Li Po

1. Li Po

2. Li Po • about 701-762 AD • native of Sezchaun, China • still in his teens, retired to mountains in north of the province to live with religious recluse Tunyen-tzu • later traveled down the Yangtze to Yun-meng where he married • occupation became wandering poet

3. Li Po • produced abundance of poems on many different subjects, particularly: • nature • wine • friendship • solitude • passage of time

4. Li Po • has since become recognized as greatest of highly talented T’ang poets (considered golden age of Chinese poetry) • stayed a few years in various places, traveled extensively, became one of the Six Idlers of the Bamboo Valley (along with Kung Chao-fu, Han Chun, Pei-Cheng, Chang Shu-ming, and Tao-Mien) famed for their drinking and singing

5. Li Po • first wife left him with their two children • appears to have married three times • his poetry found great favor at the imperial court • court plotters found way of demonstrating one of his poems was a malicious satire • retired to mountains again, then wandered around China for about ten years

6. Li Po • became involved in a major revolt • imprisoned under sentence of death, but was commuted to banishment to southwest region of the empire • had a strong imagination easily set off by music and wine • became a Taoist • remained poet who caught nuances of human experience of nature and of human friendship