LI PO

Lived during the T’ang dynasty (618-907) Golden age of Chinese poetry Political issues made Li Po move Free spirited, graceful, and lyrical style of

writing Influenced by Taoist thoughts

Neo-Taoism/ magical variant of Taoism Neo-Taoists believed in hsien Hsien- Immortals Neo-Taoists believed in transients Transient- Men of great age Transients lived in the mountains

Mountains occupied by transients nourished by the wind and dew

Transients possessed supernatural powers

Li Po admired Neo-Taoist thinkers who aspired to become hsien

Li Po was a supreme master of Chinese poetry

Most likely grew up in southwestern China

Lived in a region known as Szechuan province

Moved to eastern China during his mid-twenties

Held an official literary position in the capital city of Changan

Met Tu Fu in the capital city of Changan

Known for his love in wine, women, and song

Created the finest literary works that China has produced

Political conditions forced him to move to various places in the south, the southwest, and along the Yangtze River.

Unruly life style evident in much of his poetry

The River Merchant’s Wife: A letter

“My hair was still cut straight across my foreheadI played about the front gate, pulling flowers.You came by on bamboo stilts, playing horse,You walked about my seat playing with blue plums.And we went on living in the village of Chokan:Two small people, without dislike or suspicion.

At fifteen, I stopped scowling,I desired my dust to be mingled with yours.Forever and forever and forever.Why should I climb the lookout?

At fourteen I married My Lord you. I never laughed, being bashful.Lowering my head, I looked at the wall.Called to, a thousand times, I never looked back.

At sixteen, you departed,You went into far Ku-to-en, by the river of eddies.And you’ve been gone for five months.The monkeys make sorrowful noises overhead.You dragged your feet when you went out.By the gate now, the moss is grown, the different mosses,Too deep to clear them away!The leaves fall early this autumn, in the wind.The paired butterflies are already yellow with AugustOver the grass in the West garden;They hurt me. I grow older.If you are coming down through the narrows of the river Kiang,Please let me know beforehand,And I will come out to meet you As far as Cho-fu-sa.

Black = PersonaSymbol = Purple

In the Mountains on a Summer Day

This poem contains tactile imagery, meaning you can imagine the feeling of the environment being described. For example the line below “…wind from the pine-trees trickles on my bare head.” you can imagine the feeling of wind blowing on your head.

“Gently I stir a white feather fan, With open shirt sitting in a green wood. I take off my cap and hang it on a jutting stone; A wind from the pine-trees trickles on my bare head.”

Quiz Questions

1. What river was Li Po forced to move to because of political conditions?

2. Li Po was a supreme master of what? 3. Where did Li Po grow up? 4. When was the golden age of Chinese poetry? 5. What style of writing is in Li Po’s poems 6. What type of thoughts influenced his writing? 7.Li Po held an official literary position in the capital

city of _________. 8. Known for his love in wine, woman, and ______. 9. Who did Li Po admire? 10. Who did Li Po meet in the capital city of Changan?