stenote: An Interview with Li Bai

Photo: Wikimedia

I went to Huang Shan mountain in Anhui province, to meet Li Bai, one of China's most famous poets. Against a backdrop of misty mountains, he met me cross-legged in front of a small table on the veranda of a food stall. Not to forget a cup of wine was served for him and me. I say 'not to forget' because it is a tradition in China to serve wine or other liquor to guests as a courtesy. In addition, Li Bai has a reputation as the Drunk Poet, due to his penchant for liquor until he drunk, but able to write interesting poems in that state.

It seemed that Li Bai wanted to isolate himself in the area around here, to write poems, being close to the common people, after being 'expelled' from the Royal Academy by Emperor Xuanzong in Chang'an (the ancient name of Xi'an city). He was expelled because of the intrigues of ministers who were jealous of his talent to write beautiful poems. He traveled from mountain to mountain, deepened Taoism and wrote many of his poems there.

That morning I met Li Bai at dawn on the Bright Peak Summit of Mount Huangshan to enjoy the golden light of the sun slowly creeping in from behind the mountains. We just sat in silence while Li Bai was writing a poem, he was just like that, could spontaneously write poetry when attracted by something he encountered. Sometime later he showed me his poem:

Thirty six strange peaks, Immortals with black top knots.

Morning sun strikes the tree tops,

Here in this sky mountain world. Chinese people, raise your faces!

For a thousand years cranes come and go. Far off I spy a firewood gatherer, Plucking sticks from stone crevices.

I responded:

"Mountains often appear in your poetry, right?"

Li Bai, smiling, quoted another of his poems:

“You ask for what reason I stay on the green mountain,

I smile, but do not answer, my heart is at leisure.

Peach blossom is carried far off by flowing water,

Apart, I have heaven and earth in the human world.”

I said:

“Heaven and earth in the human world, I really can sense the deep influence of Taoism, which views the Universe as an interconnected organic entity. None exists separately from the others.”

Li Bai:

“I recited ‘Liu Jia’ at the age of five, an ancient Taoist book that has been lost, and see a hundred schools at the age of ten. At the age of fifteen, I and Dongyanzi, a Taoist hermit, went to mount Minshan to live there in seclusion. I lived in there for several years. We raised many exotic birds in the forests, lived and worked as animal breeders. These are beautiful and docile birds, because we used to feeding them, so they come regularly to ask for food. It's as if they can understand people's language, with a call, they fly from everywhere before coming down, can even peck at people's hands. With grains, they are not afraid at all”.

I said:

“Before you exiled yourself to this area, it is said that you were once a high ranking official serving Emperor Xuanzong in Chang'an. How did it happen?”

Li Bai:

“I was wandering around Zhejiang and Jiangsu and eventually made friends with Wu Yun, a famous Taoist priest, who was close to Emperor Xuanzong. One day Wu Yun was summoned by the Emperor to attend the imperial court, and his praise of me was great. His praise led Emperor Xuanzong to summon me to the court of Chang’an. It seemed that the Emperor, aristocrats and common people alike were fascinated by my talents and personality. At first he gave me a job as a translator, as I knew non-Chinese language. Eventually the Emperor gave me a post at the Hanlin Academy, the royal academy which served to provide scholarly expertise and poetry for the Emperor.”

I said:

“Surely you wrote poems for Emperor Xuanzong?”

Li Bai:

“I wrote several poems about the Emperor's beautiful and beloved Yang Guifei, the favorite royal consort.”

I said:

"May I hear one of them?"

Li Bai:

“Clouds remind me of her apparel, flowers remind me of her countenance,

The spring breeze blows against the banister, the dew are splendidly lush.

If we cannot meet atop the Jade Mountain,

Then we will surely encounter one another on the jade terrace basked under the moonlight.”

I said:

“Hmmm… by mentioning the Jade Mountain, this poem implies the empress as charming as a fairy from the heavens, and you will meet her in the mortal world under the moonlight… The Daoism impression is very strong, heaven and earth as a harmonious wholesome beauty.

One of the other poems you have written since sitting in the palace is about the drunkenness of drinking wine. A theme that is rarely expressed as poetry, because it is considered unworthy, not beautiful, and too 'mortal'. You seem to be very much into drunkenness perhaps because as people have known, you like drinking to the point of intoxication, and you even write the best poetry in drunken state. One of your famous poems is “Drinking Alone Under the Moon”, which express the feeling of drunkenness and loneliness in a poetic and romantic way, loved by the public because the feeling is so 'grounded to the earth’ mirroring the habits of Chinese people from all walks of life to get drunk.

Li Bai, staring at the sky and quoting " Drinking Alone Under the Moon "

“Among the blossoms waits a jug of wine.

I pour myself a drink, no loved one near.

Raising my cup, I invite the bright moon

and turn to my shadow. We are now three.

But the moon doesn’t understand drinking,

and my shadow follows my body like a slave.

For a time, moon and shadow will be my companions,

a passing joy that should last through the spring.

I sing, and the moon just wavers in the sky;

I dance and my shadow whips around like mad.

While lucid still, we have such fun together!

But stumbling drunk, each stagger off alone.

Bound forever, relentless we roam:

reunited at last on the distant river of stars.”

I said:

"Wow, it's so impressive that his feeling of loneliness is combined with the dance in the universe. Poetic, romantic and once again very thick sense of Taoism.

However, with such beautiful poems that you wrote why were you expelled from the Palace?"

Li Bai:

"Because of Gao Lishi the eunuch minister who has the most political influence in the palace. He envied me and along with other spiteful officials conspired to get rid of me with various intrigues. Knowing my habit of drinking until the drunk, one day they trapped me into drinking until drunk. Then in a drunken state I was brought to the Emperor to be humiliated. The emperor was angry and then drove me out of the palace, so I decided to leave Chang'an..."

I said:

“How did you feel leaving Chang’an?”

Li Bai, citing ‘The City of Choan’ Li Bai, another name of 'Chang'an City' or Xi'an:

The phoenix are at play on their terrace.

The phoenix are gone, the river flows on alone.

Flowers and grass

Cover over the dark path

where lay the dynastic house of the Go.

The bright cloths and bright caps of Shin

Are now the base of old hills.

The Three Mountains fall through the far heaven,

The isle of White Heron