May 09, 2004 - 9:49 p.m.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Bai <== "I'm Lovin' It(TM)"

Li Po
(701-762) 

李白, author of 100,000 poems, was an egocentric nutter.


Li Po (Wade-Giles), or Li Bo or Li Bai (李白 pinyin
Lǐ Bó), also known as Li Taibo (pinyin) or Li 
T'ai-po (Wade-Giles) because his zi is 太白 (Tài 
Bó) (701-762), was a Chinese poet.

He was considered the greatest romantic poet of the 
Tang dynasty. Renowned as the Poet Immortal (詩仙 
pinyin shi1 xian1), he was 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. 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 born the son of a rich merchant in 
western China. His family moved to today's Sichuan 
province when he was a child. He was influenced by 
Confucian and Taoist, 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 exiled for slander. He fled 
south and was involved in the An Lushan Rebellion 
against the Tang dynasty. The failure of the 
rebellion resulted in his being exiled a second 
time, to Yelang. He was pardoned before the exile 
journey was complete and spent the remainder of his 
life wandering China.

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. 
....... . ..  ....  .... . ....

(his poem as witness to a distant war..)
Moon over Mountain Pass 

A bright moon rising above Tian Shan Mountain,
Lost in a vast ocean of clouds.
The long wind, across thousands upon thousands of miles,
Blows past the Jade-Gate Pass.
The army of Han has gone down the Baiteng Road,
As the barbarian hordes probe at Qinghai Bay.
It is known that from the battlefield
Few ever live to return.
Men at Garrison look on the border scene,
Home thoughts deepen sorrow on their faces.
In the towered chambers tonight,
Ceaseless are the women’s sighs.



(his most famous..)
“Drinking Alone Under the Moon”:

I take my wine jug out among the flowers
to drink alone, without friends.

I raise my cup to entice the moon.
That, and my shadow, makes us three.

But the moon doesn’t drink,
and my shadow silently follows.

I will travel with moon and shadow,
happy to the end of spring.

When I sing, the moon dances.
When I dance, my shadow dances, too.

We share life’s joys when sober.

Drunk, each goes a separate way.

Constant friends, although we wander,
we’ll meet again in the Milky Way.

tr. Sam Hamill

月下獨酌

花間一壺酒， 獨酌無相親；
舉杯邀明月， 對影成三人。
月既不解飲， 影徒隨我身；
暫伴月將影， 行樂須及春。
我歌月徘徊， 我舞影零亂；
醒時同交歡， 醉後各分散。
永結無情遊， 相期邈雲漢。 

月下独酌

花间一壶酒，独酌无相亲。
举杯邀明月，对影成三人。
月既不解饮，影徒随我身。
暂伴月将影，行乐须及春。
我歌月徘徊，我舞影零乱。
醒时同交欢，醉后各分散。
永结无情游，相期邈云汉。

Yue Xia Du Zhuo

Hua jian yi hu jiu, du zhuo wu xiang qin.
Ju bei yao ming yue, dui ying cheng san ren.
Yue ji bu jie yin, ying tu sui wo shen.
Zhan ban yue jiang ying, xing le xu ji chun.
Wo ge yue pai hui, wo wu ying ling luan.
Xing shi tong jiao huan, zui hou ge fen san.
Yong jie wu qing you, xiang qi miao yun han.


A cup of wine, under the flowering trees;
I drink alone, for no friend is near.
Raising my cup I beckon the bright moon,
For he, with my shadow, will make three men.
The moon, alas, is no drinker of wine;
Listless, my shadow creeps about at my side.
Yet with the moon as friend and the shadow as slave
I must make merry before the Spring is spent.
To the songs I sing the moon flickers her beams;
In the dance I weave my shadow tangles and breaks.
While we were sober, three shared the fun;
Now we are drunk, each goes his way.
May we long share our odd, inanimate feast,
And meet at last on the Cloudy River of the sky. (1)


(1) The Milky Way.
Translated by Arthur Waley(1919)



Amidst the flowers there’s a jug of wine,
that I pour alone, without kith or kin.
Lifting my cup to invite the moon,
I turn to my shadow and there’s three.
The moon does not know how to drink,
my shadow just follows my movements.
For the nonce I’ll tarry with moon and shadow,
For happiness ought to last as long as spring.
I break into song and the moon wanders,
I leap into dance and my shadow stumbles.
When sober we’ll keep company,
when drunk you’ll each take leave.
Let’s bind each other for passionless journeys,
someday to meet again in the far Milky Way.


                                         [<-my fav]
   From a pot of wine among the flowers
   I drank alone. There was no one with me --
   Till, raising my cup, I asked the bright moon
   To bring me my shadow and make us three.
   Alas, the moon was unable to drink
   And my shadow tagged me vacantly;
   But still for a while I had these friends
   To cheer me through the end of spring....
   I sang. The moon encouraged me.
   I danced. My shadow tumbled after.
   As long as I knew, we were boon companions.
   And then I was drunk, and we lost one another.
   ...Shall goodwill ever be secure?
   I watch the long road of the River of Stars. 

tr. Witter Bynner and Jiang KangHu in The Jade Mountain 1929(I think)
http://olimu.com/Journalism/Texts/Criticism/ChinesePoetry.htm
  "Bynner knew no, or very little, Chinese. This 
was a true collaborative effort, carried out across 
almost ten years, Jiang explaining the poems and 
Bynner turning them into American verse. Jiang 
KangHu died at the hands of the Chinese Communists"


Among the flowers, a single jug of wine;
I drink alone. No one close to me.
I raise my cup, invite the bright moon;
facing my shadow, together we make three.
The moon doesn't know how to drink;
and my shadow can only follow my body.
But for a time I make moon and shadow my companions;
taking one's pleasure must last until spring.
I sing--the moon wavers back and forth.
I dance--my shadow flickers and scatters.
When I'm sober we take pleasure together.
When I'm drunk, we each go our own ways.
I make an oath to journey forever free of feelings,
making an appointment with them to meet in the Milky Way afar.

Translated by Paul Rouzer 



  Amongst the flowers I
  am alone with my pot of wine
  drinking by myself; then lifting
  my cup I asked the moon
  to drink with me, its reflection
  and mine in the wine cup, just
  the three of us; then I sigh
  for the moon cannot drink,
  and my shadow goes emptily along
  with me never saying a word;
  with no other friends here, I can
  but use these two for company;
  in the time of happiness, I
  too must be happy with all
  around me; I sit and sing
  and it is as if the moon
  accompanies me; then if I
  dance, it is my shadow that
  dances along with me; while
  still not drunk, I am glad
  to make the moon and my shadow
  into friends, but then when
  I have drunk too much, we
  all part; yet these are
  friends I can always count on
  these who have no emotion
  whatsoever; I hope that one day
  we three will meet again,
  deep in the Milky Way.



Paul Rouzer
Assistant Professor of Chinese Literature
Columbia University

A good example of one of Li Bo's poems is his famous "Drinking Alone Under 
the Moon." Drinking alone, itself, is an unusual topic for a Chinese poem, 
because the ancient Chinese tended to be very sociable drinkers.

Nobody would ever drink by himself. He would only drink at parties with 
other people. And so, for Li Bo to talk about drinking alone was a 
particularly striking topic for him to choose.

And the only way that he can deal with this drinking alone is to create 
for himself companions.

And finding himself alone in this poem, he creates his own companions in 
an act of incredible creative pride and egotism.

Li Bo himself was particularly attractive to many of the Chinese readers 
of his time, because he seized upon the essential idea of Chinese poetics, 
the idea that Chinese poem was a spontaneous expression of the self. And 
elaborated on it, until he created an extremely overbearing, powerful 
persona for himself, quite unlike any sort of persona that had existed in 
Chinese poetry up to that point. 



.High Culture

  '"Some people have no fucking life whatsoever, how sad" Comment:

  Erm, kind of like people who post on a message board about a macaroni 
  sculpture of an underground comic super hero? Kind of like me and you?'

 
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