Anecdotes about Li Bai
Li Bai, courtesy name Taibai, also known as Qinglian Jushi, was a native of Mianzhou in the Tang Dynasty. His poems have broad themes, rich content, strong and unrestrained emotions, rich imagination, and fresh and fluent language. With a vigorous style, he can be called my country's greatest romantic poet after Qu Yuan.
Li Bai's poem about Li Hua
It is said that when Li Bai was one year old, he grabbed a book of songs. His father was very happy and thought that his son might become a famous poet when he grew up, so he wanted to give Li Bai a good name. Lest future generations laugh at themselves for their lack of knowledge. Because he was cautious about naming his son, the more cautious he was, the less likely he was to come up with it. Until my son was seven years old, he still hadn't decided on a suitable name. In the spring of that year, Li Bai's father said to his wife and children: "I want to write a spring quatrain. I will only write two sentences. Each of you, mother and son, will add one to me and make it work. One sentence is "The spring breeze brings warmth and the flowers bloom", and the other sentence is " "It comes first when the spring blooms." The mother thought for a long time and said, "The red clouds fall in the apricot forest when the fire burns."
Li Bai waited for his mother to finish speaking, and then without thinking, he looked at the plum trees in bloom in the courtyard. Pointing his finger, he blurted out: "The plum blossoms are blooming and the whole tree is white." When the father heard this, he clapped his hands and applauded. Sure enough, his son had a talent for poetry. The more he thought about it, the more he liked it. As he thought about it, he suddenly thought, isn't the first word of this poem exactly his family name? This last white character is so well used, it just says that a tree of plum blossoms is as holy as snow. So he named his son Li Bai.
The Heaven Banished the Immortal
When Li Bai first arrived in Chang'an, he met the secretary supervisor He Zhizhang. Li Bai took out an article "The Road to Shu is Difficult" and presented it to him. He Zhizhang nodded while reading it. After praising him several times, he finally raised his head and pointed at Li Bai and said, "Sir, you are really an immortal from heaven!" He immediately took off the golden tortoise he was wearing, called the store in exchange for fine wine, and got drunk with Li Bai. "Tang Jiayan" written by Wang Dingbao of the Five Dynasties further embodied He Zhizhang's praise as "A man who is not a human being, isn't he a Taibaijin star?" He Zhizhang was a veteran in the literary world, and "The Road to Shu is Difficult" was so highly praised by him, so soon, it was After that, this poem and the name "Exiled Immortal" spread throughout the world.
Li Chuo of the Tang Dynasty records in "Shangshu Gushi" that there was a poet named Lu Chang during the Zhenyuan period. In order to repay the kindness of Wei Gao, the military governor of Xichuan, he wrote a poem "Book of Changes" as a gift. The first sentence said: "The road to Shu is easy, and it is easy to walk on flat ground." Wei Gao was overjoyed and gave Luo 800 horses as a gift. But in fact, this sentence uses "the road to Shu is easy to walk on the flat ground" as a metaphor for "the road to Shu is easy", which is far different from Taibai's original sentence "the road to Shu is as difficult as climbing to the blue sky"! Not to mention that the Shu Road is actually not easy to walk. Because of its blandness, the entire poem "Shu Daoyi" has not been handed down. This sentence only survives due to Li Chuo's record.
Dreams of pens producing flowers
According to Tianbao’s legacy, when Li Bai was young, he dreamed that the pen he was using produced flowers on his head. Later, he turned out to be a genius and became famous all over the world. It is also recorded that Li Bai was addicted to alcohol and did not stick to trivial matters. However, the articles written by Shen Zhenzhong were not wrong. When discussing matters with others, most of them did not use Li Bai's opinions, so people at the time called him a Drunken Sage. In addition to the famous legend of Gao Lishi taking off his boots and Yang Guozhong grinding ink, Tianbao's legacy also records that Li Bai once wrote an edict for the Ming Emperor in the Bian Palace. It was a severe cold in October and the pen was frozen and could not be written. The Ming Emperor ordered dozens of concubines to stand beside him. Next to each other, everyone wrote and wrote, and Li Bai took another pen to write, which shows that he was quite favored by the emperor.
Sea Fishing Fishing Guest
It is said that Li Bai once visited the prime minister during the Kaiyuan period and signed his name Li Bai, a fishing fisherman from the sea. The prime minister asked him: "Sir, when you go to the sea to catch a giant turtle, what do you use as a hook and line?" Li Bai replied: "Let the wind and waves relax your emotions, let the universe control your ambitions, use the rainbow as a thread, and the bright moon as a hook." ] The prime minister asked again: "What is the bait?" ] Li Bai replied: [Take the unrighteous husband in the world as bait. ] Sure enough, the momentum is extraordinary.
Li Bai and Du Fu
Li Bai and Du Fu had different poetic styles and very different personalities, but they became close friends. Du Fu gave Li Bai a total of fourteen poems, which shows the deep friendship between the two. Li Bai was very talented, and his poems flowed like the Yangtze River, flowing thousands of miles away; Du Fu, on the other hand, belonged to the bitter chanting school, and always had to think over and over again before finalizing his poems. Therefore, it is said that Li Bai once wrote a poem mocking Du Fu's hard work in poetry. The poem is as follows:
"Qingping Diao" by Chenxiangting Zui
In the early years of Tianbao, Li Bai, who was leisurely living in Nanling, suddenly received a call-up document from the imperial court.
It turned out that due to the recommendations of Princess Yuzhen, He Zhizhang, etc., even the current emperor Li Longji knew the name of his poem! Li Bai was overjoyed and felt that the time had come for him to show off his ambitions. He chanted "Look up to the sky and laugh loudly and go out. How can I be a Penghao people?" He hurriedly settled in with a pair of children, and then dressed up and went to Beijing.
Xuanzong summoned him in Jinluan Hall. Li Bai "discussed the affairs of the world, replied to Tibetan books in cursive, debated like a river, and wrote without stopping." Xuanzong was so impressed that he ordered him to eat on a seven-treasure bed and spooned him with his own hands. He said to him: "You are a commoner, and your name is I know that it is not moral and righteous, how can I get this?" His favor is so generous that it is rare in the world. From then on, Li Bai waited for the Imperial Academy, using his brilliant pen to embellish the court's achievements and embellish peace. He occasionally spoke on behalf of the king, but more often he recited poems and composed poems at banquets in the palace, and served wine to entertain him.
Li Bai gradually became tired of this kind of literary attendant's life, so he often indulged in drinking restaurants. Later, he even invited Zhizhang, King Li Jing of Ruyang, Li Shizhi, Cui Zongzhi, Su Jin, Zhang Xu, Jiao Sui When traveling as one of the "Eight Immortals", he drank heavily and slept in restaurants in the market when he was drunk, often causing the servants to look for him everywhere. Du Fu once wrote a song "Song of the Eight Immortals while Drinking", describing the different states of drunkenness of eight people. His description of Li Bai is:
On this day, Li Bai was lying drunk again in the market, and suddenly felt cold water on his face. , opened his eyes and saw that the palace musician Li Guinian was standing in front of him holding a golden flower paper. It turned out that the peonies were in full bloom at that time, and in front of the Agarwood Pavilion in the east of Xingqing Pond in the palace, the red, purple, light red and white peonies transplanted by Xuanzong himself also bloomed one after another. Xuanzong and Concubine Yang went to enjoy the flowers. As usual, Li Guinian led his disciples in the Liyuan to sing songs to cheer up. Unexpectedly, Xuanzong said: "How can I use old music to express my concubine when appreciating famous flowers?" So he ordered Li Guinian to hold the gold. The note was given to Li Bai and asked him to write three chapters of "Qing Ping Diao". Li Bai happily accepted the order, and even though he was still drunk, he wrote and wrote:
The three poems all praise peonies and praise Concubine Yang, but he did not expect that these three poems would also offend Concubine Yang. It is said that Xuanzong wanted to grant Li Bai an official position several times, and once promised to make him a scholar, but he gave up because of the obstruction of Concubine Yang.
It turns out that Li Bai used "Poor Feiyan leaning on her new makeup" to highlight and praise Concubine Yang's beauty, but Gao Lishi, who was ashamed to take off Li Bai's boots in front of the emperor, deliberately distorted it in front of Concubine Yang: "Using Feiyan to refer to a concubine is extremely mean!" Because Zhao Feiyan was a woman of humble origin, who became arrogant and dissolute after becoming powerful, and was eventually deposed and committed suicide. Although she was the empress of Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty, her reputation was really bad, so she was regarded as Yang. When the imperial concubine found out that Li Bai compared herself to such a woman, she was very angry and tried to obstruct Li Bai's opportunity to become an official. However, later generations are skeptical about this story.
In the third year of Tianbao (July 44), Li Bai was given gold and released, ending his career as a literary servant. But the three chapters of "Qingping Diao" and the legendary stories surrounding these three poems have been circulated to this day.
Break the Yellow Crane Tower
Literati throughout the ages have sung poems about the Yellow Crane Tower, the most famous of which is Cui Hao's seven-rhyme "Yellow Crane Tower" of the Tang Dynasty. Because of this poem, the poet Li Bai had to lament that "there is no way to see the scenery in front of me." Therefore, in "The Complete Works of Li Taibai", we cannot find the poem about climbing to the Yellow Crane Tower. Li Bai wrote a poem about "beating the Yellow Crane Tower to pieces" upside down, which caused a commotion.
In July 59, the second year of Emperor Suzong's reign, Li Bai was pardoned on his way to Changliu Yelang and returned. When he arrived in Jiangxia, he met his old friend Wei Bing, who was the magistrate of Nanling County at the time, and the two drank together. Reminiscing about old times. The poet was full of worries, so he impromptu wrote the famous long political lyric "Jiangxia Presents Weinan Lingbing". The two lines in the poem, "I smash the Yellow Crane Tower for you, and you also knock down the Parrot Island for me" are simply incredible. Li Bai was regarded as a madman because of this, and some people even wrote poems to ridicule him. For this reason, Li Bai wrote another poem, "The Drunk Reply to Ding Shiba with a Poem to Deride Me for Breaking the Yellow Crane Tower": In this poem, Li Bai used a humorous tone to "accompany" Ding Shiba: You blame me for alarming Your "Yixing", you write poems to accuse me, but I have smashed the Yellow Crane Tower to pieces, and the Yellow Crane Immortal has nowhere to live. Fortunately, the Yellow Crane can go to heaven and tell the Jade Emperor that the Jade Emperor will release the Yellow Crane and return, and the Yellow Crane Tower will be rebuilt. As for me, I can only wait until I sober up to accompany you on your trip.
Although some people do not believe that this poem was written by Li Bai, the story of Li Bai "beating the Yellow Crane Tower to pieces" has spread like wildfire. A monk in the Song Dynasty once used this incident to dramatize a stanza: "One punch smashed the Yellow Crane Tower, and one kick knocked over the Parrot Island. There was a view in front of me, but Cui Xian wrote a poem on it."
"Another monk felt that this verse was not enough to describe the charm of Taibai, so he changed the last two sentences to: "When there is energy, it will dissipate, and where it is not romantic, it will be romantic." The poem "Diao Taibai" written by Jie Jin in the Ming Dynasty also has "There have been times The line "I smashed the Yellow Crane Tower and knocked down the Parrot Island" shows the great influence of this poem. However, these people only regard this as Li Bai's romantic story, but rarely think of the anger in the poet's chest. What a misfortune for Li Bai!
Climbing the Phoenix Tower in Jinling
Although Li Bai stopped writing because he was impressed by Cui Hao's works and did not write a poem about climbing the Yellow Crane Tower, he always felt that something was missing in his heart. He looked at the Parrot Island in the middle of the river and had a thought in his mind: Why don't I follow Cui Hao's example and compose a poem in this style? Thus, the seven-line poem entitled "Parrot Island" was born:
But such a poem is obviously not comparable to "Yellow Crane Tower". It wasn't until he arrived in Jinling, climbed up to the Phoenix Tower, faced the Yangtze River flowing eastward, and felt the rise and fall of the Six Dynasties and the decline of the country's fortunes that he was inspired to write the meteorological meter that is comparable to the "Yellow Crane Tower" The rivaling "Climbing the Phoenix Tower of Jinling":
Both this poem and "Yellow Crane Tower" can be regarded as the masterpieces of Qilu in the prosperous Tang Dynasty. However, because Cui composed it first and Li Bai planned to finish it later, later generations discussed it. One after another, the reputation of Cui Hao and "Yellow Crane Tower" has been promoted higher and higher.
In fact, the style of Cui Hao's "Yellow Crane Tower" is imitated by Shen Quanqi's "Longchi Pian". Moreover, Cui Haoxian has already imitated the song "Yanmen Huren Song". However, neither "Longchi Pian" nor "Yanmen Barbarians' Song" is famous in the world, but "Yellow Crane Tower" was praised by later generations as the seven-rhythm scroll of the Tang Dynasty. This is different from Li Bai's "There is a scene in front of you, but Cui Hao wrote a poem on it." "The legend cannot be said to have nothing to do with it.
Li Bai was an expert in raising birds
According to historical records, Li Bai, the great poet of the Tang Dynasty, was also an expert in training birds.
When Li Bai was about 20 years old, he once lived in seclusion in Qingcheng Mountain near Chengdu, Sichuan. In addition to reading and practicing swordsmanship in the mountains, he carefully tamed a large group of birds. In his later article "History of Pei Chang of Shang'an Prefecture", he said: "He raised thousands of strange birds, and when he called them, he would feed them with the palm of his hand. It was no surprise. It can be seen that not only the number of birds he raised was amazing, but also he could Making the birds obey his orders and eat from his palms shows that his skills in domesticating birds are quite superb. When the local governor learned about this, he went to the mountains to visit Li Bai and said that Li Bai "had Taoism in his body." "Li Bai recommended him to Chaoyan for his name. However, Li Bai did not want to be the royal "mage" of Emperor Ming Dynasty Li Longji, and did not bother to use this as a way to advance, so he finally did not answer the call.
Li Bai likes to raise birds. Even when he was frustrated in politics and wandered around, he never tired of it. The Huangshan hermit Hu Gong had a pair of white pheasants, which were hatched by domestic chickens and raised from childhood. They were very tame birds. , but because the bird was wild and had not been successfully tamed, he could not hide his love for Hu Gong's white pheasant, expressing his intention as a gentleman to take advantage of others. Hu Gong happily agreed to give the two pheasants, but asked to "banish the immortal." Li Bai wrote a poem by himself, and he was so happy that he immediately wrote a poem by Wang Yan with a preface, "A Gift to Mr. Hu in Huangshan for the White Pheasant", and revealed his passion for this in the preface: "This bird is very kind, especially It’s difficult to live with. I have loved so much in my life, but I can't achieve it. But Hu Gong stopped giving it to me, just asking for a poem, which I was delighted to hear. It is suitable for Su Yi, because the writing is called three times, and the writing is not added to give it as a gift. "In the poem, he compared the white pheasant with the white wall, and used white brocade to describe the beauty of the white pheasant's coat, expressing his joy after getting the rare bird.
Li Bai's strong interest in domesticated birds reflects his love for life and his love for life. Advocating a natural and positive outlook on life
Two anecdotes about Li Bai
In the last years of Tang Tianbao, Li Bai wandered to Nanling and Xuancheng, and was warmly welcomed by the hermit Wang Lun in Taohuatan in Jingxian County. Li Bai also left poems about this, including two ancient five-character poems called "Wang's Farewell" (see Volume 23 of "The Complete Works of Li Taibai"), in which he described the elegance of the owner's villa, the beautiful natural scenery, and the beautiful natural scenery. The hosts and guests sang and danced as they drank and drank, all of which were vividly described and described in detail.
Wang Lun kept the money for several days, gave generous gifts as parting, and sang a song to see him off. Li Bai expressed his feelings by writing "A Gift to Wang Lun." "Poetry: Li Bai was about to leave in a boat, and suddenly he heard the sound of people singing on the shore. The water in Peach Blossom Pond is thousands of feet deep, and it is not as deep as Wang Lun's sending me. This popular poem "To Wang Lun" expresses his feelings and is widely recited by later generations. It is only four short years old. This sentence fully expresses the deep affection between the poet and Wang Lun and becomes a swan song for friends.
But did you know that Li Bai was "deceived" by Wang Lun to go to Peach Blossom Pond.
What kind of person is Wang Lun? According to the "Jingxian Chronicle" compiled during the Jiaqing period of the Qing Dynasty, Wang Lun was a hermit living on the shore of Peach Blossom Pond and an intellectual who did not seek an official career.
Wang Lun learned that Li Bai traveled east to Xuancheng, and because he admired the name of Li Bai's poems for a long time, he wrote a book to "cheat" him to come as a guest. This anecdote is not only known to the locals, old and young, but also in "Suiyuan" written by Yuan Mei of the Qing Dynasty. It is also recorded in "Shihua" (Volume 6, "Supplement" 11):
In the Tang Dynasty, Wang Lun, a powerful man in Jingchuan, heard that Li Bai was coming and wrote books to welcome him. Guiyun said, "Sir, do you like to travel? There are ten miles of peach blossoms here. Sir, do you like to drink? There are thousands of hotels here." Li Xinran arrived and told the cloud: "Peach Blossom is the name of the pond, and there is no peach blossom. Ten thousand families, The owner's surname is Wan Ye, and there is no Wanjia Hotel." Li laughed. The money was kept for a few days, and eight famous horses and ten official brocades were given as gifts, and they were given in person. Li Gan composed a poem called "Peach Blossom Pond Quatrains" based on his intention.
This Peach Blossom Pond quatrain refers to the poem "Gift to Wang Lun".
However, Li Bai's bold and bold character sometimes harbored a little jealousy.
In the second year of Qianyuan of the Tang Dynasty (759 AD), Li Bai was pardoned after being exiled to Yelang. During his stay in Jiangxia (now Wuchang, Wuhan City), he climbed to the Yellow Crane Tower standing on Snake Mountain and faced the torrential waves. Poetry flourished in the river, and I wanted to write a poem on it. I suddenly saw Cui Hao's "Yellow Crane Tower" poem in front of my eyes:
In the past, people had taken the Yellow Crane to go there, and the Yellow Crane Tower was empty here. The yellow crane is gone and never returns, and the white clouds remain empty for thousands of years.
Qingchuan is surrounded by Hanyang trees and luxuriant grasses in Parrot Island. Where is the hometown gate at sunset? The misty waves on the river make people sad.
Li Bai, who originally wanted to compose a poem, did not dare to compose it after seeing this poem, so he sighed and said: "There is a view in front of me, but Cui Hao wrote a poem above." He left without writing. However, Taibai was both convinced and dissatisfied with Cui Hao's poems. When he went to Nanjing, he wrote "Ascend the Phoenix Tower of Jinling", hoping to compete with Cui Hao's "Yellow Crane Tower":
Phoenix Tour on the Phoenix Platform, Phoenix Tour Go to Taikong River to flow freely. The flowers and plants of the Wu Palace are buried in the secluded paths, and the clothes of the Jin Dynasty are transformed into ancient hills.
Beyond the blue sky half-fallen by the three mountains, Bailuzhou is divided into two waters. The floating clouds can always cover the sun, and the absence of Chang'an makes people sad.
The former site of Fenghuang Terrace is in Fengtai Mountain, Nanjing today. This matter is recorded in "Tiaoxi Yuyincong Hua·Volume 5 of the First Collection": "Li Taibai was famous, and he still said, 'There is a view in front of me, but Cui Hao wrote a poem on it.' In order to compare the victory and defeat, he wrote "Jinling Climbing the Phoenix Terrace" poem "Tang Poetry Chronicles Volume 21" also contains: "It is said that Tai Baiyun said: 'There is a view in front of me, so Cui Hao wrote a poem on it.' So he wrote "Phoenix Terrace". "Poems are used to compare winners and losers."
However, the showdown between Li Bai and Cui Hao increased the popularity of Cui Hao's poem and became more respected. Yan Yu from the Song Dynasty said in "Canglang Poetry Talk" that among the seven-rhythm poems of the Tang Dynasty, Cui Hao's "Yellow Crane Tower" should be the first.
The evaluations of later generations also followed. Fang Hui, who lived during the Song and Yuan Dynasties, said in "Yingkui Lvsui" that Li's poems are similar to Cui's poems, "the rhythm and momentum have not changed from Jia to Yi." But the Qing people Ji Yun disagreed with Fang Hui's theory, and expressed his opinion directly: "The spirit is far inferior to Cui's poems, and it is not easy to change the first and second, which is wrong." Wu Changqi's "Interpretation of Tang Poems" commented on Li Bai's "Deng Jinling Phoenix Tower" and said: "I failed to start a sentence. How can it be compared with "Yellow Crane"..."
It seems that Li Bai does not need to compete with Cui Hao. The right way is that a ruler is short and an inch is long. When dealing with people, why bother to be first everywhere? Woolen cloth.
Introduction to the poet Li Bai
Li Bai (701-762) was a great romantic poet in the Tang Dynasty. The courtesy name is Taibai, and the name is Qinglian Jushi. His ancestral home is Chengji, Longxi (now Qin'an County, Gansu Province). During the Sui Dynasty, his ancestors moved to Central Asia due to sin. Bai Yu was born in the first year of Chang'an (701) in Suiye City, Anxi Protectorate (today's Tokmak City, Kyrgyz Republic of the Soviet Union). When he was about five years old, he moved with his father to Changlong County, Mianzhou, central Sichuan (today's Tokmak City, Kyrgyz Republic of the Soviet Union). Qinglian Township, Jiangyou County, Sichuan.
Li Bai received a good family education in his youth. At the age of ten, he recited poems and books, visited hundreds of schools of thought, wrote poems and poems, and learned swordsmanship. He had a wide range of hobbies. I have been able to write excellent articles since I was about fifteen years old. After the age of twenty, I roamed in Sichuan, enjoyed the magnificent scenery of Sichuan, got in touch with social life, broadened my horizons, cultivated a love for the motherland, a bold, hearty, and freedom-loving character, and also planted the seeds of the birth of Youxian. The root of negative thoughts.
In the fourteenth year of Kaiyuan (726), the twenty-six-year-old Li Bai "went to the country with his sword", said goodbye to his relatives and traveled far away, and began a sixteen-year period centered on Anlu (now part of Hubei). A great tour, including the two lakes, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Henan, Shanxi and other regions, covering nearly half of China.
The poems of this period mostly describe natural landscapes and roaming life. His works include "Ding Duhu Song", "Send Meng Haoran to Guangling at the Yellow Crane Tower", "Looking at the Ancients in Yuezhong", "Listening to the Flute in Luocheng on a Spring Night", etc. The style has matured.
In the first year of Tianbao (742), the forty-two-year-old Li Bai was recommended by a friend and went to Beijing in response to the imperial edict to worship the Imperial Academy. When he was summoned, Li Bai was extremely excited and wrote a poem such as "Looking up to the sky and laughing and going out, how can I be a Penghao people" ("Farewell Children from Nanling Entering Beijing"), thinking that he would realize his political ambitions, but the reality was ruthless The ground shattered his illusions. At that time, Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty was mediocre and decadent, indulged in sensuality, and ignored the government. The poet's wish to "exercise his wisdom and be willing to serve as an assistant" ("Dai Shoushan's Reply to Meng Shaofu's Transfer of Documents") could not be realized. As a result, he was ostracized, and he was disappointed with the He left Chang'an with grief and anger, ending his life in the imperial capital for less than two years. Although this period was not long, the poet came into contact with the inside story of palace life and the corruption of the upper-class ruling group, and wrote many poems that criticized reality, such as part of "Ancient Style", "The Road Is Difficult", "Liang Fu Yin", etc. These poems , whipped the powerful, showing the poet's ideological morality and rebellious spirit that he did not want to join the others.
In the spring of the third year of Tianbao (744), Li Bai left Chang'an. With the pain and anger of his disillusioned ideals, he began his second wandering centered on Liangyuan (Kaifeng), which lasted eleven years. "Wandering around the world, enjoying poetry and wine" (Liu Quanbai's "Records of Li Junjie, a Hanlin Scholar in the Tang Dynasty"), but he is still very concerned about state affairs and hopes to be appointed by the imperial court again one day. In the autumn of the third year of Tianbao, he met Du Fu and Gao Shi in Luoyang and Bianzhou respectively. The three of them went together and visited Liangyuan, Jinan and other places. From then on, Li and Du formed a deep friendship: "Zui Mian Qiu *** Being quilt, walking hand in hand with the sun" (Du Fu's "Looking for Fan Shi and Living in Seclusion with Li Twelve"). This period was the richest period for the poet's creation. Representative works include: "Sleepwalking Tianmu Yin Leaving Farewell", "About to Enter the Wine", "Traveling to the North Wind", "Liang Yuan Yin" and so on. Profound exposure to reality and a strong spirit of resistance are notable features of the works of this period.
In the fourteenth year of Tianbao (755), the Anshi Rebellion broke out. Li Bai joined the team of Yongwang Li Lin with the desire to eliminate the rebellion and restore national unity and stability. Unexpectedly, Yongwang and Suzong competed for the throne, and Suzong was eliminated. After breaking Li Lin's team, Li Bai was convicted and exiled Yelang (today's Tongzi County, Guizhou Province). The poet felt his injustice and cried silently: "I have never shed tears in my life, and I will cry endlessly here" ("Farewell to Song Dynasty in Jiangxia") ). Fortunately, he was granted amnesty on the way and was released. The poem "Chaofa Baidi City" describes the mood at that time.
In the second year of Shangyuan (761), Li Bai, who was sixty-one years old, heard that Captain Li Guangbi was leading troops to pursue Shi Chaoyi and decided to join the army. However, he turned back due to illness when he reached Jinling. "Long call to say goodbye to Wu Jing" ("I heard that Lieutenant Li sent millions of Qin soldiers to the southeast, and the cowards asked for tassels and wings to apply for a cut. Half a disease still left Cui Shiyu of Jinling to say goodbye"), November of the first year of Baoying (762) , died of illness at the home of his uncle, Dangtu County Magistrate Li Yangbing, at the age of sixty-two.
Although Li Bai failed to realize his ideals politically, he made great achievements in poetry creation and has a lofty status in the history of Chinese literature. Inherited and carried forward the positive romantic poetry tradition since Qu Yuan, and pushed the romantic spirit and creative methods to a new peak.
He often expresses with unrestrained passion his ambition to fight against the wind and clouds, his ambition to achieve what he can, and his ideal of benefiting the people and stabilizing the country. With a strong rebellious spirit and an arrogant and rebellious attitude, the poet criticized society and whipped the powerful. Although Li Bai did not have extensive contact with the people like Du Fu, he still sympathized with the working people. The boatman's blood and tears are written in "Ding Duhu Song". In "Qiupu Song", the hardships of fishermen and metallurgists are described. In poems such as "Concubine's Unfortunate Life", "Changgan Xing" and "Beifeng Xing", he wrote his sympathy for the fate of women. After the Anshi Rebellion, he lamented that "the mountains and hills are covered with white bones, how can the common people be guilty" ("Gift to the Liangzai, the Prefect of Wei, Jiangxia"), and expressed his "Shen Bao only cried, and his hair grew hairy on his temples for seven days" "Ban" ("Running on the Road"), "Sighing four or five times in the middle of the night, often worried about the great country" ("Gift to Jiangxia Wei Prefecture Liangzai"), the sad and indignant mood of patriotism and concern for the people.
He used a large number of poems to sing about the majesty of the mountains and rivers of his motherland and express his deep patriotic feelings. In the poet's writing, the steep Shu roads, the majestic peaks, the rushing rivers, and the cascading waterfalls all appear magnificent and moving.
There is no doubt that Li Bai’s poems do describe negative emotions such as seeking immortality and visiting Taoism, refining elixirs and taking medicine, and preaching that life is like a dream and taking pleasure in time, which must be identified.
Li Bai's poems are free and unrestrained. He wants to fall outside the sky, go up to the sky and enter the earth, mixing reality and illusion. Strange exaggerations, magnificent colors, mythical stories, anecdotes and legends are all woven into the poems. However, his poems are like hibiscus emerging from water, without any false decoration. It constitutes its elegant, bold, majestic and free artistic style. He is best at seven-character songs and quatrains. His quatrains are regarded by later generations as the model of quatrains in the Tang Dynasty. Du Fu was extremely impressed by Li Bai and spoke highly of his poems: "When the pen falls, the wind and rain startle, and the poem becomes a poem that weeps ghosts and gods" ("Send Twelve Whites and Twenty Rhymes").
There is "The Complete Works of Li Taibai" handed down from generation to generation, with more than 990 poems in existence. "Annotations to the Complete Works of Li Taibai" written by Wang Qi of the Qing Dynasty and "Annotations to the Complete Works of Li Bai" written by Qu Yuanyuan and Zhu Jincheng today. You can refer to "Li Bai and Du Fu" by Guo Moruo, "Research on Li Bai" by Wang Yunxi, "Li Bai" by Wang Yao, and "Selected Poems of Li Bai" annotated by the Classical Literature Teaching and Research Group of the Department of Chinese Literature at Fudan University.