Chapter 7 "Records of Li Bai" The Merchant's Son Li Bai

merchant's son li bai Why is Li Bai's father a businessman? This is related to the fact that Li Bai's ancestors were "fleeing in broken leaves" at the end of the Sui Dynasty.Anxi Protectorate's Mansion happened to be on the famous Silk Road, and the commerce in that area was very developed. Li Bai himself said that his ancestors were "trapped" in the Western Regions, which shows that his family is a sinner.The sinner was exiled to the frontier, what did he do for a living?There is definitely no hope for an official career; the local area is nomadic as the main means of livelihood, and people in Middle Earth may not be good at it.But he came from Middle-earth, and he knows what products are in Middle-earth and what products are in the Western Regions, so doing business is a matter of course.Li Bai's ancestors chose the way of life under such circumstances, and the most suitable way was to be a businessman.

Li Bai's father was Li Ke.We know this name as soon as we hear it. How can anyone name himself "Ke"? "Ke" means guest, which is the native's name for outsiders.You said that your surname is Li, so you are not called "Li Ke", what is your name? Li Bai's family is in business.For a while, this idea was all the rage. In 1971, Guo Moruo published a book - "Li Bai and Du Fu", and made the following judgments on Li Bai and Du Fu: Li Bai represented the emerging merchant class, and Du Fu represented the declining landlord class.In addition to saying that Li Bai's ancestors were businessmen, Guo Moruo also said that Li Bai was also a businessman.He said that Li Bai had been an official for a short time, but he was never short of money. Where did the money come from?It's earned by doing business.

Guo Moruo said that Li Bai's family is a big capitalist, Li Bai's first pot of gold was given by his father, and his brothers were supporting him in his later years.Guo Moruo also gave an example: Li Bai joined the Yongwanglin shogunate in his later years, and was finally imprisoned as a political prisoner in Xunyang, which is now Jiujiang, Jiangxi.When he was in Xunyang Prison, Li Bai wrote a poem entitled "Wan Angry Words", in which there is a line "Brother Jiujiang, brother Sanxia".Guo Moruo made a big fuss based on this, saying that Li Bai had an older brother in Jiujiang and a younger brother in Sanxia.The most important docks in the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze River were monopolized by his elder brother and younger brother to do logistics business.His family members are not businessmen, what are they?

Mr. Lin Geng also said that Li Bai was a merchant class.But what he said was different. He talked about Li Bai's "commoner sense".What is "commoner sense"?It is to pay princes and princes as an ordinary commoner, which is what Du Fu wrote "the emperor can't get on the boat"-to ensure the independence of one's personality and personal spiritual charm.Who is the most independent personality?Businessmen of course.Businessmen are freer than peasants, and also freer than bureaucrats, so Mr. Lin also said that Li Bai was born as a businessman. Mr. Lin is my teacher.My understanding of Li Bai was greatly influenced by Mr. Lin.It is a bit far-fetched to directly draw the conclusion that Li Bai is a merchant, but it does not matter that Li Bai came from a merchant's family.Moreover, Li Bai is very familiar with the life of businessmen, and he has a close relationship with them. He has described the life of businessmen in his poems, and he wrote a very beautiful "Long Gan Xing", which talks about doing business.