Li Bai

Also known as Li Bo, Li Pai, or Li Po, Li Bai was born in 701 in Jiangyou, Sichuan province and died in 762 in Dangtu, Anhui province. His family background is thought to be of Turkish descent. He was obsessed with fantasy and withdrawal, nevertheless considered one of the greatest poets, along with his friend Du Fu during Th Golden Age of Chinese Poetry during the Tang Dynasty. Li Bai was involved with Daoist ideas and enjoyed a brief period of favor in the imperial court of Xuan-zong, cut short by his abrasive behavior. During the An Lushan rebellion (755-763) he joined the court of Prince Yun who was eventually captured, with Li Bai arrested for treason. Li Bai imagined himself as yue-fu, the noblest recluse or the bravest knight, as evident through his poetry where he often inserts himself into his dream-like fantasies. His niche of fantasy involved myths and adoption of the 8th century counterculture. His poems reflect his yearning for and hatred of fame and favor, appearing in continuous themes of isolation, sorrow, and immortality. Noted for his loving of wine, Li Bai often uses alcohol in his art as a remedy for or gateway to dreams of a different, even fantasy existence.

Drinking Alone by Moonlight

Themes: Isolation, Nature, Sorrow

Poem:

Here among flowers one flask of wine,
with not close friends, I pour it alone.

I lift cup to bright moon, beg its company,
then facing my shadow, we become three.

The moon has never known how to drink;
my shadow does nothing but follow me.

But with moon and shadow as companions the while,
this joy I find must catch spring while it's here.

I sing, and the moon just lingers on;
I dance, and my shadow flails wildly.

When still sober we share friendship and pleasure,
then, utterly drunk, each goes his own way-

Let us join to roam beyond human cares
and plan to meet far in the river of the stars.

Summary:

The poem follows Li Bai sitting alone among flowers on a moonlit night, drinking a flask of wine. He notes the lack of friends and instead begs the moon for companionship, offering him a drink. Li Bai reflects on his shadow the light of the moon casts down that seems to offer him a slight relief, but only in appearance. At this point the poem is filled with his motion, singing and dancing in a drunken state to inspire joy in his two companions. Li Bai ends the poem by inspiring the audience, and his companions in the moon and his shadow to allow their inhibitions and worries fade away and join him in a mystical setting, the river of stars.

Analysis

Li Bai’s poem has extensive themes of isolation and detachment from society and the world. He uses wine as a conduit to not only ease his loneliness but also to animate his companions: the moon and his shadow. As in Li Bai’s work, the waking dream brings about fleeting companionship, noting how “The moon has never known how to drink; my shadow does nothing but follow me.” He both resents and accepts their friendship noting that only when “utterly drunk” do they depart from their natural mysticism. The final couplet is an invitation not only to his companions, but for the audience to be brought into his rich imagination, not wanting the night or the wine to be finished.

Rising Drunk on a Spring Day, Telling My Intent

Themes: Isolation, Sorrow

Bai, Li. "Li Po's Calligraphy." World History Encyclopedia. World History Encyclopedia, 04 Apr 2016. Web. 09 Dec 2021.

Summary

This poem reflects the interconnected nature of wine and happiness for Li Bai, needing to be mentally removed from his environment. He begins the poem asking why we allow the world to cause us torment in harm when in reality it is nothing more than a dream. He goes on to describe the joy instead of clouding his mind and body with enough alcohol to pass out and escape from a world of sadness. Li Bai describes waking from one of these naps on a pleasant spring day, with the sounds of birds singing among the flowers, only gaining his footing on the time of the year by identifying the bird. His hazy lens on reality provides him comfort and he elects to poor himself more wine to prolong the comfort. Again, Li Bai bursts with emotion at the end of his poem, belting out a wild song and waiting for his companion the moon to return.

Poem:

Analysis

We are lodged in this world as in a great dream,
then why cause our lives so much stress?

This is my reason to spend the day drunk
and collapse, sprawled against the front pillar.

When I wake, I peer out in the yard
where a bird is singing among the flowers.

Now tell me, what season is this?-
the spring breeze speaks with orioles warbling.

I am so touched that I almost sigh,
I turn to the wine, pour myself more,

Then sing wildly, waiting for the moon,
when the tune is done, I no longer care.

Li Bai begins the poem questioning the effort of society to maintain the rigidness of structure, when the structure itself is meaningless. He elects to isolate himself, privileged as he is to be able to enjoy a carefree lifestyle. He justifies his seclusion, with the alcohol as his sleep aid and once again uses the metaphor of waking up from this painful world into a blissful spring day. Li Bai uses themes of imagination in the third and fourth couplet to create a mystical world to wake to, filling up his wine glass to continue the illusion. The wine allows him to escape, almost a voluntary seclusion from a society he clearly longs to be better but wishes to put no effort into changing. His grandiose vision of himself shines through, brought to calmness through song and his old companion the moon.

The Old Airs V

Themes: Themes: Isolation, Immortality

Summary

The poem is emphatic of how Li Bai was involved with the counterculture of the time, drinking various elixirs and alcohol to isolate and dream of a different society. He was said to have consorted with wizards and drugs and became infatuated with stories of immortals and journeys to heaven. The poem Old Airs V follows Li Bai’s journey up Mount Tai-Bo, to meet a wizard-type character able to grant him immortality of sorts through an elixir to remove him from the world of men. Consistent with his habit of bringing together nature and heaven as not only a place of mystical qualities but also a retreat from society, Li Bai describes the mountain ascent as somewhere between himself and heaven. He then describes the wizard, likening him to a silent monk meditating at the top, the genuine one and asking for a spell. Here, Li Bai’s dream-like imagination shines through noting the sparkling jade like teeth and fiery ascension into heaven after he has passed on the drug. He finally describes the ability to take the concoction and gain an immortal separation from the world of men.

(1) Li Bai Writing Poems (李白寫詩) (李白寫詩)

Analysis

Poem

The main theme of this poem is the prospect of immortality (or death) as an escape from reality. We have noted Li Bai’s connection to the counterculture of the time, and now see himself inserting himself into a mystical situation. Imagination shines through as he meets the wizard marveling at what he believes to be his future, peaceful and reclusive, adorned with the glow of heaven. The wizard is in many ways Li Bai as he sees himself, isolated, powerful and mystical and innately separated from the rest of mankind. The most interesting part of the poem comes at the end with the introduction of the elixir. Its purpose on the surface level seems to grant Li Bai with the immortal ability that this wizard possesses, yet the tone of his voice suggests that it might kill him, with the end result being the same for him, an eternal cessation of suffering, and the ability to leave the likes of men. The poem hovers between being a fantastic description of legend and a lonely dream he refuses to leave.

How gray and green stands Mount Tai-bo,
with stars lined in dark ranks above.

Short of heaven but three hundred miles,
remote and disjoined from the world of men.

Up there an old man with blue-black hair,
mantled in cloud, lies in snow of pines.

He does not laugh, he does not speak,
in darkness he roosts in cave on cliff.

I have come to meet this Genuine One,
long I kneel to ask for a spell.

He then shows teeth sparkling like jade
and gives the prescription for refining herbs.

It is written on bone to pass on his words,
his body shoots up, flares out like lightning.

I look after him but cannot reach him,
my passions, swelling in me, burn.

I will work on the nugget of cinnabar
and leave forever the men of this world.

Sources:

(1) Image Name: Emperor Minghuang, seated upon a terrace, observing Li Bai write poetry. (17th Century).
Emperor Minghuang, seated upon a terrace, observing Li Bai write poetry. (1600). Retouched print, ink and color on woodblock. From the seventeenth century and in the British Museum since 1928.]. British Museum, London, England, UK.