The Life of Li Bai

Taking Li Bai’s experience and representative works as the thread， this book presents the real Li Bai both inside and outside his world of poetry. In vivid， meticulous， and expressive words， the author delivers evidence-based research on Li Bai’s social activities. While narrating Li Bai’s life experience， the author interprets Li Bai’s representative works in line with his specific life stages， thoroughly revealing the background and emotion of his poems as well as what the poet has witnessed and thought about.

The Life of Li Bai

Yu Xianhao， Zhang Qichao

Jiangsu Phoenix Publishing Co.， Ltd.

December 2021

68.00 (CNY)

Yu Xianhao

Yu Xianhao is a professor at the School of Chinese Language and Literature， Nanjing Normal University， a Doctoral Tutor， and an Honorary Director of the Institute of Historical Texts and Manuscripts. He was vice president of the Association of Literature in Tang Dynasty China and president of China Li Bai Research Association. Also， he has had several books published， including Annotation to the Complete Works of Li Bai and Commentary on the Complete Works of Li Bai.

Zhang Qichao

Zhang Qichao was head and special correspondent for the Weifang News Bureau， China Chemical Reporter (CCR)， and participated in the publication of works including Anthology of the Tang Dynasty and Selected Works of Chinese Ancient Literature.

Li Bai was born in Suyab (City of Broken Leaves) of ancient Chinese Central Asia (now near Tokmok， Kyrgyzstan). In the Tang Dynasty (618-- 907)， Suyab was under the jurisdiction of the Protectorate to Pacify the West (Anxi Protectorate， 640-- 790). It was the westernmost town among the Four Garrisons of Anxi and an important city on the Silk Road. The eminent monk Xuanzang (Hsüan-tsang， 602-- 664) passed here on his way to India in a bid to study Buddhist scriptures in the early years of the Zhenguan reign period (the reign of Taizong， 626-- 649). In The Great Tang Dynasty Record of the Western Regions， he called this town “Suyab Water Town” and claimed that merchants of all ethnic groups lived together within 3，000 or 3，500 meters from it.

Our ancestors often came up with astronomical quirks linked to the birth of talented people or heroes with impressive achievements to show that they were gifted with a supernatural ability. It is said that when Li Bai was born， his mother dreamed that Chang Geng Star (that is， Venus， also known as Taibai Star) crashed into her belly. As a result of that， she named him Bai， with his courtesy name (zi) “Taibai”. This legend was popular even when Li Bai was alive. Later， on his deathbed， Li Bai asked his uncle， Li Yangbing， to compile his poems. Li Yangbing named Li Bai’s collection Cao Tang Ji (Thatched Cottage Collection)， in which he also wrote down the legend in the preface and said， “Li Bai is crowned as the star of Taibai by the world.” This means that Li Bai is not an ordinary secular person， but a constellation from heaven. Although the legend seems quite ridiculous now， we still can tell that people at that time sincerely praised Li Bai’s extraordinary talent. Among all the ancient Chinese poets， Li Bai is the one with the most legends， which indicates how beloved he is.

When it comes to Li Bai’s ancestral home， both Li Yangbing， in his Preface to Cao Tang Ji， and Fan Chuanzheng， in his Preface to the New Tombstone of Tang Left Imperial Censor and Hanlin Academy Scholar Li， which was written in the 12th year of Emperor Xianzong’s reign of Yuanhe (817) in the Tang Dynasty， claimed that Li Bai was a native of Chengji， Longxi (today’s Qin’an County in Gansu Province) and was the son of the ninth generation of Li Gao， Prince Wuzhao of Xiliang in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (317-- 420). In his poems， Li Bai also often saw himself as “an ordinary individual from Longxi” in Self-Recommendation to Han Chaozong and “a native of Longxi， whose ancestor worked as a general in border areas in the Han Dynasty” in Two Poems to Zhang Xianghao， Part Two. He regarded Li Guang， a prestigious general of the Han Dynasty， as his ancestor. If these were the cases， then he was a royal member of the Tang Dynasty， because the emperor of the Tang Dynasty also claimed to be the descendant of Prince Wuzhao of Xiliang. In the first year of Tianbao (742)， Emperor Xuanzong once issued an imperial edict: all descendants of Prince Wuzhao of Xiliang must be written into the royal family tree. Li Bai was in Chang’an at that time and was warmly hosted by Xuanzong， but in New History of the Tang Dynasty · The Imperial Clan Genealogy Table， Li Bai and his clan were missing. And in his poems， Li Bai called the people from the Tang imperial clan as father’s uncle， father’s brother， cousin， and cousin’s nephew， which did not match his background information as the ninth-generation grandson of Li Gao. He even called those， whose first name was granted Li， a cousin. So， it remains doubtful to say that Li Bai came from Chengji， Longxi and that he was the ninth-generation grandson of Prince Wuzhao of Xiliang. People in the Tang Dynasty valued clans. For example， people with the surname Han often claimed to be from Changli， and people surnamed Wang dubbed themselves from Langya. There were 13 clans in the Li family， with Longxi ranking first. Therefore， people surnamed Li often called themselves the offspring of Li Guang and were from Longxi. As a result， it is reasonable to see Li Bai’s ancestral home — Longxi， and the records of Li Yangbing and Fan Chuanzheng as self-claimed clans.

Li Yangbing and Fan Chuanzheng also pointed out in their records that Li Bai’s ancestors relocated to the Western Regions in the late Sui Dynasty and concealed their identities for no recorded reason. When Li Bai was five years old in the first year of Emperor Zhongzong’s reign of Shenlong (705)， his father with the whole family moved to Changlong County (the county was later renamed Changming County so as not to overlap Xuanzong’s name; in the Later Tang Dynasty， in order not to overlap with the name of General Li Guochang， the name was again changed to Zhangming County， which is today’s Jiangyou City in Sichuan Province)， Mianzhou， in the middle of Shu and settled in Nanqinglian Town (or Integrity Town).

Li Yangbing said that Li Bai’s father was “escaping to Shu”， and Fan Chuanzheng said that he was “sent back to Guanghan” (Mianzhou was part of Guanghan County in the Han Dynasty)， all of which indicated that they were not ordinary immigrants. Li Bai’s father was a mysterious figure， whose real name was not recorded in historical records. It was only known that he re-used his surname， Li， after arriving in Shu. People in the Shu called him Li Ke (Ke， which means guest) because he fled to a foreign land. After arriving in Sichuan， he had lived a reclusive life without seeking an official position， as a result of which the world now knows little about him. Li Bai was the 12th oldest man among his peers， which showed that what Li Ke brought from Western Regions to the Middle Shu was a big family. Although he was not an official， he still could keep this big family and later spent a large amount of money to support Li Bai to travel out of Shu. This indicates the fact that he was wealthy. Therefore， many researchers believe that he might have been a rich businessman — not to mention that Suyab Town was a place where businessmen of all ethnic groups lived together.

Li Bai spent five years in Suyab， a place where various ethnic groups lived together. He was a fan of the moon since he was a child， and later he wrote in Gu Lang Yue Xing that “I did not recognize the moon when I was young， so I joyfully called it a white jade plate. I was also wondering that it might be a mirror where immortals live， flying in the high sky.” The words “Hu” (joyfully call) and “Yi” (wonder) vividly express the feeling of excitement and fantastic imagination when the child first saw the moon， then an innocent and naive protagonist. Li Bai wrote many poems in his life， eulogizing the bright moon. In the Tang Dynasty， there was a legend that the drunk Li Bai drowned due to trying to catch the moon. In addition， today there is a “Zhuoyue (Catch the Moon) Platform” in Caishiji， Anhui Province. Of course， this is just a folktale. However， it is a fact that Li Bai liked the bright moon that illuminates the dark world the most. In Suyab， the majestic view depicted as “From Heaven’s Peak the moon rises bright; over a boundless sea of clouds” (The Moon at the Fortified Pass)， cultivated his soul when he was a child and fostered his straightforward character. His childhood experience in Suyab enabled him to realistically reproduce the scenery in the frontier regions in his poems. At the same time， it enabled Li Bai to understand the languages and customs of different ethnic groups， which laid the foundation for his later travel and social activities and the drafting of Hefanshu (To Other Feuding States). Li Bai missed his birthplace. In the poem Seeing My Friend Off to Mount Luofu， written in his later years， he also lamented， “My hometown Anxi is far away” and deeply regretted that he could not revisit his place of origin.