The first idol of the Great Tang Dynasty, why Li Bai

Author | Duan Zhifei

Title map | "The Legend of the Demon Cat"

"Li Bai's story is not easy to tell, his limelight is too strong." This is the exclamation made by writer Han Songluo in an interview with a reporter from "New Weekly".

Not long ago, the movie "Chang'an 30,000 Li" set off a wave of Tang poetry fever, and people sighed one after another, after years and years, they finally understood that "the apes on both sides of the strait can't stop crying, and the light boat has passed through ten thousand mountains", which is quite a bit of "poetic rejuvenation". Not only that, the protagonist of the story, Li Bai, has also become an "Internet celebrity".

(Photo/"Chang'an 30,000 Li")

Why do people miss Li Bai? Just because of his popular poems? In fact, it is not true, but to truly understand Li Bai, it seems that you have to enter his history, and even get close to his deeds.

As early as 2019, in order to assist in the filming of the documentary series "Travel with Tang Poems", Han Song accidentally embarked on the road of "tracing Li Bai", for which he also read more than 30 kinds of books about Li Bai in advance.

From Kuangshan in Jiangyou, Sichuan, to Taibai Mountain in Mei County, Hanzhong, Li Bai left his hometown, full of ambition, entered Chang'an twice without ambition, and the people also traveled from the young man of Wuling to the year of no confusion.

From Lushan Mountain in Jiujiang, Jiangxi Province, to Jiuhua Mountain in Chizhou, Anhui, Li Bai sent love to the landscape, sought immortals and asked, and his mind also traveled from the heart to heaven and earth, and wandered beyond the vast universe.

According to statistics, Li Bai has visited 206 prefectures and counties and more than 80 famous mountains, and his footprints have covered almost half of China. He met his friends with wine, encountered people and things, and also saw the fate of the current corporal class. As for the more than 900 poems written by Li Bai in his lifetime, they have been passed down to this day, and they have long made everyone's hearts have some romantic imagination about him.

October 5, 2020, Shanghai. A 5-meter-tall statue of Li Bai stands on the square of Nanjing Road Pedestrian Street, where a poetry reading takes place. (Photo/IC)

In Han Songluo's view, Li Bai in the history of literature is not only a poet, but now has also become a huge cross-section of many scholars analyzing the "Poetry Tang". Throwing away the labels that are both proud and romantic, both talented and unworldly, it is not an easy task to get a glimpse of who Li Bai is in the context of such a huge era.

In fact, "tracing Li Bai" did not make Han Songluo understand Li Bai better, but made him understand the Tang Dynasty better.

Wuling young gold city east, silver saddle white horse to spend the spring breeze

Li Bai was born in 701 AD and died in 762 AD, and before his birth, the entire Tang Dynasty passed through Emperor Taizong of Tang, Emperor Gaozong of Tang, and until Wu Zetian's death. After Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Li Longji (reigned 712-765) came to the throne, the Tang Dynasty under his rule lasted almost throughout Li Bai's life.

According to the description of contemporary writer Zhang Dachun in "Tang Li Bai", Li Bai acted in his life, there were too many irrational deeds, and compared with his contemporaries, he seemed to have squandered time and money to accumulate rich travel experience. However, it is obviously his own experience, but as far as he is concerned, it is the historical projection of the Wei and Jin Han dynasties, and even the Spring and Autumn of the Warring States, and in his eyes and his poems, there is no reality at all.

We can't help but wonder: In that era, if Li Bai did not pay attention to reality, then where did the powerful life force between his poetry and lines come from?

With such questions, in 2019, Han Songluo went to the place where Li Bai lived in his childhood - Sichuan Jiangyou. It is reported that when Li Bai was 5 years old, he moved from Broken Leaf City in the Western Regions to Jiangyou with Hu Shang's father, and studied and practiced swords in Kuangshan Academy for more than ten years.

Sichuan Mianyang Jiangyou National Geopark (Photo/Figureworm Creative)

In addition, Li Bai seemed to be naturally close to cultivators, and even went to Daitian Mountain to find Taoist priests. When he couldn't see it, he engraved a poem "Visiting the Dai Tianshan Taoist Priest Doesn't Meet" on the moss of the boulder, which became his earliest known poem: "Wild bamboo divides the green mist, and the flying spring hangs the blue peak." No one knows where to go, and there are two or three pines. ”

From Li Bai's poem, we can see a young man full of exploration spirit, radiating the vigor of diligent pursuit. The former teenager used dogs, deer, peach blossoms, cangsong, flying springs, and bifeng into poetry, painting a green landscape painting of a paradise. He seems to have understood that there is no eternity in the mortal world, so he is more willing to explore the eternal, to find those eternal references.

In 725, Li Bai traveled far and wide, east out of the Three Gorges and down the Yangtze River. He swam to Jiangling (present-day Jingzhou) and wrote "Farewell to the Gate of Jingmen"; swam to Jiujiang and wrote "Wanglushan Waterfall"; He traveled to Gusu (present-day Suzhou) and wrote famous articles such as "Silent Night Meditation".

Lushan Sanziquan Waterfall (Photo/Tuworm Creative)

According to the Book of Southern Tang, when Li Bai traveled to Jinling (present-day Nanjing), the ancient capital of the Six Dynasties, he climbed Fengtai Mountain for the first time, saw the majestic Zhongshan Mountain, overlooked the beautiful Qinhuai, and heard the rumbling drums of Waguan Temple in his ears. In such a transcendent and psychedelic scene, young Li Bai couldn't help but feel like he was born, so he wrote the majestic "Dengwa Official Pavilion".

In 727, after playing along the southern lower reaches of the Sui-Tang Grand Canal, Li Bai returned to Anlu, Hubei, and married Xu Ziyan, the granddaughter of Xu Yuanshi of the former Emperor Zuo Cheng, and finally had a home and settled here for ten years.

During his first stay in Anlu, Li Bai visited Meng Haoran, who lived in seclusion in Xiangyang. A little famous descendant, with apprehension, met Meng Fuzi, who was already famous all over the world, and the two hated each other late, so they became a friend of the year. In 730 AD, Meng Haoran was going to Guangling, and Li Bai personally sent it to the river, and when he parted, he wrote the famous poem "Yellow Crane Tower Sends Meng Haoran to Guangling".

Yellow Crane Tower (Photo/Figureworm Creative)

In the same year, Li Bai, with his poetic talents and ambitions, took Nanyang and went to the imperial capital Chang'an (present-day Xi'an) for the first time. When he rode a white horse and walked through the lively street market, he was already standing for a long time, recalling his youthful days - poetic landscapes, fine wine, and beautiful people. Just when the spring breeze is proud, there is "Youth Travel": "Wuling young gold city east, silver saddle white horse to spend the spring breeze." Falling flowers wander everywhere and laugh into the orchid liquor store. ”

The bell and drum are not expensive enough, but I hope to be drunk and do not wake up

Li Bai likes to climb mountains, and many of his famous poems are also related to mountains. Following Li Bai's "Climbing Taibai Peak", Han Songluo also left Xi'an and traveled west, coming to Taibai Mountain in Meixian, the reason why he chose the filming location here, Han Songluo explained: "If Kuangshan is Li Bai's mountain of youth, then Taibai Mountain is Li Bai's mountain of life." ”

Taibai Mountain (Photo/Figureworm Creative)

In fact, the half century after 701 AD was the most drastic change after the founding of the Tang Dynasty, and it was also the time when all social strata climbed to seek fame the most fiercely. One thing that successive generations of Tang dynasty kings have been doing is to continuously expand their bureaucratic clique in order to compete with the Gaomen clan that has lasted for hundreds of years. Such an act has brought hope to many people who could not have entered the rank of scholars.

After Li Bai first entered Chang'an, he tried various methods such as shortcuts, counseling princes, and befriending celebrities in order to expand his reputation, but in the end, no one recommended him. Therefore, when he saw off his friend Wang Yan at Ultimate Nanshan, he wrote "Shu Road Difficulty". It was only one year, and Li Bai, who was temporarily destitute, had to be forced to leave Chang'an and return to Anlu to farm and study.

Little Anlu, of course, can't hold Li Bai's dreams and passions, especially as a son-in-law. More than a year later, Li Bai went on the road again, went north to Luoyang to Cuizong's covenant, and together with Cen Xun and Yuan Yan, went to the Yingyang Mountain Residence in Songshan, the retreat of Yuan Danqiu. Yuan Danqiu is a professional Taoist, refining pills and meditating, traveling around the world, which makes Li Bai envious. Such a few people became close friends, and when the wine was high, Li Bai wrote "Will Enter the Wine": "Born I will be useful, and the thousands of gold scattered will return... Will enter the wine, the glass will not stop..."

(Photo/"Chang'an 30,000 Li")

In 737, Li Bai moved his family to Rencheng (present-day Jining), Shandong, and later moved to Nanling (present-day Chizhou, Anhui), where he made friends, climbed Mount Tai, and lived a life of seclusion. Until 742 AD, due to the recommendation of He Zhizhang and Princess Yuzhen, Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Li Longji took a fancy to Li Bai's poetry and admired him very much, so he summoned him to the palace and made him worship Hanlin.

In Li Bai's life, he entered the officialdom for less than two years, and this was his only chance to change the court. However, during this period, Emperor Tang Xuanzong regarded him as a lyricist and did not use him, allowing him to write poems and fu, and only for Boyang Guifei to laugh. Not only that, but he was also frequently ostracized by the powerful people in the capital. Li Bai, who was depressed, had to drunk himself in the liquor shop all day, indulging in alcohol to faint himself, "The Son of Heaven did not come to the ship, claiming that the minister was a fairy in wine." In the end, the emperor had to return his gift.

Regarding Li Bai's political failure, Zhang Dachun commented in "The Great Tang Li Bai" that Li Bai, who is not in the crowd, neither knows how to cater to the laws of the world, nor does he know how to meet the horses. Full of passionate ideals, destined to end up wrong with this world.

In 744, after leaving Chang'an in discouragement, Li Bai climbed Mount Taibai and wrote, "I would like to ride the wind and go straight out of the floating clouds." Raise your hand to the moon, and move forward like a mountain."

For Li Bai's state of mind when he wrote this poem, more than a thousand years later, when Han Songluo stood on Taibai Mountain, walked through the Baxian Tai, and saw with his own eyes the legendary place where Jiang Ziya sealed the gods, as a later generation, he felt that Li Taibai was truly "enlightened" - the red dust tribulations in the world are all practice, and life is not only in temples, but also in rivers and lakes.

(Photo/"Chang'an 30,000 Li")

Phoenix tour on the phoenix platform, phoenix to the taikong river

"It's hard to walk, it's hard to walk, it's a different road, and it's safe today?"

"The road is like a blue sky, I can't get it alone."

"Hanguang mixed with noble and nameless, why use solitude higher than Yunyue?"

…………

After Li Bai left Chang'an, he wrote about the difficulties of life with three articles "Difficult to Travel". However, from "and a glass of wine before the death of Le, why should there be a thousand years behind the name?" These poems "Long winds and breaking waves will sometimes hang directly on the clouds and sails to the sea", and it can be seen that the pride and ambition in Li Bai's heart are still indelible.

In Zhang Dachun's view, Li Bai's real achievement may be to open up the form and realm of Tang poetry, poetry can not be trapped by the imperial examination law, and poetry can also be freely composed. It's a pity that poets who are famous all over the world, once involved in the game of fame and fortune in the glorious world, are often just vassals of poetry.

In 744, Li Bai arrived in Luoyang and met Du Fu, the two greatest poets in the history of Chinese literature, who had finally met, by which time Li Bai had become famous all over the world, while Du Fu was in full bloom but trapped in Luoyang. Subsequently, Li and Du came to Shangqiu, Henan Province together, and met Gao Shi in Liang Garden, and the poetry talents of the three were unmatched, and their careers were all tortuous, they drank and wrote poems, remembering the pioneering career of the Tang Dynasty, and worried about the future of the Tang Dynasty, and since then the "Liang Garden Gathering" has been passed on as a good story.

Liang Yuan (Photo/Figureworm Creative)

In the winter of that year, accompanied by Du Fu and Gao Shi, Li Bai came to Jinan and asked Beihai Gao Tianshi to teach the Taoist basket and officially entered Taoism. This matter is true, and it is found in Li Yangbing's "Preface to the Collection of Tang Li Hanlin Caotang".

Li Bai's entry into Taoism is not accidental, the state religion of the Tang Dynasty is Taoism, and there has always been a provision of "the Tao is big and the Buddha is small, first old and then released", plus Li Bai had a close relationship with Taoism when he was young - when he first left Sichuan, he went to visit the Taoist master Sima Chengzhen; He read the strangeness in "Zhuangzi", and wrote "Dapeng Fu", comparing himself with Dapeng, "fighting turns to the sky, and the mountains shake and the sea falls".

In fact, for Li Bai, although joining the church was what he had always pursued, it was also a way for him to escape his political enemies in the court, and he wore a Taoist scarf and a Taoist robe to tell the people who had been watching him that "I won't play with you anymore", and began another life.

Later, Li Bai's "Sleepwalking in Heaven and Leaving Farewell" in his dreams, "Changing Jiuzi Mountain to Jiuhua Mountain" written by Shangjiu Mountain and Gao Ji and Wei Quanyu, and "Climbing Jinling Phoenix Platform" written by Ascending the Phoenix Platform, are all fairy wind Dao bones that are "wonderful and divided into two qi" and "ethereal feathers". However, "white hair is three thousand zhang, the fate is like a long", life is in a hurry, and in the blink of an eye, Li Bai has reached the year of knowing the destiny of heaven.

Li Bai sculpture in the moonlight (Photo/Figureworm Creative)

In 755, An Lushan launched a mutiny in Zhuozhou, provoking the "Anshi Rebellion". Li Bai felt confused and helpless in the chaotic social situation, and because "there is a way in the world, but there are no immortals in the world", he made no progress in seeking the way, and under the trust and reuse of the Yongwang Li Xuan, he seemed to see the opportunity to pacify the world in the Eastern Crusade, but his ideal did not succeed, he fell into a predicament, and finally he was defeated and arrested and exiled to Yelang.

In 759, Emperor Suzong of Tang granted amnesty to the world, and Li Bai wrote the verse "The light boat has passed through ten thousand heavy mountains" on his way home. In 762, Li Bai died of illness in Dangtu, Anhui. At this point, Li Bai also completed his life. There are many opinions about his rights and wrongs, but Han Songluo is more interested in what modern people think of him than how people in ancient times viewed Li Bai.

(Photo/"Chang'an 30,000 Li")

"I still don't think you're dead, or I don't think it's dead." Han Songluo recalled what he said to the tombstone when he sat in front of Li Taibai's tomb.

Indeed, Li Bai lived again and again in various ways. Now, he comes to us again and again, through poetry, through movies, when we see landscapes and songtao, we will always think of him again.

We miss the era in which Li Bai lived, and we also miss the unique Li Bai created by that era.

Operation: Ono

Typesetting: Wen Wenqing

Original title: Li Bai changed Tang poetry, but missed the times

This article was first published in the 640th issue of New Weekly