I once dreamed of walking the world with a sword and seeing the prosperity of the world. When I was young, my heart was always a bit reckless, but now you live in all directions. Li Bai’s life was so free and unrestrained, and his poetry was as bold and unrestrained as his own. He especially liked to take a few sips, and countless timeless masterpieces came out of his mouth after he got drunk. He is a poet, but he is also an alcoholic. In 762 AD, the poet Li Bai completed his carefree life at the age of 61. There are various opinions about the cause of his death, so how did he actually die?
There are three theories about the cause of Li Bai’s death: first, he died from excessive drinking in Xuancheng, second, he died of illness, and third, he fell into the water and drowned after drinking.
Li Bai was a famous romantic poet of the Tang Dynasty, praised by later generations as the “Immortal Poet”. Li Bai was the most accomplished poet of the prosperous Tang Dynasty. He showed extraordinary talent from a young age, with a free and romantic style of poetry that was elegant and free spirited. He also believed in Taoist culture, was proficient in the “Fifteen Good Swordsmanship Techniques” of Taoism, and was “proficient in swordsmanship”.
Li Bai’s career was not smooth, and he only gained the appreciation of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang in his forties and was able to serve the Hanlin. But although Li Bai received favor and wealth around Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, he did not achieve his aspirations of serving the country and making achievements. During the An Lushan Rebellion, the country was in turmoil. Li Bai, who was already fifty-seven years old at the time, was eager to prove himself and joined the army of Prince Yong as a staff member.
But Prince Yong lost to Crown Prince Li Heng in the struggle for the throne, and Li Bai’s treason was originally to be executed. Thanks to Guo Ziyi pleading for Li Bai in front of Emperor Suzong of Tang, Li Bai was exiled. Yelang County of the Tang Dynasty was located in present-day Guizhou, thousands of miles away from the Tang capital Chang’an. For Li Bai, who was nearly sixty years old, this was only slightly better than death.
After more than a year of exile, Li Bai was granted amnesty by the emperor due to the severe drought in the Guanzhong region. Li Bai’s exile was pardoned and he was able to return home. He took a boat back home along the Yangtze River and even wrote the popular song ‘Early Hair in the White Emperor City’.
Li Bai stayed for a while on his way home and later returned to Jinling due to illness. At this time, Li Bai was already sixty years old. Due to his experience of exile, his physical condition was not good and he had been ill for a long time without recovery. In the third year of the Shangyuan era, Li Bai passed away after leaving behind a song called “Song of Death”. So scholars studying official history in later generations speculated that the possibility of Li Bai’s death from illness was very high.
In the Old Book of Tang, it is said that Li Bai “died of excessive drinking and drunkenness in Xuancheng”, which is also a theory of Li Bai’s death, but there is no further evidence to support it. The folk belief that Li Bai accidentally drowned while fishing for the moon in the river after drinking alcohol is full of romantic colors that conform to Li Bai’s identity as a romantic poet, but it also lacks formal evidence.
