Li Bai
Li Bai (701–762) was a Chinese poet of the Tang dynasty, celebrated for imaginative verse that helped shape the classical Chinese poetic tradition.
Tang poetry: Poetry produced during China’s Tang dynasty, renowned for its formal range and literary achievement. Li Bai’s work is among the era’s most celebrated poetic achievements.
Quiet Night Thought: A short poem by Li Bai in which moonlight prompts thoughts of home. Its simple scene and homesickness became hallmarks of his popular reception.
Du Fu: A Tang dynasty poet whose socially attentive verse became a central model of classical Chinese poetry. His friendship with Li Bai joined two poets with sharply different temperaments and styles.
Sichuan: A province in southwestern China, known historically as Shu and associated with Li Bai’s early life. Li Bai spent much of his youth in Sichuan before traveling widely.
Romanticism: A broad artistic movement emphasizing imagination, emotion, nature, and individual expression. Li Bai is sometimes called Romantic, though his work belongs to a distinct Chinese tradition.
Classical Chinese poetry: Poetry written in the classical literary language of China before modern vernacular literature. His verse is a defining body of work within this broader tradition.
Drinking Alone by Moonlight: A Li Bai poem in which the speaker makes imagined companions of the moon and his shadow. It captures the poet’s blend of solitude, playfulness, and imaginative excess.
Meng Haoran: A Tang dynasty poet known for concise poems of rural life and landscape. Li Bai’s farewell poem for him preserves a glimpse of their literary friendship.
Tang dynasty: A Chinese dynasty that ruled from 618 to 907 and fostered major developments in poetry, art, and governance. Its political and cultural world formed the setting for Li Bai’s career.
Chinese calligraphy: The art of writing Chinese characters through brushwork, composition, and expressive line. His poetry circulated alongside calligraphy as a major form of literati culture.