The Biography of Li Bai
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Summary
Editor's review
Who it's for
A good fit for
- Readers with a strong interest in classical Chinese literature and Tang history
- Poetry lovers who want to understand deeply the background of Li Bai's poetic creation and its spiritual core
- Readers who appreciate beautifully written biographies that are both scholarly and readable
- Readers who reflect on the theme of the relationship between the fate of literati and their times
Not a good fit for
- Readers seeking only simple, story-style, novelistic legendary retellings
- Readers expecting a large collection of original poems or pure appreciation
Reading tips
- Read alongside a collection of Li Bai's poems, comparing the background analyzed in the biography with specific poems for deeper appreciation
- Pay attention to Li Changzhi's analysis of the contradictions in Li Bai's character, such as the coexistence of "naivety" and "worldliness"
- Read this book together with Li Changzhi's other famous work, The Personality and Style of Sima Qian, to understand the author's biographical method
About the publisher
Founded in August 1958 and restructured into Baihua Literature and Art Publishing House (Tianjin) Co., Ltd. in 2009, Baihua Literature and Art Publishing House is known for publishing essays and fiction, and it hosts the journals Fiction Monthly and Essays. Its 757 titles in the library span classic works, culture, folk literature, essays and miscellaneous writings, foreign literature, and general biography. They include Lao She's Camel Xiangzi, Zhu Ziqing's selected essays and Classic Essays, Fu Lei's Twenty Lectures on Masterpieces of World Art, and a Chinese translation of Ryūnosuke Akutagawa's Rashōmon, as well as cultural and performing-arts titles such as the illustrated Biography of Liang Qichao and A Dictionary of Crosstalk. Its authors include Lao She, Zhu Ziqing, Wu Qichang, Fu Lei, Xue Baokun, Gao Yucong, Wei Zhiqiang, and Ryūnosuke Akutagawa.
Contents
- 版权信息
- 导读
- 李白
- 题记
- 楔子
- 壹 李白的故乡和他的少年生活
- 贰 壮年的漫游——学道和从政的矛盾
- 叁 李白在长安——李白对盛唐的政治之认识
- 肆 漫游生活的第二期——更多的暴露和批判
- 伍 天宝之乱和永王璘的一幕——李白的爱国思想
- 陆 李白的诗——和民歌的关系，和魏晋六朝 诗的关系，文学史上的地位
- 柒 简单的结论
- 道教徒的诗人李白及其痛苦
- 序
- 导论
- 壹 李白求仙学道的生活之轮廓
- 贰 道教思想之体系与李白
- 叁 失败了的鲁仲连——李白的从政
- 肆 李白的文艺造诣与谢朓
- 伍 李白：寂寞的超人
- 附：李白研究中的常青树——谈李长之的《道教徒的诗人李白及其痛苦》
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About the author
Li Changzhi (1910–1978), originally named Li Changzhi and Li Changzhi, was a modern Chinese writer, literary critic, and literary historian from Lijin, Shandong. He graduated from the Department of Philosophy at Tsinghua University in 1936 and later taught for many years at Beijing Normal University. His writing combines scholarly research with biographical narrative, and he was skilled at understanding his subjects' temperaments and historical circumstances on the basis of solid source materials. Representative works such as The Personality and Style of Sima Qian, A Biography of Sima Qian, A Biography of Tao Yuanming, The Daoist Poet Li Bai and His Suffering, The Story of Confucius, and A Biography of Li Bai mostly take literary figures as their subjects, examining their lives while appraising their spiritual character, in clear and insightful prose. His Critique of Lu Xun and A Brief History of Chinese Literature also reflect his concerns as a critic and literary historian. Thirteen of his works are included in the collection, covering categories such as general biography, classic works, and inspirational growth, offering readers an entry point into his biographical writing.
