Li Bai

I am also known as Li Po.

Welcome to my page, for I am about to bring you on an incredible journey through my life, my works,and my immortality.

Let us begin!

Life

A painting of me.

I was born in the year 701. Where, you ask? This has been a controversy for more than a millennium. While where I was born is not entirely known, the brashness and bravado of my poetic voice are characteristics of poets from this region (Wu 66). There are theories that I could have been of Turkish decent. I am probably from a mercantile family (Eide 370).

My family dwelt in what is now Gansu. Evidence suggests that my family was banished during the Sui Dynasty, (due to a crime) and thus moved from Gansu. In 705 my family secretly moved to beautiful Sichuan (famous for its gigantic mountains and wonderful natural scenery), where I spent my childhood (Wu 57).

I read everything! Of course I read the Confucian Classics, but I also read things normal scholars abstained from, such as astrological and metaphysical texts (Eide 373).

In 761, Du Fu wrote this particular poem about me: (Wu 58)

I have not seen Li Po for a long time--

What a pitiable man with his feigned madness!
All the world wants to kill him:
I alone dote on his genius.
Quick-witted, he has hit off a thousand poems;
A waif in the world, his only home is in a cup of wine.
O my friend! 'Tis time to return to Ku'ang Shan,

Where you used to read books with such gusto.

From this we can gather I used to study books in Ku'ang Shan, a mountain lying near the city of Chengtu.

I enjoyed taming birds and sword play. I was quite proficient in martial arts.
By the time I was twenty, I had killed with my own hands several persons for chivalrous causes. (Author's note: Take that with a lump of salt. Could not be confirmed elsewhere). (Wu 58)

“When I was fifteen, I was fond of sword play, and with that art I challenged quite a few great men.” -- Li Bai [Wu 58]

Around 725 I left home and became a wanderer. I sailed around, a truly wild spirit. I married the granddaughter of a retired Prime Minister, but even she (Hsu Hsin-shih, try saying that three times fast) could not tame me. In 735, I wandered to Shansi, where one of the most important events of my life happened. Here I met Kuo Tzu-i, a humble soldier. I saved him from a court-martial by simply speaking to the commander.

An Examination: Li Bai's Political Motives

Author's Note: An Introduction:

This point in Li Bai's life is where things start moving rapidly. But there are key decisions and ideals that bring up questions. Why didn't he take the examinations? Why did he become a recluse? Here I intend to argue that his reasoning for this is simple: to gain political power.

Background

During the T'ang period, there were only four ways to get an official career:

1. Take the Imperial Examination.
2. Be recommended by someone in charge of an academy.
3. Be recommended by a local/higher official.
4. Be commended by the Emperor himself.

During the formation of dynasties, it can be derived that only methods 2 and 3 were used. However, even after the examination system was established, emperors still liked direct introductions from important people. Just doing extremely well on the examinations was not enough to get a good position (Eide 370). This is why it is very important that I befriend as many important figures as possible.

Song Dynasty painting of examinations.

A common way used by other poets was to send a letter to an important person, and present a "profile" of their writings. Doing this several times was called "keeping the scrolls warm" (Mair 125).

Emperor Hsuan-tsung encouraged literati to rise up mainly using the examination system. However, I was much too impatient and wanted to rise to the top in a single leap. Demonstrating this, I refused to accept the Prefect of Kuang-han’s recommendation letter and did not participate in the usual examination. While either channels were perfectly good ways to get an official career, the slow progress would have been pure torture for me. I believed in what I called “the direct route to becoming a dragon” (Eide 126).

What exactly I meant no one really knows.

This contributed to my image of an uncompromising and ambitious individualist. While it may seem unique, I still had very conventional traits, such as in my poetry.

References:

1. Eide, Elling O. On Li Po. New Haven: Yale UP, 1973. Print.
2. Liscomb, Kathlyn. "Iconic Events Illuminating the Immortality of Li Bai." Monumenta Serica 54 (2006): 75-118. JSTOR. Web. 24 Feb. 2012.
3. Mair, Victor H. "Li Po's Letters in Pursuit of Political Patronage." Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies 44.1 (1984): 123-53. JSTOR. Web. 28 Feb. 2012.
4. Wu, Jingxiong. The Four Seasons of Tʻang Poetry,. Rutland, VT: C.E. Tuttle, 1972. Print.

Pictures

1. Song Dynasty Painting of Imperial Examination. History - Humanistic Spirit. Cultural China. Web. 1 Mar. 2012. <http://history.cultural-china.com/en/168History9790.html>.