Li Bai
(701–762), Chinese poet. Li Bai, or Li Bo, also known as Taibai and style named Qinglian, is often mentioned along with Du Fu as one of the two greatest Tang dynasty (618–907) poets. Although Li's hometown is recorded as a site in present-day Jiangyou District, Sichuan Province, his ancestors were said to be merchants from Central Asia, where it appears that he was actually born.
Li Bai is known in Chinese poetic history as the "Transcendent of Poetry." This epithet captures some of Li's personal and poetic style; his preoccupation with transcendence and with supramundane realms is directly related to his close association with Taoist beliefs, practices, and practitioners. The fantasy of knight errantry forms another aspect of Li Bai's temperament and style. Upon encountering painful experiences, he turned to drinking, and his poetry is characterized by a cyclical alternation between high spirits and despondency. Enamored of hyperbole, Li wrote with an impetuous exuberance, mostly "ancient style" poems and quatrains in simple language. Li also made significant contributions to landscape poetry.
Further Reading
Kroll, Paul W. (1986) "Li Po's Transcendent Diction." Journal of the American Oriental Society 106, 1: 99–117.
Owen, Stephen. (1981) "Li Po: A New Concept of Genius." In The Great Age of Chinese Poetry: The High T'ang. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 109–146.
Waley, Arthur. (1984) The Poetry and Career of Li Po, 701–762 A.D. London: G. Allen and Unwin.
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