Li Bai: Roaming the Tang Dynasty with Poetry and Wine, a Life of Unrestrained Legend

Hello everyone, welcome to History and Culture. Here, we're going to talk about a dazzling figure in the history of Chinese culture, Li Bai. He is the, immortal poet, a synonym for the high Tang period. The legendary man whose verses ignited countless hearts. Li Bai's story is not only a tale of personal struggle, but also a vivid reflection of the flourishing Tang era. According to historical records, Li Bai was born in 701 CE and died in 762 CE, living to the age of 61. He spent most of his life during Emperor Xuanzong's reign. The, high Tang, period, China's most glorious age. Marked by cultural prosperity, economic wealth, and openness. Li Bai's poetry, like a beacon of that time, has illuminated the centuries ever since. His origins have long carried an air of mystery. Some say his father was a wealthy merchant from the western regions, in other words. Li Bai may have been a bona fide, rich second generation. Another theory claims he shared ancestry with the Tang imperial family and had royal blood in his veins. Was he the son of a merchant, or a descendant of emperors? The answer may never be settled. But this very uncertainty is part of the legend of Li Bai, filling it with room for imagination. According to legend, when his mother was pregnant, she dreamed of the planet Venus, the great white star, falling into her arms. His father therefore named him, Bai, White. With the courtesy name, Tai Bai, and the style, Resident of the Blue Lotus. He was 12th in his family, hence another nickname, Li 12. From an early age Li Bai displayed extraordinary talent. Folk tales say that by the age of five he had mastered the lu jia, an ancient primer for children. At six he heard of an old woman grinding a large iron pestle into a sewing needle and was deeply inspired. Resolving to study hard. By ten he had already read extensively in the works of Mastering poetry, books, ritual, and music. By 15 he was composing poetry, and his works began to circulate. Even the social elites of the time praised him highly. Beyond reading, Li Bai was fascinated with swordsmanship and Taoist arts. Some historical sources note that his sword skills were formidable, and he even studied under the famed sword master Pei Min. At 18 he withdrew with a recluse named Dong Yanzi to Mount Min to practice Taoist disciplines. Like many scholars, Li Bai harbored ambitions of ordering the state and bringing peace to the realm, yet he never took the civil service examinations. At 24 he left his native Sichuan to begin a life of wandering. He seldom returned home thereafter, traveling across Hubei, Hunan, Anhui, Gansu, Beijing, and beyond. While roaming mountains and rivers to broaden his horizons, he also visited local notables, seeking a patron who might recognize his talent. On the road, his poetic genius gushed forth like a spring. In Jinling, Nanjing, he wrote Chang'an Xing, Ballad of Chang'an, the line, My lord rode a bamboo horse, playing with green plums around my bed, not only became immortal but also gave birth to the idiom, childhood sweethearts, Qingmei Zhuma. In Yangzhou, eager to make friends, he spent 300,000 tales of silver in less than a year, a textbook example of spending money like dirt. As a result, by the age of 26 he was penniless and fell gravely ill. It was in this state of destitution that he met the great poet Meng Haoran. Eleven years his senior, Meng immediately bonded with him, and a deep friendship was born. Li Bai even wrote for him the famous farewell poem seeing Meng Haoran off at Yellow Crane Tower to Guangling. My old friend leaves Yellow Crane Tower in the west. In the misty blossoms of March he goes down to Yangzhou. His lone sail fades into the blue sky. Only the Yangtze flows on to the horizon. This poem remains a classic beloved to this day. At 27, through Meng Haoran's introduction, Li Bai married his first wife, the granddaughter of the Tang Gaozong-era chancellor Su Yusher. He thus became the son-in-law of the prominent Su family, had a son and a daughter, and enjoyed ten years of stable, happy life, one of the rare periods of calm in his eventful journey. Yet Li Bai was not content to remain merely a wealthy family son-in-law. He called on prominent figures everywhere, hoping for recommendations that would open a path into officialdom. He first visited the chancellor Zhang Yu, but Zhang was gravely ill. Li Bai could only approach through Zhang's son and took up lodging at Princess Yuzhan's villa. To win the princess's favor, he presented numerous poems, yet he never even caught a glimpse of her. Later he sent a letter, to Governor Han of Jingzhou, to the famous, talent scout, Han Chaozong. This piece has become a classic in literary history, but at the time it failed to move Han, and Li Bai went away disappointed. Soon after, his wife Lady Su fell ill and died. Li Bai was overwhelmed with grief and began living a free-spirited life, drinking and writing poetry, pouring his feelings into mountains and rivers. Not long afterward he married his second wife, Lady Lu, but the marriage was unhappy. She looked down on the impoverished Li Bai and often mocked him, in the end they divorced. Later, in Yanzhou, Shandong, he married a third wife and had a beloved young son. But five years later she too died of illness. These successive blows drove Li Bai to continue his wandering, moving through Anhui, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and other regions, still tirelessly seeking opportunity. At last, at the age of 42, Li Bai's fortunes turned. His friend Yuan Danqiu, summoned to court for his Taoist skills and favoured by Princess Yuzhan, recommended Li Bai to her. At that time, Li Bai was at the Purple Pole Palace in Chang'an, where he met He Zhizhong. After reading Li Bai's hard roads in Shu and Song of the Perching Crows, He Zhizhong was so struck by his brilliance that he called him a With the recommendations of Princess Yuzhan and He Zhizhong, Emperor Xuanzong summoned Li Bai to court. From then on, Li Bai at last won imperial favour and became the most cherished poet of the high Tang. Xuanzong not only poured wine for him personally but also appointed him scholar-attendant at the Hanlin Academy, having him draft edicts and stay close at hand. For a time Li Bai basked in glory. But he soon realised the Emperor regarded him as a literary pet to amuse the court, not as a statesman who could help govern the empire. This disillusioned the ambitious Li Bai. He had studied hard and searched widely to become a worthy minister for the people, not the Emperor's poetic companion. Gradually he grew indifferent to his duties, spending his days drinking, often drunk. Even calling himself the Immortal of Wine. Once, during a flower viewing in the imperial garden, Xuanzong summoned him to compose poetry, only to find him drunk again. The Emperor, far from angry, told him to write while intoxicated. Li Bai, emboldened by wine, even had the powerful eunuch Gao Lixia remove his boots while the imperial consort Yang Guifei herself ground the ink before he would take up his brush. This scene, Gao Lixia removing his boots, Yang Guifei grinding the ink, became a famous anecdote. On the spot he penned three poems titled Pure and Gentle Tune. The line, clouds think of her dress, flowers think of her face, spring breeze on the balustrade. Do glistening in fullness, was a stroke of genius, delighting even Yang Guifei. Despite Xuanzong's favor, Li Bai did not wish to be caged in the palace. He began to dream of retiring to the rivers and lakes, devoting himself to Daoist cultivation. At this time, he bade farewell to his friends He Xizhong and Yuan Danqiu, feeling an unprecedented loneliness. Soon after he submitted his resignation to Xuanzong. Because of his outspoken, unrestrained nature he had offended many, and when he left no one tried to keep him. Taking the large sum of money the emperor had bestowed, he left Chang'an in sadness. In 744 CE, the disheartened Li Bai went to Luoyang, where he met the still unknown Du Fu. That year Li Bai was 43, already a world-famous poet. While Du Fu was just 32, having recently failed the imperial examinations. They hit it off at first sight, traveling together, drinking and talking at length. Li Bai admired Du Fu's talent. While Du Fu regarded Li Bai as an idol. Du Fu would later write 15 poems for Li Bai to express his deep feelings. But Li Bai replied with only three. Perhaps to Li Bai, whose friends spanned the empire, Du Fu was just one among many. But to Du Fu, Li Bai was a towering mountain in his heart. Three years later, at 46, Li Bai met his final wife, Lady Zong. Granddaughter of the Tang era chancellor Zong Chuk, a minister under Empress Wu Zetian. This marriage once again brought him into a prominent family. After a bout of drinking, Li Bai whimsically wrote Song of Liang Garden on a wall. Lady Zong admired it so much she spent a thousand gold coins to buy the wall. Creating the famous anecdote of spending a thousand in gold to buy a wall. Lady Zong, like Li Bai, loved Taoist cultivation. And the couple were deeply affectionate after marriage. By then, however, the high Tang already harbored hidden crises. In 755 the An Lushan Rebellion broke out, plunging the realm into chaos. Li Bai and his wife took refuge on Mount Lu. Reading by day and practicing Taoist arts by night. Living a life secluded from the world. Later, after repeated invitations from Prince Li Lin, known as Prince Yong. Li Bai decided to leave seclusion to help suppress the rebellion. He had not realized that Li Lin was no loyal prince but an ambitious rebel. When Li Lin's forces were defeated, Li Bai too was arrested and imprisoned. Ironically, the official in charge of questioning him was his former friend, the frontier poet Gao Shi. Even though Lady Zong sought help many times, Gao Shi avoided seeing her. At last, with the help of the loyal official Song Ruosi, Li Bai escaped execution but was still sentenced to exile. In 759, when the court proclaimed a general amnesty because of a drought in Guangzhou. Li Bai regained his freedom on the way to exile. He then wrote Setting Out Early from Baidi City. At dawn I depart Baidi amid multicolored clouds. In one day I return a thousand miles to Jiangling. The cries of monkeys echo along both banks without pause. My light boat has already passed ten thousand layers of mountains. The poem overflows with ease and joy. Over the next two years he moved between Shuancheng and Jinling, living in poverty and depending on friend support. In his later years Li Bai saw through the coldness of the world. He wrote Sitting Alone on Jingting Mountain. All the birds have flown high, a lone cloud drifts away at leisure. We gaze at each other, never tiring, only Jingting Mountain and me. This poem conveys both the loneliness and openness of his old age. In 762, Li Bai died at Dongtu, ending his legendary life. Accounts of his death vary. Some say he died from excessive drinking. Others say from illness. And folk tales claim that, drunk, he reached into the river to grasp the moon and passed away romantically. Whatever the truth, Li Bai's poetry and his free-spirited life had already become an immortal legend. This is the History and Culture channel. Liking and subscribing are the greatest help and support to us. Thank you everyone and see you in the next time.