Chinese poet (701-762). He was born in the
Szechwan (or
Sichuan) region of
China. Though he was
educated, he never attempted the
examinations for
Imperial service, choosing instead to leave his
family's home at the age of
19 to live with a
Taoist hermit. He spent the rest of his life
wandering across China. He married several times, but never had a
home of his own -- he either lived with his wives' families or claimed
hospitality from other families named
Li.
He fancied himself a
knight errant in his
youth. He began showing his
poetry to
officials, hoping to gain
employment as a
secretary, but his love of
wine worked against him -- potential employers feared he'd be unreliable or would reveal their
secrets while
drunk.
In 742, he visited the
capital,
Ch'ang-an, where he was briefly favored by the
Emperor. He also established
friendships with several other poets -- together, they became known as
the Eight Immortals of the Wine Cup. He resumed his
travels a couple of years later and renewed his interests in
Taoism and
alchemy. He fell under suspicion of
treason after joining an
expedition to
South China led by a former
prince and
plotter against the Emperor, but was released in a general
amnesty in 758. He lived out the rest of his life doing the two things he enjoyed most --
drinking and writing
poems.
Li Po's
verse praised
nature, commemorated old
friends, and often
dipped into
whimsical fantasies -- from his poem "
Alone and Drinking Under the Moon":
"Amongst the flowers I am alone with my pot of wine drinking by myself; then lifting my cup I asked the moon to drink with me..."Research from GURPS Who's Who 2, compiled by Phil Masters, "Li Po" by William H. Stoddard, pp. 26-27. Other assistance from interrobang.