon at night. Later generations said that he died in memory of him, which is contrary to historical facts. Du Fu left Sichuan for Leiyang, Hunan, to join his friends. Just as the storm and flood happened, the river surged, and he was trapped on the boat for more than ten days without eating. Later, Nie County Magistrate of Leiyang, after knowing the news, personally took Du Fu to the county government by punting, stewed him a pot of beef and warmed a pot of wine. Because of overeating, he died in Leiyang that night at the age of 59.
In this way, two dazzling superstars in the Tang Dynasty's poetry world fell one after another. While lamenting their ill-fated fate, we are also gratified that they left immortal poems for future generations. Imagine that if Li Bai and Du Fu were missing in the Tang Dynasty, we have every reason to believe that the poems and songs of the Tang Dynasty would not reach such a height anyway.