Li Bai

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Li Bai (李白; 701 – 762) was a highly acclaimed, professional poet of the Tang dynasty, renowned for his brilliant innovations and romanticist style. So prolific was his poetry writing at the peak of the Tang that thousands of his works have survived to this day, and he is now regarded as one of the greatest poets in Chinese history. Contemporaries lauded him as the "Banished Immortal" (「謫仙人」), and the "Three Wonders of the Tang" refer to Li Bai's poetry, Pei Min's swordsmanship, and Zhang Xu's calligraphy.

Biography

Li Bai was born in 701 in the city of Suyab in what was then the far western edge of the Tang. In that borderland, he grew up hearing stories of mysterious, wandering vigilantes, which may have inspired his youth dream of earning fame as a xiake, a gallant hero who travels the land with a sword in hand helping those who suffer from injustice.

Career at court

At the same time, he was also determined to become a government official, believing that this would fulfill his great aspirations. This opportunity came in 742 when he was invited to the imperial court in Chang'an by Emperor Xuanzong and then honoured with a position at Hanlin Academy, an elite educational institution. His employment as an imperial scholar chiefly entailed the composition of literary works for the enjoyment of the royal household and attending to social events. During this time, he produced many of his famous poems, such as "Tune of Pure Peace" (清平調) and "Lyrics for Wandering in the Palace" (宫中行樂詞) which have passed down to the present day.

Despite the glamour of court life, Li Bai gradually grew disillusioned with it over time and alongside it, his career. Such a development is alluded to in both the official and unofficial histories, but most of all, his own personal accounts express this sentiment. His leisurely attitude and alcoholism earned him the ire of many colleagues, particularly since his job was already considered to be a sinecure. The poet recounted in later works that he endured defamation by them, with a notable example being at the hands of one Zhang Ji (張垍).

By far the most infamous case involved the chief eunuch Gao Lishi and Yang Yuhuan, who as guifei was the highest-ranking consort to the Emperor. Once Li Bai arrived at court drunk, leading Lishi to be asked to assist Li Bai in removing his boots for him. Humiliated by this episode, Lishi decided to instigate Yang Guifei against Li Bai by misleading her about the meaning of the poem "Tune of Pure Peace", which extolled her beauty by comparing it to that of Han dynasty empress Zhao Feiyan. Where Li Bai had suggested that even Feiyan's natural beauty was inferior to that of Yang Guifei, Gao Lishi convinced her that it was insulting to have made the comparison at all.

Thereupon, Li Bai lost Yang Guifei's favour, and when Emperor Xuanzong wished to promote him to a government office, she intervened to dissuade him. Three times the consort obstructed Li Bai's promotion until the Emperor at last relented and dismissed Li Bai from the imperial court altogether, sending him away with a hefty sum of gold as final payment for his services.

Wanderer above the sea of fog

Leaving Chang'an behind, Li Bai spent the next decade roaming jianghu, integrating himself into a subculture of literati apart from the political world. He fostered deep friendships far and wide, among them with the Japanese scholar Abe no Nakamaro, whom he knew by his adopted Chinese name Chao Heng.

In 753, the 52-years-old Li Bai returned to Wei Commandery (魏郡) in the spring. He then spun around and passed through Luoyang to re-visit Liangsong (梁宋). Thence from Liangyuan (梁園), he continued south until he was in Xuancheng (宣城) in the autumn and Jinling (金陵) in the winter.

It was during that winter that Li Bai received the tragic news that Chao Heng had perished in a shipwreck while attempting to return to Japan with the diplomatic mission of Fujiwara no Kiyokawa. In his grief, he wrote the cathartic poem "Cry for Noble Chao Heng" (哭晁卿衡), but he would continue to mourn his dear friend well into the following year.

In 754, Li Bai toured Guangling Commandery (廣陵郡), following which he proceeded to Jinling with his friend Wei Fong (魏方) and then caught a boat ride along the Qinhuai River. It was while back in Jinling that Li Bai entrusted to Wei Fong the manuscripts of prose and poetry that would one day be compiled into Li's Hanlin Anthology (李翰林集). Once they parted ways, Li Bai went back to Xuancheng as well as other places in the area like Qiupu (秋浦) and Nanling (南陵). At some point previously, he had also hiked the Yellow Mountains.

Chasing the moon

Li Bai: "Young man, you came to Chang'an... for what reason?"

Li E: "To pluck flowers."

Li Bai: "Ha, haha...hahahaha...wanting to pluck flowers in Chang'an—it's impossible."

Li E: "Nothing is true, everything is permitted."

—Li Bai and Li E, 754

In the spring of 754, Li Bai returned to Chang'an to pay his last respects to Chao Heng. As it so happened, he arrived in time for that year's Flower Festival, and amidst the city's enchanting atmosphere of blooming peonies, he considered this to be his final visit as well.

On the morning of the festival, he found himself drinking on a balcony with a young man garbed in combat gear astride him. Though the youth did not introduce himself, he was the Hidden One Li E. Li Bai, drunk as usual, explained the context behind the day's event before meandering into his own sorrows. When he described how this was the one day in the whole year that the imperial city was open to commoners, he spoke derisively of the court, recalling his own time in the government and noting how the contest for the most splendid flowers was rigged in favour of Right Chancellor Yang Guozhong anyways.

From Yang Guozhong, Li Bai reminded himself of Yang Guifei and mockingly recited the opening line to "Tune of Pure Peace" before breaking into a curse. At this point, he was in a full stupor and began firing off details about his life like his old childhood dream of becoming a xiake and the shame he experienced as the imperial household's scribe, being made to write poems for Yang Guifei. He declared that thereupon he deliberately ran afoul of a eunuch so that he could leave Chang'an, live his life wandering the far corners, and drink his dreams away. Then at last, he arrived at his greatest source of sadness: the death of Chao Heng, for whose funeral he had returned to Chang'an. Having expended his venting, his only comment left was to muse on the splendour of the city's blossoming peonies.

Only after a long lull—during which Li E scanned the streets for his target—did the Assassin finally acknowledge the drunk poet, remarking on all the families destroyed for just a single peony. Weighing the stranger beside him more closely, Li Bai began to get an intuitive sense for who he was; Li E was akin to those same heroes in Suyab from his childhood. As this dawned on him, he felt the need to ask why the young man came to Chang'an. Li E's cryptic and laconic answer was only "to pluck flowers". Perhaps interpreting this to mean flirting and finding love, Li Bai broke into laughter telling him that this was impossible in Chang'an, yet came the words "nothing is true, everything is permitted" as he was looking away. He took a glance back at the stranger, but he had already disappeared. The poet could only stare in wonder as he watched the Assassin stride down the street below.

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Dynasty