Chapter 35 Li Bailiu

Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty sent Li Bai away, "give gold back to the mountain"-this man from the mountains, where did he go back and forth.There were many hermits in Kaiyuan and Tianbao, and the hermits tried their best to run to the capital one after another. Many of them were driven away. Li Bai won this honor, and his pockets bulged again.But he was not proud but ashamed.why?Because the ideal has not been realized.In the Hanlin Academy established by Emperor Xuanzong of Tang Dynasty, many scholars made great achievements and became high officials.Li Bai was looking forward to it, waiting stupidly, if he didn't go to learn camping, he didn't know that the Imperial Academy was a good place to learn camping.It's normal for him to leave, it's strange if he doesn't.He can do offerings for three years, which shows that Xuanzong has a lot of guts.

Chang'an became Li Bai's sad city overnight. He rolled up his bedding and carried his money bag.He was forty-five years old this year.Zhang Liang or Zhuge Liang seem to be unable to do it.It's in vain to study at the Hanlin Academy. This is the spring of Tianbao's third year.The peonies are blooming again, and Yang Yuhuan is in the palace, is he going to sing his "Qingping Tune" again? The poet was disheartened and drove back to Shandong.The huge ups and downs of emotions gave birth to immortal poems. When he arrived in Rencheng, he did two things: he built a restaurant with the money given to him by the emperor; he also built an alchemy room at home.From then on he entrusted himself to wine and elixir.

He wrote a poem saying: "I don't abandon the world, the world abandons me." He also said: "I will camp cinnabar and bid farewell to others forever!" It's not hard to imagine him cursing and swearing.He yearned for the gods like never before, so he threw off his arms and started working, bringing the ore from the mountain home and lighting a fire to refine it.Hundreds of years ago, Ge Hong left behind the secret formula of alchemy, from "one-turned alchemy" to "nine-turned alchemy", with distinct levels.It is said that after taking the Jiuzhuan Pill, one can transform from a mortal to a god within three days.Li Bai worked hard for three days and nights, seven to seven forty-nine days, not one step away from Danzao, his face was refined into an African, his eyes were radiant, and he was eager to see the red and yellow ore smelted into gray powder.He declares: You're done!The powder is mixed into balls, even if it is not a nine-turn pill, it is a six-turn seven-turn pill.He insisted on taking it for three days, had diarrhea every day, and kept running to the toilet.The person was also stretched out of shape, so he had to switch to antidiarrheal medicine.Unwilling to give up, he went to Qizhou to find a high celestial master, and asked the celestial master to hold a ceremony for him to receive the Taoist talisman. He was tortured physically and mentally, and officially became a Taoist priest.This ceremony is recorded in detail in The Biography of Li Bai written by the contemporary poet An Qi.

In Luoyang, Li Bai and Du Fu met. Du Fu's little Li Bai was eleven years old, and his thirties had passed by this time.He went to Luoyang to take the Jinshi examination ten years ago, but he failed the examination.He also traveled around to study, gain knowledge, and write poems. He has already written a masterpiece depicting Mount Tai.He used to travel around Wuyue and Qilu with Luoyang as the center.The two great poets are swimming, and now they are swimming together. Known as the eastern capital, Luoyang is rich and prosperous, with a large number of high-ranking officials and businessmen.Du Fu felt very bad seeing rich people live in a commoner clothes.Hearing that Li Bai was passing by Luoyang, Du Fu hurried to see him.

At that time, Li Bai was already recognized as a great poet, but Du Fu was still on his way to become a great poet. He wrote poems very bitterly: "Because of human nature, he procrastinates for good sentences, and his words are not astonishing." Li Bai stayed in the court for another three years. Poets big and small are all envious.Du Fu was obviously an admirer of Li Bai.But Li Bai had just left the court, depressed, in a trance, and his mind was full of gods.Du Fu wanted to swim with him, and he agreed.It is not known who paid for it.Li Bai is not short of money this year. Mr. Wen Yiduo described Li and Du Xiangjian and said: "We should taste the three-way painting corners, send out three-way beating drums, and then lift the pen to dip it in ink, and write big books and special books...We will press our imaginations tighter, For example, if the sun and the moon meet in the blue sky, how many incense tables will be lit in the world... Looking at the sky and worshiping, it is said that it is the auspiciousness of the emperor. Now Li Bai and Du Fu are coming face to face. Is it equally miraculous and equally significant?"

This passage was quoted in the book "Li Bai" by Professor Wang Yao. I really don't understand why Wen Yiduo is so excited.It was very unusual for Li Bai to meet Du Fu, and it was no different from many of his ordinary acquaintances.Du Fu was obviously excited, but Li Bai's reaction was flat.Excitement and dullness are both normal.For Li Bai, having one more friend is not a bad thing, and he is a qualified admirer. ——Du Fu, led by him, wrote poems to praise the gods, and he worked tirelessly to find the famous Taoist Huagai with him.When they heard that Mr. Huagai had died, they mourned together.

The two started to swim. Li Bai had eaten well in recent years, and his face had become fuller, while Du Fu was thin and tall.Traveling to Shandong and Henan, wandering in Liangyuan (Kaifeng).This place was once the fiefdom of Liang Wang during Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Sima Xiangru wrote "Zixu Fu" in Liang Wang's mansion.Li Bai talked endlessly about Xiangru, and Du Fu listened attentively.Another poet, Gao Shi, from Hebei, wrote "Mo Chou has no confidant in the future, and no one in the world knows the king".Three poets travel more happily than two.Drinking, bringing prostitutes, and indulging in mountains and rivers.Li Bai is the first, Gao Shi is the second, and Du Fu is willing to be the last.Li Bai's excitement is always related to the gods, but Du Fu's excitement is only in front of his eyes: Li Taibai is almost a god.Du Fu worshiped Li Bai, felt Li Bai to the maximum, and wished to become Li Bai.If the friendship between Li and Du has some kind of historicity, then this kind of historicity is limited to what it shows us——Du Fu's sincerity.The same goes for Li Bai.Great poets are all sincere, good at learning about nature and human affairs, and not afraid to be attracted by the charm of others.But the little poet is busy making a show, limited by his self-esteem.

Looking at all areas of society, the so-called self-esteem has harmed many people. A strong eruption of vitality sometimes requires respect.Pride and humility are sometimes the same thing. Du Fu later praised Li Bai, and his poems went straight to Li Bai's core: "Bai is also invincible in poetry, and his thoughts are unmatched." - Li Bai's mind is outstanding, leading to his poems being invincible in the world.Du Fu also described Li Bai: "Thousands of quick poems, a glass of wine drifting away." Without a special feeling for Li Bai's life form, it is impossible to write such lines.

Du Fu missed Li Bai constantly in the second half of his life, and the sentence he described Li Bai has become a masterpiece of all ages: "Writing pens startle the wind and rain, and poems weep ghosts and gods." The poems written by Li Bai to Du Fu belong to entertainment.He may have written it and forgotten it. Three poets travel together, which is regarded as a good story in the literary world.But don't get too excited, beating drums and burning incense.At that time, the three men were disappointed in their official careers, and they separated in autumn and went their separate ways.After Gao Shi was forty years old, his official career had great luck, which was just the opposite of Tao Yuanming he wanted to follow. "Old Tang Book" said: "There are poets who have achieved since the Tang Dynasty, but they are only suitable."

Gao Shi's officials are all real positions, from local officials to important court officials, unlike Li Bai's worship of Hanlin, which is a false position.Li Bai's experience of the word enshrinement is different from that of three years ago.Compared with Anlu's ten-year experience, he has a deeper experience: the difficulty of official career is the difficulty of going to the blue sky.And the gods in the sky have not come down to earth for a long time. When Du Fu recalled Li Bai's situation in Kaifeng, he said: "Drunk and danced in Liangyuan night, and sang the spring of Sishui."

There is a prostitute named Jinlingzi who frequently appears in Li Bai's poems.She may be from Jinling (Nanjing) and looks very pretty.The prostitutes at that time were of good quality, and poetry, singing and dancing were compulsory courses, and their mobility was also high, like poets who wandered the world. Li Bai's instant gratification is obvious, we don't have to worry about his moral character.A great poet is not necessarily a moral model.Qu Yuan, Tao Qian, Du Fu, and Su Shi are such models, but Li Bai is not. In my opinion, talent comes first, and the intensity of life comes before morality.