Li Bai's Poetry: Readings by Famous Tang Poets

Author: Xiong Lihui
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-06-09
Features: Li Bai left behind over 900 poems for later generations. These brilliant works reflect his life's journey and serve as an artistic portrayal of the social reality and spiritual life of the Tang Dynasty. Li Bai harbored grand ambitions throughout his life and openly expressed his yearning for fame and success. In poems like "Liangfu Yin," "Reading the Biography of Zhuge Liang Wu Hou" (Book of Thoughts), and "Written Sentiments for Cai Shuren Xiong," his aspirations are vividly depicted. Since his youth, Li Bai was fond of the chivalrous spirit and wrote many poems about wandering knights, with "The Knight-Errant" being a representative work. His three years in Chang'an had a profound impact on his creativity. The clash between his political ideals and the dark reality of the time filled him with indescribable sorrow and indignation. Out of anger, he composed a series of famous poems like "The Hard Road," "Ancient Style," and "In Response to Wang Er's Solitary Drinking at Night," reflecting his longing for the past, his sorrowful self-pity, and his unrelenting spirit. Li Bai spent much of his life wandering, traveling across the country's famous mountains and rivers, and wrote numerous poems praising the beauty of his homeland, expressing his love for freedom and his desire for liberation. In these poems, the extraordinary landscapes and his rebellious, unrestrained personality are perfectly intertwined. This type of poetry constitutes a significant portion of Li Bai's works and has been passed down through generations. Among them, "A Dream Journey to Mount Tianmu" is an outstanding masterpiece. With a bold and unrestrained brush, Li Bai's poetry allows his imagination to soar freely, depicting spiritual adventures and pursuits, liberating his troubled and melancholic soul in dreams. The line "How can I bow my head and serve the powerful, losing my joy?" reveals his unyielding character and becomes an important reference for later generations to examine his great personality. Li Bai was one of the greatest poets of the Tang Dynasty. His works are an outstanding representation of the Tang Dynasty's spirit and embody the era's characteristics. His poetry reflects the features of the Tang Dynasty's peak development and its subsequent decline. First, Li Bai's poems reflect the positive and progressive spirit of the Tang Dynasty. He was confident in his political abilities and aspired to "apply the wisdom of Guan Zhong and Yan Ying, plan the strategies of emperors, and use his intelligence to become a minister who aids the ruler. May the world be at peace, and the empire be unified." (From "Letter in Response to Meng Shaofu's Transfer of Office") He often took Guan Zhong, Zhang Liang, Yue Yi, Zhuge Liang, Xie An, and Lu Zhonglian as role models or even compared himself to them. He also compared himself to the great Peng: "One day, the great Peng rises with the wind, soaring nine thousand miles into the sky. Even if the wind stops, it can still churn the vast ocean." (From "Addressing Li Yong") He firmly believed that "Heavenly gifts must have a purpose" (From "Bringing in the Wine") and that "When the wind breaks the waves, the clouds will be hoisted" (From "The Hard Road") or "Only if you use Dongshan's Xie Anshi, can you quiet the sands of Hu." (From "Song of the Eastern Tour of Yong Wang") These spirits of actively engaging in the world and striving forward are the essence of the Tang Dynasty's spirit. Li Bai's poems also express a strong anti-aristocratic sentiment and a clear rejection of fame, wealth, and status. In poems like "Buying songs and laughter with gold and white jade, drinking wine for months, lightly regarding the nobles" (From "Remembering the Past and Sending Yuan Canjun"), and in "A Dream Journey to Mount Tianmu," he concludes with the bold line "How can I bow my head and serve the powerful, losing my joy?" which, even through the ages, allows people to appreciate his heroic and spirit. Du Fu described him as "The emperor calls but he does not board the ship, claiming to be the immortal of wine" (From "Song of the Eight Immortals Drinking Wine"). Ren Hua called him "For decades as a guest, never once lowering his dignity" (From "Miscellaneous Poem Sent to Li Bai"). Clearly, the poet longed to achieve merit and fame but also wished to maintain an independent character, unwilling to "bow his head and serve the powerful." This may be the reason why ancient scholars believed that "poetry is refined only when it is in poverty" (Ouyang Xiu's words) and "writing despises those who are successful in life." Maintaining an independent character is one of the basic prerequisites for creative success, and not "bowing to the powerful" is essential for preserving that independence. This is why almost all great ancient writers were "poor" and "unsuccessful." From Li Bai, people naturally recall Tao Yuanming, who refused to "bow his head for five bushels of rice."
Third, Li Bai had an extraordinary love for his homeland's mountains and rivers. Only through the magnificent landscapes of his country could the heroic and immortal poet fully express his character. The "road to Shu, which is harder to climb than the sky"; the "Lushan" where "climbing high, one gazes at the heavens, the vast river flows endlessly. Yellow clouds move with the wind, white waves flow like snow mountains" (From "Lushan Ballad Sent to Lu Shiyu"); the "Tianmu Mountain" where "half the cliff sees the sun rise, and in the air, one hears the rooster crow"; the "Yellow River, which flows from the sky, rushing to the sea and never returning"; the "Clear Creek" where "people walk in a mirror, birds fly through a screen"; all reflect the poet's noble character and personality, as well as his aesthetic tastes and pursuit of purity and brightness. Li Bai often tied the fate of his country and its people to his heart: his poem "Far Separation" expresses his worry about "the ruler losing his ministers, and the dragon becomes a fish; the power falls to the ministers, and the mouse becomes a tiger"; his poem "The Hard Road" reflects his concern about "if those guarding the pass are not loyal, they may turn into wolves and tigers"; he criticizes "the ruler cannot learn from Geshu, riding through Qinghai at night with a knife, westward to Shibao to take the purple robe"; in his "Ancient Style" poems, he directly targets the corrupt rulers of the time with lines like "The Yin dynasty disrupted the heavens, and the Chu Huai was also." In contrast, he showed deep affection for ordinary laborers, such as iron workers, wine brewers, the old woman under Wusong Mountain, and his friend Wang Lun, without any arrogance. After the An Lushan Rebellion, his poems more directly reflected the reality of the war: "In March, Luoyang flew with Hu sand, people in Luoyang city sighed in resentment. The Tianjin river flows red with blood, white bones support each other like tangled hemp" (From "Song of the Nobleman of Fufeng"); "White bones form hills, what crime did the common people commit?" (From "Gift to Wei Shaozhai of Jiangxia"). In his later years, Li Bai was summoned by Yong Wang Lin, perhaps aligning with his desire to "save the state and rescue the people." Li Bai's poems depict the Tang Dynasty from various perspectives, revealing its severe crises. However, some undesirable elements exist in his poems, promoting the ideas of "when life is pleasant, one must enjoy it," viewing life as a dream, and seeking immortality. These are not commendable. Li Bai's great achievements in art have made his poems a treasure of Chinese poetry heritage. Wang Shizhen in "Yi Yuan Chi Yan" pointed out that Li Bai's poetry is "dominated by spirit and guided by nature." Li Bai's poetry is powerful, unrestrained, and dynamic. He said, "Taibai's heart is vast and lofty, as if he stands in the clouds and heavens, encompassing the universe, without concern for trivial matters. His words flow like wind and clouds, leaving no trace." (From "Carrying Wine Garden Poetic Notes") Li Bai's poetry blends the artistic styles of Qu Yuan and Zhuangzi, forming a style that is heroic, ethereal, and unrestrained. His poems use rich imagination, vivid metaphors, and high exaggeration, creating a thunderous and electrifying momentum that is awe-inspiring. In some of his masterpieces, such as "The Hard Road" and "A Dream Journey to Mount Tianmu," he often uses dynamic brushwork to combine reality and dreams, soaring to the heavens or diving into the earth, breaking the boundaries of time and space. Or, "When in a drunken state, he shakes the Five Mountains with his brush; when the poem is complete, he laughs and dominates the vast ocean" (From "Song of the River"); or "Both a free spirit and soaring thoughts, wanting to ascend the sky to gaze at the moon" (From "Seeing Off the Schoolmaster at Xiantao Tower"); or "Falling back on Junshan is good, the Xiang River flows flat" (From "Accompanying the Vice Minister to Tour Dongting Lake, Drunk Afterwards"). The structure of his poems is rarely straightforward but rather jumps and falls, with great ups and downs. Some of his famous works, such as "Bringing in the Wine" and "The Hard Road," particularly exemplify these characteristics. Another significant feature of Li Bai's poetry is its naturalness and lack of artificiality. This has been discussed by ancient scholars. He said, "Taibai's high and vast poetry is like a large jade that is not carved, yet naturally possesses the color of a rainbow." (From "Carrying Wine Garden Poetic Notes") Qiao Yi also said, "Try reading the poems of Qinglian, like the sea where countless things fly, strange and numerous, yet the meaning is endless, so it is horizontal and supreme." (From "Jianxi Shuo Shi") Li more clearly pointed out, "Li's poetry is originally like Tao Yuanming, and Du's poetry is originally like Yu Zishan." (From "Yucun Poetic Notes") Others also used Li Bai's own line "Clear water blooms, naturally free of decoration" (From "After the Turmoil, Recalling the Past and Gifting Wei Shaozhai of Jiangxia") to praise the style of his poetic language. In fact, this can also be attributed to "naturalness." Taking two of his short poems as an example: one is "Mountain Answering," "Ask me why I dwell in the green mountain, smiling but not answering, my heart is at ease. Peach blossoms and flowing water go away gracefully, a world apart, not of this human realm." Another is "Drinking with an Immortal in the Mountains," "Two of us drink under the mountain flowers, cup after cup, again and again. I am drunk and want to sleep, you may go. Tomorrow, I will come with my lute." And some of his famous works, such as "Quiet Night Thoughts," "The Long Dry Road," and "Ziyue Wu Ge," are also like this. Li Bai's fu poems and seven-character ballads both have the characteristics of folk songs. Li Bai's poetry is not only simple and natural but also emotionally profound. His highest achievement in art lies in his fu poems, of which he has 149 extant. He continued the old titles of the fu and made changes within the traditional framework. His greatness lies not in expanding the subject matter or changing the themes, but rather in developing along the original themes, images, atmosphere, and rhythms, deepening, thoroughly exploring, and fully expressing them to an extent that leaves no room for further improvement, making it difficult for later generations to follow." (From "Preface to the Selected Works of Li Bai") Li Bai's ballad poems number over 80, many of which are masterpieces, such as "A Dream Journey to Mount Tianmu," "Seeing Off the Schoolmaster at Xiantao Tower," and "Lushan Ballad Sent to Lu Shiyu," all of which are famous poems passed down through the ages. Feng Ban pointed out, "The name of the ballad comes from the musical pieces. The sentences are of varying lengths, some imitating ancient fu, such as those found in Bao Mingyuan's collection. After the Tianbao period of the Tang, it flourished greatly, with Li Taibai being particularly outstanding. Taibai often imitates the three ancestors and Bao Mingyuan, with language that is particularly close to the ancient style." (From "Dun Yin Zha Lu") Guan Shiming also said, "Li's ballad poems have long sentences that are open and unrestrained, beyond comprehension. Their length and shortness vary as needed." (From "Preface to the Reading Snow Room Collection of Tang Poetry") Feng and Guan's discussions share some common insights: Li Bai's ballad poems all use varying sentence lengths, being open and unrestrained, and are closer to the ancient style. Li Bai's ballads are even more capable of "having a clear and bright spirit within their unrestrainedness." (From "Xiao Yuan Poetic Notes") Li Bai's "Ancient Style" poems, numbering 59, have a wide range of content, not written at one time or place, but with the same form. The poems are reflective, containing criticism of the corruption of the court, lamenting his own fate, historical odes, and immortal themes. Gao Jie pointed out, "Li's two volumes of 'Ancient Style' are deeply rooted in Chen Zi'ang's 'Feeling Encounters,' and Taibai was not far from Zi'ang, so his high aspirations were like this." (From "Tang Poetry Grades") Shen said, "Taibai's poetry is unrestrained and rapid, but the two volumes of 'Ancient Style' do not boast talent or force, originally following Ruan Gong, with a style that is outstanding. After Bo Yu's 'Feeling Encounters,' there are successors." (From "Tang Poetry Selection") These works inherit the tradition of Feng and Sao more, with deep and sincere reflections, lingering emotions, and often hidden meanings beyond the words. Li Bai's collection also contains eight seven-character regulated poems and 110 five-character regulated poems. The era in which Li Bai lived saw the perfection of five-character regulated poems and the gradual stabilization of seven-character regulated poems. Li Bai's regulated poems generally reflect the creative situation of that time. Some believe that Li Bai disliked constraints, which is why there are few seven-character regulated poems in his collection, but this explanation is not valid. The constraints of seven-character regulated poems are not much stricter than those of five-character regulated poems, as evidenced by the over 100 five-character regulated poems in his collection. Seven-character regulated poems were fully stabilized in Du Fu's poems while wandering in the southwest. Li Bai and his contemporaries, such as Cui Hao, had seven-character regulated poems that were not particularly refined or orderly, even if they generally met the standards, they were mostly coincidental. Li Bai's achievements in regulated poems are very high. Tian Wen said, "Qinglian writes regulated poems like ancient style, in one breath, without any trace of comparison, with the joy of flow, and supreme realm." (From "Miscellaneous Notes of Guan Huan Tang") For his five-character regulated poems, ancient scholars had even more praise. Wu Qiao said, "Taibai's five-character regulated poems are simple and natural, the work of a great hand." (From "Surrounding the Hearth Poetic Notes") Guan Shiming said, "Taibai's five-character regulated poems are like listening to the music of the heavens, opening the heart and brightening the eyes; like looking at the immortal mountains of the sea, clouds rising and water surging. Or, the entire poem is without parallel, yet the interest is natural and cannot be forced. Chang Wei and Meng Shanshan sometimes achieve this, but Taibai reaches perfection." (From "Preface to the Reading Snow Room Collection of Tang Poetry") The three scholars' discussions on Li Bai's regulated poems are fair, both his strengths and weaknesses are accurately described. Taibai's quatrains number 93, with 48 five-character quatrains and 45 seven-character quatrains. Hu Yinglin pointed out, "Taibai's five-character and seven-character quatrains are each a realm of the spirit, each a work of the spirit." "Taibai's quatrains are composed spontaneously, as if there is no intention of perfection, yet there is no imperfection." He also said, "There are two paths to five-character quatrains: Mo Jie's mystery, and Taibai's superfluity." "Seven-character quatrains, Taibai and Jiangning are the best." "Five-character and seven-character (quatrains) each reach perfection, with Taibai." (From "Poetic Notes") Mao Xianshu said, "Seven-character quatrains should avoid arrogance at the beginning, Taibai often expresses his thoughts directly, using overflowing thoughts as waves and ripples, with lingering echoes." (From "Poetic Notes on Poetic Debates") Modern scholars' discussions on Li Bai's quatrains are roughly within the above range. Various selected collections of Tang poetry include many of Li Bai's quatrains. Wang Shizhen's "Selected Ten Thousand Quatrains of Tang Poets" selects 21 seven-character quatrains by Li Bai, and Sun Zhu's "Three Hundred Tang Poems" selects eight quatrains by Li Bai, equal to Wang Wei and Du Mu, ranking third. Among the widely loved Tang quatrains, Li Bai's "Quiet Night Thoughts," "Early Departure from Bai Di City," and "Seeing Off Meng Haoran to Guangling" are among the most widely circulated. The line "Before my bed, the bright moon shines" is often the first Tang poem children encounter when learning to speak. Li Bai pushed the art of ancient Chinese poetry to its peak and had a profound impact on later generations. Li Bai was already famous before his death and even more highly regarded after his passing. Li Yangbing in "Preface to the Cao Tang Collection" said, "Through the ages, only you are unique." Wu Rong in "Preface to the Chan Yue Collection" said, "In our dynasty, many could sing and compose poems, but only Li Taibai is the first." Yu Xianhao in "Preface to the Selected Works of Li Bai" pointed out, "In the Tang Dynasty, Han Yu, Li He, and Du Mu were all influenced by Li Bai's poetic style from different perspectives; in the Song Dynasty, Su Shi and Lu You's poems, Su Shi, Xin Qiji, and Chen Liang's unrestrained Ci, were clearly influenced by Li Bai's poetry; while in the Jin and Yuan dynasties, Yuan Haowen, Sa Dula, Fang Hui, Zhao Mengfu, Fan Deji, Wang Yun, and others, learned Li Bai's ethereal style; in the Ming Dynasty, Liu Ji, Song Lian, Gao Qi, Li Dongyang, Gao Jing, Shen Zhou, Yang Shen, Zong Chen, Wang Deng, Li Zhi, and in the Qing Dynasty, Qu Daojun, Huang Jingren, Gong Zhenzhen, and others, all admired Li Bai and learned from his creative experience." Since the modern era, Li Bai has not only been well-known to the East but also widely admired in Western countries. Li Bai's poems have become one of the most brilliant parts of Chinese cultural heritage.