Since ancient times, talented people have been highly favored because emperors need such individuals whose value is higher than that of ordinary people. The most famous poet during the Tang Dynasty was undoubtedly Li Bai. As one of the most familiar poets to future generations, Li Bai was highly admired by many. However, Li Bai was not well received by the emperor at that time, and it was none other than Emperor Xuanzong of Tang, Li Longji. What is the reason for this? Now let the editor of Wuai Shijing website introduce it to you.
1. What is Li Bai’s personality
Li Bai and Du Fu are two peaks that Chinese people cannot surpass. Compared to Du Fu’s melancholy and desolation, Li Bai’s fan base is obviously even larger. Li Bai is the eternal white moonlight in the hearts of Chinese scholars, and there are countless evaluations of him. For example, Li Bai’s most loyal fan, Du Fu, once praised him with the poem “The falling of his pen startles the wind and rain, and his poetry turns into tears for ghosts and gods”.
And Li Bai’s name of “exiled immortal” was coined by the renowned He Zhizhang at that time, and since then, the name of exiled immortal has been passed down. Li Bai and Du Fu, as the pinnacle of Tang Dynasty romantic poetry, although left behind many popular poems, this talented poet has never been highly valued by the emperor. What are the reasons for this?
With Li Bai’s personality of “laughing up to the sky and going out, how could we be the people of Penghao?”, he seems to have no desire for fame and wealth, but his poetry occasionally reveals a sense of desolation when he misses out on his talents.
Poetry and prose such as “Da Peng rises with the same wind in one day, soaring up ninety thousand miles” and “When he leaves, he flatters the nobles; when he retreats, he looks down upon the nest” all indicate that Li Bai had lofty ambitions. However, Li Bai only held a casual position once in his life, which is the origin of various versions of “the strongman takes off his boots, the noble concubine holds the ink”.
Of course, such stories are all about the self indulgence of sour and decadent literati. I don’t think asking the emperor’s favorite courtiers to take off their boots once represents anything. In summary, Li Bai, who had great aspirations, was indeed talented and exceptional, but he was never highly valued by the emperor.
This is also the reason why people in later generations have always emphasized Li Bai’s background of being “talented but unrecognized”. Of course, most Chinese literati are resentful women who, regardless of their appearance, have to pity themselves.
2. Is Li Bai really talented and unrecognized
Firstly, Li Bai’s statement of ‘talent in vain’ is a false proposition. Li Bai never revealed his political talent, but instead displayed his overly idealistic and naive character everywhere.
In 755 AD, the An Lushan Rebellion broke out. After becoming a staff member of Prince Yongli Lin, Li Bai even encouraged him to declare himself emperor and wrote poems such as “The chaos of the northern barbarians in the Three Rivers is like a hemp, and the four seas run south like Yongjia”, comparing himself to Xie An during the Yongjia Rebellion.
Shortly after, Prince Yongwang Li Lin was defeated in battle, and Li Bai was imprisoned as a result, indicating that his political talent was indeed mediocre.
Li Bai’s humanistic talent is indeed extraordinary, but unfortunately, he has no merits in politics. After the An Lushan Rebellion, Li Bai was exiled to Yelang due to his involvement in the rebellion of Prince Yongwang Li Lin. He passed away shortly after.
The image of Li Bai that we see today is the collective creation of literati in later generations, but in the context of that time, Li Bai was not really a big shot. It is the collective creation of literary groups in later generations, combined with Li Bai’s romantic and naive self-awareness, that creates the illusion of Li Bai’s “talent not being recognized”.
In other words, it is true that Li Bai “did not meet a wise ruler”, but this does not mean that he did not meet his talents, because Li Bai had nothing that impressed the rulers at that time.
In any dynasty, poetry, songs, and other such things cannot be eaten as food. The king always needs practical talents who can assist the king in governing the country, while literati who are full of complaints and strange words are first excluded.
The practical literati of the Tang Dynasty, such as Zhang Jiuling, were neither conservative nor unruly in the ups and downs of the officialdom. His political talent was much higher than that of Li Bai; Poets of the same era as Li Bai, such as Wang Wei, had average political talent but at least did not complain as much as Li Bai. Wang Wei also had a smooth career in government; Subsequently, Han Yu directly sparked two storms in the literary and political circles, and it is evident that he is more suitable for officialdom than Li Bai.
3. Why is Li Bai not highly valued
Li Bai has never been highly valued by Emperor Xuanzong of Tang. Apart from lacking political talent, his personality is indeed not suitable for officialdom. I think Emperor Xuanzong may have intentionally protected him.
In addition, Li Bai’s background was quite humble, while Li Tang was actually a parallel between the aristocratic system and the imperial examination system, especially during the period from the early Tang Dynasty to the mid Tang Dynasty, where social status seriously affected a person’s career.
During the Tang Dynasty, most of the high-ranking officials were descendants of prominent aristocratic families. According to statistics, only 15% of the officials in the entire Tang Dynasty had a real imperial examination background, while those who held core power, such as prime ministers, were almost all from aristocratic families.
The pathway for obtaining a bachelor’s degree through the imperial examination is relatively narrow, but it is not impossible. For example, He Zhizhang, who introduced Li Bai, was born as a top scholar. He was the first recorded top scholar in the history of Zhejiang Province.
But Li Bai did not follow the rules. He was disdainful of passing the imperial examination to enter. Of course, there are also claims that Li Bai did not pass the political examination and could not achieve a leap in social class through the examination.
In short, Li Bai was destined not to be highly valued by the emperor. He only caught the attention of the rulers through his talent in poetry.
Emperor Xuanzong of Tang summoned Li Bai to the palace to become a Hanlin, but it was just a trick for the world to see. If he really let Li Bai govern the country, it would be a joke.
It is interesting that Li Bai, who has no talent in politics, still believes that he is talented but has not been recognized. Such a libertine with an extremely self-centered personality and a problematic background is destined to not be favored by any ruler.
In my opinion, it’s okay to let Li Bai be a mascot. If we really want to give him the official seal, I’m afraid everyone present won’t agree, right? It’s really unimaginable how well a proud alcoholic can govern a place!
