Go BackAlong with Du Fu, Li Bai is one of the two greatest poets in China's history, and is often called the Poet Immortal. Appromixately 1,100 of his poems still remain today. Li Bai is best known for his extravagant imagination and great love for drinking. Like Du Fu, he travelled a lot, although in his case he did so because he could afford it, not because his poverty forced him to.
Li Bai was born into a wealthy family from Suiye in Central Asia (near modern day Tokmok, Kyrgyzstan). His family moved to Jiangyou when he was five years old. He was influenced by Confucian and Taoist teaching, but his family background did not provide him to enter the aristocratic Tang Dynasty. Although he wanted to become an Chinese oficial, he did not sit for the Chinese civil service examination. Instead, beginning from the age of twenty-five, he started to travel around China, leading a carefree life and enjoying a taste for liquor - a complete opposite of what one would expect of a proper Confucian gentleman.
Visitors milling through the Li Bai Memorial Hall, Jiangyou.
Unlife Du Fu, Li Bai is a gifted poet who composed his poetry effortlessly, and often at astounding speed. Although his language mastery is less erudite than Du Fu's, he impresses with his imagination and acute observation of life. Li Bai was given a position at the Hanlin Academy, to provide scholarly expertise and poetry for the Emperor. He stayed in this position for less than two years before he was dismissed for some unknown reason. Thereafter he continued to travel throughout China.
In the autumn of 744 he met Du Fu, and again the following year. Although these were the only occasions when the two great poets met, the friendship must have had a big impact on Du Fu who penned a dozen or so poems to or about Li Bai. In comparison, Li Bai only wrote one poem about Du Fu. During the An Lushan Rebellion, Li Bai was implicated in a subsidiary revolt against the Emperor, although whether his involvement was voluntary is unclear. Nevertheless, he was sent into exile, though a pardon came before his journey into exile was complete.
Li Bai died in Dangtu, or modern day Anhui. According to popular belief, he drunkenly fell from his boat into the Yangtze River while attempting to catch the moon's reflection in the river. Other scholars believe that his death was the result of mercury poisoning due to alcohol consumption.
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