Many people know Li Bai for the first time, perhaps because of his "Will Enter the Wine": "You don't see the water of the Yellow River coming up from the sky, rushing to the sea and never returning." ”
This bold brushstroke, as if the vast momentum between heaven and earth is all in the chest.
But his career was not smooth, and after several ups and downs, he finally failed to find his foothold in the imperial court.
So, Li Bai chose to continue to pursue the freedom in his heart, traveled all over the world, and took advantage of his years of poetry and wine.
Is the chic life of this "poet fairy" really as carefree as the legend says? Behind those poems full of pride, are there some unknown loneliness and struggles?
Early life and finances
Li Bai's chic and uninhibited is by no means innate, but supported by his profound family background.
He was born into a wealthy merchant family in the city of Broken Leaves (present-day Kyrgyzstan) in Central Asia.
His father, Li Ke, not only enjoyed a good reputation in the business world, but also attached great importance to Li Bai's education, providing him with a favorable environment for his growth.
Legend has it that Li Bai once squandered 300,000 yuan, and such a heroic act was due to his father's generous funding.
In those days, 300,000 yuan was a huge amount of money, enough to make an ordinary family worry about food and clothing for a lifetime.
However, Li Bai turned these wealth into the capital of his poetry and wine indulgence and travel, and it can be said that Li Bai during this period almost lived in an ideal utopia, free and unrestrained.
After Li Bai's father died, the brothers in the family divided most of the inheritance, but very little was left to Li Bai.
This sudden change made him fall from a rich life into financial difficulties, and without his father's support, Li Bai had to face the weight of reality.
In the face of this family change, Li Bai did not collapse. He understands that his talent is his most powerful weapon.
He began to rely on his poetic talents and relied on pen polishing fees to make ends meet, and these works not only made him famous in the literati circle, but also brought him a steady stream of financial support.
The tragedy of four marriages
First wife Xu:
Xu's family was born noble, and she is a lady with a prominent family, and the combination of Li Bai and her is not purely due to love, but more of a match of political forces.
At that time, Li Bai was famous for his poetry, and the Xu family took a fancy to his talent and hoped to enhance the influence of the family through marriage.
Xu's gentleness and virtuousness made Li Bai feel the warmth of the family, and their marriage was once happy and had a pair of children.
There were unforeseen circumstances, and Xu unfortunately contracted an illness and died of serious illness.
This accident, like a sharp sword, deeply pierced Li Bai's heart.
Second wife Liu:
After Xu's death, Li Bai ushered in his second marriage, Liu.
Liu is a pragmatic woman, but in the face of Li Bai's talent, she is not optimistic, she cares more about firewood, rice, oil and salt in reality, rather than those ethereal poems.
The two do not talk speculatively, and often quarrel over trivial matters, such a marriage is destined to be difficult to last, and in the end they go their separate ways and go their separate ways.
Third Wife:
The third marriage was an attempt by Li Bai, who longed to find a partner who could understand and support him.
This wife is a good housekeeper, and she is in love with Li Bai, and the husband and wife are in love.
Fate always seemed unwilling to let go of this talented poet, and the early death of his wife once again pushed Li Bai into the abyss of grief.
Mr. Fourth Wife:
Li Bai's fourth wife, Zong, was deeply attracted to him because of "Liang Yuanyin", and Zong, who was also a talented woman, was overwhelmed by Li Bai's talent and demeanor.
After the two got married, they were very affectionate, and Li Bai often used poetry to express his admiration for the Zong family.
This marriage seems to have given Li Bai the last warmth and comfort, and the early death of the Zong family once again made Li Bai experience the pain of losing his wife.
Four marriages and four losses of love, this tragedy seems to have been repeated in Li Bai's life, becoming the heaviest burden in his life.
Career pursuits and frustrations
Li Bai's dream in his life is not only to write poems, but also to realize the ideal of "going out of the general and entering the prime minister, and being the ruler of the official".
The tricks of fate made him repeatedly hit a wall on the road to his career, and in the end he could only seek solace in poetry and wine.
Since he was a teenager, Li Bai has had a strong dream of career, and he is eager to serve the country one day, become an outstanding official, and benefit the common people in the world.
Li Bai's background limited his career path. Despite his astonishing talent and breadth of knowledge, he was never able to find a suitable opportunity to showcase his talents in that family-oriented society.
This made Li Bai repeatedly hit a wall in the process of pursuing his career, and he was helpless.
After his career was blocked, Li Bai chose to temporarily retire, and Zhongnanshan became his first stop in pursuit of spiritual tranquility.
The life of a hermit did not bring him the desired satisfaction, and he finally decided to go to Shandong and join Kong Chaofu.
Kong Chao's father had a far-reaching influence, and his wisdom and insight benefited Li Bai a lot.
Fate seemed to smile at Li Bai at this time, and the famous poet He Zhizhang discovered Li Bai's talent and recommended him to Tang Xuanzong.
Li Bai finally had the opportunity to enter the office, came to Tang Xuanzong's side, and became a member of the Hanlin Academy.
At first, he was very favored, full of poetry, and was deeply appreciated by Xuanzong. Li Bai had a flamboyant personality and was outspoken, which made him quickly offend many powerful people in the court.
Eventually, he was given money back and left the Hanlin Temple.
After leaving the Hanlin Academy, Li Bai did not give up the pursuit of his career.
When King Yong raised his army, he chose to follow his side, hoping to realize his ideals through this opportunity.
This adventure ended in failure, and Li Bai was arrested and imprisoned, facing the fate of being sent to Yelang.
On his way to the place of exile, the imperial court issued an amnesty, and Li Bai was able to regain his freedom.
At that moment, the joy in his heart was indescribable, so he wrote the famous article "Early White Emperor City": "Between the colorful clouds of the White Emperor of the court, thousands of miles of Jiangling will be returned in one day." This is not only a poem, but also a declaration of his rebirth.
Later life and tragic endings
In his later years, Li Bai defected to his uncle Li Yangbing, trying to spend the rest of his life under the care of his relatives.
The years are unforgiving, his health is deteriorating, and it is difficult to reproduce the pride and ambition of the past.
Heart disease is difficult to treat, this sentence is very suitable for Li Bai.
He was depressed in his heart, and the unfinished career ideals and the pain of losing his beloved tormented his heart all the time.
In the last days of his life, Li Bai wrote "Deathbed Song", which is full of endless emotion for life and the ultimate pursuit of freedom.
It is rumored that he died after his illness worsened, and the world legend says that he "died by the moon", this poetic death also drew a tragic end to his legendary life.
Wild history: Li Bai was the son-in-law of the prime minister's family twice, intervened in the relationship between Wang Wei and the princess, and broke with Wang Wei
("Wild history is not necessarily true, but it must be wild enough", we still eat melons rationally when dealing with wild history!) ）
In Li Bai's circle of friends, the most talked about is his friendship with Du Fu and Gao Shi.
After Li Bai got acquainted with Du Fu and Gao Shi, the three often played together and met friends with poems.
Among them, Li Bai's "Liang Yuanyin" was highly appreciated by Du Fu, who called Li Bai "an immortal" in the poem, expressing his infinite admiration for Li Bai's talent.
It is rumored that Li Bai once intervened in the relationship between Wang Wei and Princess Yuzhen and became a third party between the two.
Princess Yuzhen's beauty and talent have attracted countless talents, and Li Bai's intervention has undoubtedly brought a lot of waves to this relationship.
Wang Wei and Li Bai were both great poets of the Tang Dynasty, but their personalities were very different.
Wang Wei's poetic style is fresh and refined, while Li Bai is uninhibited, and the difference in their personalities may be one of the reasons why they finally "don't get along with each other".
Li Bai's marriage to his fourth wife, Zong Yu
As the granddaughter of Prime Minister Zong Chuke, Zong Yu's background and talent gave Li Bai great support.
In order to express his admiration for Li Bai's talent, Zong Yu even bought Li Bai's poems for 1,000 taels of silver and pasted these poems all over the walls as his dowry.
The happy life did not last long, and in the "Anshi Rebellion" and "Yongwang Rebellion", Li Bai was involved in political struggles and was put on death row.
This period of time was undoubtedly a low point in Li Bai's life, but Zong Yu used his grandfather's prestige to run around and finally rescued Li Bai from death row. After this catastrophe, the two never saw each other again.
Emotional entanglement with Princess Yuzhen
After experiencing all kinds of twists and turns, Li Bai chose to spend his old age in Jingting Mountain in Dangtu, Anhui.
It is said that it is because Princess Yuzhen became a monk here, which attracted Li Bai to come to live in seclusion.
The emotional relationship between Li Bai and Princess Yuzhen has always been a topic of conversation for future generations.
Princess Yuzhen Li Zhiying, the sister of Tang Xuanzong, is a talented and beautiful woman.
Although there is no clear record of their relationship in history, from Li Bai's choice to live in seclusion in Jingting Mountain, where Princess Yuzhen became a monk, it can be seen that there may be indescribable deep feelings between the two.
In 762 AD, Li Bai and Princess Yuzhen died one after another, ending their legendary lives, Li Bai died at the age of 61, and Princess Yuzhen died at the age of 72.
What is embarrassing is that Li Bai's rival and friend Wang Wei died a year ago.