There is evidence that Meng Haoran is a good drinker. Wang Shiyuan's "Preface to the Collected Poems of Meng Haoran", "New Tang Book" Biography of Meng Haoran and other documents all record such an incident: The interview in Shannan made Han Chaozong appreciate Meng Haoran's poetic talent very much, and took him to Chang'an with him to recommend him to the court. In order to build momentum for him, Han Chaozong took the first step and made an appointment to enter the court together. Unexpectedly, on the appointed day, Meng Haoran met an old friend, went into the restaurant and drank. At that time, someone reminded him of the agreement he had made with Han Chaozong. Meng Haoran said disapprovingly: "I have already drank and enjoyed my life, let alone anything else!" As a result, he missed the appointment, angered Han Chaozong, and stopped recommending him.
Meng Haoran himself has no regrets. Meng Haoran was able to ignore the recommendation opportunity that was related to his official career and destiny just to drink. It can be seen that his taste for wine is beyond the reach of ordinary people. In this regard, among the poets of the Tang Dynasty, only Li Bai, the poetry immortal who "can't get on the boat when the emperor calls him, claims that he is an immortal in wine" can be compared. However, Li Bai's drunken debauchery was probably influenced by Meng Haoran. In Li Bai's poem "Gift to Meng Haoran", there are two sentences: "Drunk in the moon, I often become a saint, and I am obsessed with flowers but do not care about you." It can be seen that Li Bai appreciates and admires Meng Haoran's alcoholic behavior.
A person who is such a good drinker should be deeply affected by the two major effects of alcohol: anesthesia and stimulant effects. Specifically, anesthesia makes it free from worldly worries and constraints, and excitement makes it full of inspiration and ideas. Li Bai and Du Fu were both poets who benefited greatly from the two great effects of alcohol. Many of their works such as "Ling Cangzhou", "Shaking the Five Mountains", "Weeping Ghosts and Gods" and "Shocking Storm" were written after drinking alcohol.
As for Meng Haoran, after reading his poems, I really feel sorry for him: he often drinks and seems to often get high, but he always remains rational and never talks drunkenly. In other words, the anesthetic effect of alcohol on Meng Haoran was limited to physical aspects such as blushing, dizziness, and weak legs. It did not affect his spiritual world and did not allow him to say a word or express a single emotion. Therefore, alcohol had no promoting effect on his poetry creation. In his poems about wine, wine is just an ordinary food, and there is almost no emotion after drinking in the poems.