Li Bai facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Lǐ Bái
Li Bai In Stroll, by Liang Kai (1140–1210)
Born	701 Suiye, Tang Empire (now Chuy Region, Kyrgyzstan)
Died	762 Dangtu, Tang Empire (now Ma'anshan, Anhui Province, China)
Occupation	Poet
Nationality	Chinese
Period	Tang dynasty
Chinese name
Chinese	李白
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Lǐ Bái (col.) Lǐ Bó (lit.) Wade–Giles Li3 Pai2 (col.) Li3 Po2 (lit.) IPA  (col.)  (lit.) Wu Shanghainese Romanization Lij Baq Yue: Cantonese Yale Romanization Léih Baahk Jyutping Lei5 Baak6 Southern Min Hokkien POJ Lí Peh (col.) Lí Biak (lit.) Middle Chinese Middle Chinese Ljɨ Bɐk, or Lǐ Bhæk
Taibai
Chinese	太白
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Taìbaí
Qinglian Jushi
Traditional Chinese	青蓮居士
Simplified Chinese	青莲居士
Literal meaning	Lotus Householder
Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Qīnglián Jūshì
Vietnamese name
Vietnamese	Lý Bạch
Korean name
Hangul	이백
Hanja	李白
Transcriptions McCune–Reischauer I Baek
Japanese name
Kanji	李白
Hiragana	りはく
Transcriptions Romanization Ri Haku

Li Bai (also Li Bo or Li Po, Chinese: 李白; pinyin: Lǐ Bái / Lǐ Bó; 701–762) was a Chinese poet. His fellow poet Du Fu counted him to the group of Chinese scholars that he called the "Eight Immortals of the Wine Cup" in a poem. Li Bai is often regarded, along with Du Fu, as one of the two greatest poets in China's literary history. Today we know about 1,100 of his poems.

The first translations in a Western language were published in 1862 by Marquis d'Hervey de Saint-Denys in his Poésies de l'Époque des Thang. The English-speaking world was introduced to Li Bai's works by a Herbert Allen Giles publication History of Chinese Literature (1901) and through the liberal, but poetically influential, translations of Japanese versions of his poems made by Ezra Pound.

Li Bai is best known for the imagination and Taoist imagery in his poetry. He spent much of his life travelling. People tell the story that he fell from his boat when he tried to embrace the reflection of the moon, and therefore drowned in the Yangtze River.

Biography

Early life

Li Bai was probably born in Central Asia, though the exact location is unknown. His ancestors had lived in exile in that area since around the 7th century. He grew up in a fairly poor family. His father was a merchant. Li Bai did not receive any formal schooling as a child. Despite this, he had always been skilled with the art of words even as a young boy. In 705, Li Bai's father moved the family back to Mien-chou in Sichuan. It was there that he spent most of his early childhood.

As Lai Bai grew up he developed his sword fighting skills. He spent his teenage years traveling all of Sichuan as a knight-errant. At age 25, he traveled to Central China. In 727, Li Bai traveled to A-lu in Hubei. He married the daughter of the retired prime minister. There, he continued to explore the natural world where he lived.

Travels

In 735, Li Bai traveled north to the Yellow River, and east to the Yangtze River. In 742, he traveled to Chang’an, and was presented to the Emperor. The Emperor gave Li Bai many compliments, and thought highly of him. He gave Li Bai a position at the Hanlin Academy. Li Bai received a lot of attention from fellow scholar-officials.

In 744, Li Bai left the city of Chang'an. He was bored with the luxuries of city life. A year later, he met up with Du Fu, in Loyang. It was here that he also became a Taoist, a decision that would change the rest of his life. After settling his family down in Loyang, he left on another ten-year journey wandering around northern China. During this time, his poetry reflects his shift in interest to Toasm rather than his youthful interests of knightly behaviors and gallantry. While famous and well known, Li Bai started to struggle with problems like lack of money and property.

Poetry

Li Bai is best known for his imaginative and witty poetry. It involves romantic descriptions of nature, and opinions on ethics and death. He was famous among both nobles and commoners in his time, and is thought of as one of the four best poets during the Tang Dynasty. He is also well known for his Taoist beliefs and rebellion against Confucian teachings through his writing.

One of Li Bai's most famous poems is Drinking Alone by Moonlight (月下獨酌, pinyin: Yuè Xià Dú Zhuó), which is a good example of some of the most famous aspects of his poetry—a very spontaneous poem, full of natural images. Li Bai actually wrote several poems with the same title; Arthur Waley's version of the most famous reads:

Philosophy

Li Bai’s poetry reflects the state of low feeling one experiences when he finds his life is wasted, and talents unused.

Influence

Li Bai is influential in the West partly due to Ezra Pound's versions of some of his poems in the collection Cathay, such as The River Merchant's Wife: A Letter. In the east he influenced poets like Mi Fei in the Song Dynasty.

A crater on the planet Mercury has been named after him.

• Cooper, Arthur (1973). Li Po and Tu Fu: Poems Selected and Translated with an Introduction and Notes (Penguin Classics, 1973). ISBN: 978-0-14-044272-4 .
• Hinton, David (1998). The Selected Poems of Li Po (Anvil Press Poetry, 1998). ISBN: 978-0-85646-291-7 .
• Waley, Arthur (1950). The poetry and career of Li Po (MacMillan Co., New York, 1950). ASIN B0006ASTS4.
• Weinberger, Eliot. The New Directions Anthology of Classical Chinese Poetry. (New York: New Directions Publishing Corporation, 2004). ISBN: 0-8112-1605-5. Introduction, with translations by William Carlos Williams, Ezra Pound, Kenneth Rexroth, Gary Snyder, and David Hinton.

Online translations (some with original Chinese, pronunciation, and literal translation):

Images for kids

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  Li Bai, as depicted in the Nanling Wushuang Pu by Jin Guliang, Ming dynasty

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  The China of Li Bai and Du Fu

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  Riders on Horseback, Northern Qi Dynasty, the general area of the rebel heartland, although of an earlier date.

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  Li Bai Memorial Hall in Jiangyou, Sichuan

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  The only surviving calligraphy in Li Bai's own handwriting, titled Shangyangtai (To Yangtai Temple), located at the Palace Museum in Beijing, China.

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  Spring Evening Banquet at the Peach and Pear Blossom Garden with quoted text by Li Bai, painted by Leng Mei, late 17th or early 18th century, National Palace Museum, Taipei

See also

In Spanish: Li Bai para niños