Li Po
Li Po (701-762) was a Chinese poet, considered the greatest romantic poet of the Tang dynasty.
Renowned as the Poet Immortal, he is among the most well-respected poets in China's literary history. Approximately 1,100 poems of his remain today. The western world was introduced to Li Po's works through the very liberal translations of Japanese versions of his poems made by Ezra Pound. Li Po is best known for the extravagant imagination and striking Taoist imagery in his poetry, as well as for his great love of drink. Like Du Fu, he spent much of his life travelling, although in his case this was because his wealth allowed him to, rather than because his poverty forced him. He is said to have drowned in the Yangtze river, having fallen from his boat while drunkenly trying to embrace the moon.
Biography
Li Po was the son of a rich merchant; his birthplace is uncertain, but one candidate is Suiye in Central Asia (near modern day Tokmak, Kyrgyzstan). His family moved to Jiangyou, near modern Chengdu in Sichuan province when he was 5 years old. He was influenced by Confucian and Taoist thought, but ultimately his family heritage did not provide him with much opportunity in the aristocratic Tang dynasty. Though he expressed the wish to become an official, he did not sit for the Chinese civil service examination. Instead, beginning at age 25 he travelled around China, affecting a wild and free persona very much contrary to the prevailing ideas of a proper Confucian gentleman. This portrayal fascinated the aristocrats and common people alike and he was introduced to the Emperor Xuan Zong (玄宗, pinyin xuan2 zong1) around 742.
He was given a post at the Hanlin (翰林, pinyin Hànlín) academy which served to provide a source of scholarly expertise for the emperor. Li Po remained less than two years as a poet in the Emperor's service, before he was dismissed for an unknown indiscretion. Thereafter he wandered throughout China for the rest of his life. He met Du Fu in the autumn of 744, and again the following year. These were the only occasions on which they met, but the friendship remained particularly important for the starstruck Du Fu (a dozen of his poems to or about Li Po survive, compared to only one by Li Po to Du Fu). At the time of the An Lushan Rebellion he became involved in a subsidiary revolt against the emperor, although the extent to which this was voluntary is unclear. The failure of the rebellion resulted in his being exiled a second time, to Yelang. He was pardoned before the exile journey was complete.
Li Po died in Dangtu in modern day Anhui. Some scholars believe his death was the result of mercury poisoning due to a long history of imbuing Taoist longevity elixirs while others believe that he died of alchohol poisoning.
Poetry
Over a thousand poems are attributed to him, but the authenticity of many of these is uncertain. He is best known for his yue fu poems, which are intense and often fantastic. He is often associated with Taoism: there is a strong element of this in his works, both in the sentiments they express and in their spontaneous tone. Nevertheless, his Gufeng (Ancient Airs) often adopt the perspective of the Confucian moralist, and many of his occasional verses are fairly conventional.
One of Li Po's most famous poems is "Drinking Alone under the Moon" (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 imagery and anthropomorphism.
Influence
Li Po is known in the west partly due to Ezra Pound's versions of some of his poems in Cathay, and due to Gustav Mahler's using four of his works in Das Lied von der Erde. These were in a German translation by Hans Begthe, published in an anthology called Die chinesische Flöte (The Chinese Flute)and in turn followed a French translation. A crater on Mercury has been named for him.
