The period 713-756 AD was the time the Tang Dynasty reached its zenith, and it was also known as the golden age of Chinese poetry. Among all the brilliant poets of the time, Li Bai 李白was one of the greatest and most influential romantic poets in Chinese literary history. Li Bai(701-762), styled Taibai 太白, and his pseudonym was Qinglianjushi 青莲居士, which means “lay Buddhist of blue lotus”. He likes reading, traveling, drinking, and writing poems. Li Bai has superior and admirable writing skills, and the themes of his poems are broad; sometimes his poems reveal his disdain for the corrupt government, and sometimes reveal his love to motherland’s magnificent mountains and rivers. Due to his unrestrained and vigorous style of poems, people call
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According to legend, it is said that Li Bai was probably born in Tokmok, an important city on the Silk Road. His father was a trader along the Silk Road, and his mother might be of Turkish descent. At his age of five, he moved to Sichuan province with his merchant family. Li Bai’s interest in poetry grew when he was little. The first poem his father taught him was a rhyme-prose “Sir Fantasy” by Sima Xiangru. This fantastic prose later proved to have a great impact on Li Bai’s poetic style. When he reached the age of fourteen, his father taught him to write fu, and Li Bai proved that he was a prodigy in writing poetry. According to his poem “赠张相镐 其二”, he said “十五觀奇書，作賦淩相如”, which means when Li Bai was fifteen years old, he was able to read many classical books, and his capacity of writing fu was already above Sima …show more content…
Throughout Li Bai’s life, he had four wives in total. In 727, he married his first wife, and he lived with his wife’s family. However, he still did not get any official position yet; instead, he met some famous poets and became their friends. In 742, a famous Taoist priest Wujun 吳筠, who was a friend of the Emperor Xuanzong 玄宗, admire Li Bai’s literary talent and he convinced Emperor to bring him to the imperial court. Soon Li Bai was summoned into the imperial court. Even though Emperor Xuanzong appreciated Li Bai’s talent, he appointed Li Bai as a member of Hanlin翰林供奉, a position to serve Emperor in literature was far from the central power. Thus, Li Bai was depressed since he had an ambition to get involved in the administration of court affairs and to help improve the quality of common people’s life. Due to his disappointment of the treacherous court officials and court corruption, he was more addicted to drinking wine. With the drinking and upset emotions, he wrote a lot of brilliant poems. Three years after, he was expelled from the court, and he resumed his travel in China. During this journey, he met Du Fu, another influential poet in Chinese literary history but unknown at that time. They soon became good friends, and wrote poems to each other, both of them had actively influence each other’s writing in some way. In 755, the An-Shi Rebellion安史之亂 broke out, Li Bai gained an
According to legend, it is said that Li Bai was probably born in Tokmok, an important city on the Silk Road. His father was a trader along the Silk Road, and his mother might be of Turkish descent. At his age of five, he moved to Sichuan province with his merchant family. Li Bai’s interest in poetry grew when he was little. The first poem his father taught him was a rhyme-prose “Sir Fantasy” by Sima Xiangru. This fantastic prose later proved to have a great impact on Li Bai’s poetic style. When he reached the age of fourteen, his father taught him to write fu, and Li Bai proved that he was a prodigy in writing poetry. According to his poem “赠张相镐 其二”, he said “十五觀奇書，作賦淩相如”, which means when Li Bai was fifteen years old, he was able to read many classical books, and his capacity of writing fu was already above Sima …show more content…
Throughout Li Bai’s life, he had four wives in total. In 727, he married his first wife, and he lived with his wife’s family. However, he still did not get any official position yet; instead, he met some famous poets and became their friends. In 742, a famous Taoist priest Wujun 吳筠, who was a friend of the Emperor Xuanzong 玄宗, admire Li Bai’s literary talent and he convinced Emperor to bring him to the imperial court. Soon Li Bai was summoned into the imperial court. Even though Emperor Xuanzong appreciated Li Bai’s talent, he appointed Li Bai as a member of Hanlin翰林供奉, a position to serve Emperor in literature was far from the central power. Thus, Li Bai was depressed since he had an ambition to get involved in the administration of court affairs and to help improve the quality of common people’s life. Due to his disappointment of the treacherous court officials and court corruption, he was more addicted to drinking wine. With the drinking and upset emotions, he wrote a lot of brilliant poems. Three years after, he was expelled from the court, and he resumed his travel in China. During this journey, he met Du Fu, another influential poet in Chinese literary history but unknown at that time. They soon became good friends, and wrote poems to each other, both of them had actively influence each other’s writing in some way. In 755, the An-Shi Rebellion安史之亂 broke out, Li Bai gained an