李白与道家思想

Taoism and Li Bai

The Tang Dynasty is generally acknowledged as the golden age of Chinese poetry. It reached a standard which was never surpassed in feudal China. (郭尚兴，盛兴庆，1993：278). Li Bai lived in the High Tang period which the Tang Dynasty was powerful and wealthy. Li Bai is a legendary poet. His life was influenced deeply by the Taoism. Then I will try to find out the relationship between Taoism and Li Bai.

I. A brief introduction of Li Bai

Li Bai (AD 701-762), the most outstanding poet at the height of the Tang Dynasty, is one of the great romantic poets after Qu Yuan. He was later called the "poetic genius," and has been called Shi Xian (fairy poet). His poems, with their exuberant, unrestrained and tasteful characteristics have been taken as the prominent representative of the High Tang atmosphere.

Li Bai’s life was full of frustration and his thoughts were complex.Besides a great talent for poetry, Li Bai had also an air of a swordsman, hermit, Taoist and adviser. Li Bai’s life was special. He was born at the town of Sui-Yeh in the Western Regions and brought up in Sichuan in the western China, where the minorities inhabited and the Taoism originated. Therefore, hen was exposed deeply to the influence of alien cultures of the minorities such as Qiang and other minorities lived at the Southern China. He also lived in a vigorous time of High Tang- the golden age in the whole Chinese history. He was exposed deeply to the influence of Political Strategists. He was fond of chivalry, personal fantasy and alienation, so a great rocsymbolizing his spirit beyond the world. (周勋初，2004：Introduction)

II. The influence of Taoism on Li Bai

1.The influence of Taoism on Li Bai’s Attitude to Life

Li Bai was born in the Shu area where the Taoism originated, so he took part in Taoism when he was a young man and finally became a Taoist priest. Li Bai aims at becoming an immortal according to learning Taoism, so he had chance with the “Xian” (immortal) all his life. For instance, he has been called “a relegated immoral”, “a winebibber”, and “a poetic genius”.

What the Taoism emphasizes is enjoy this life. The Taoism believes that suffering is unnecessary and even seeking pleasure without suffering is enough to become an immortal. It’s the character of Chinese religion-- Celestial theory. The character is reflected by Li Bai very clearly. For example, as his poem Upcoming

Disaster shows: Enjoying eating and drinking today is better than thousands of spring. We can know that Li Bai valued extremely the present enjoyment from this poem. 2.The influence of Taoism on Li Bai’s Works

Li Bai’s poems are often exuberantly romantic. They can “displace mountains, whip the ocean about, and grab thunderbolt from the heavens.”His most famous poems, such as Hard is the road to Shu, Dreaming of Sighting in the Tianmu Mountains, and Hard is the Way to the World, are all characterized by wit, elasticity, flexibility, unpredictability, and vitality.( 郭尚兴，盛兴庆，1993：281)

1) Li Bai’s writing style was influenced by the Taoism. Firstly, Li Bai’s poems were full of groteske and bold imagination. The Taoist preferred fancy rather than a conventional pattern when writing just like the way they lived. They could imagine beyond the highest heavens. So they created the beginning of the Romantic Literature of China. Li Bai represented the highest achievement of the romantic poetry in the Tang Dynasty. Living in the free air brought by the Taoism, Li Bai’s big-hearted and wild personality had been set free. His poems were the gifts of the heaven. Such as Hard is the road to Shu, and Invitation to wine. In addition, the style of his poems is “they seemingly vulgar and dull.”The aesthetics of Taoism school is based on the simplicity and seeking the inherence and nature of the exterior appearance. Most of Li Bai’s works were scribbled out without the sense to forge, such as Antiquity (its 35), and the silence of Night.

2) There is an indissoluble bond between Li Bai and wine. He has been called “Zui Xian” (Centaine) and “Zui Sheng”. He was also famous for boozing. A sot lies in one sheet to the wind always has a feeling of speed across the sky just like standing on the top of the world. This feeling interacted with Li Bai’s pursuit for immortal by following the Taoism. A drunken man would be excited if he is not full to the gills. Here is a saying “Drinking a Chinese peck of wine, then creating 100 poems” about Li Bai. After drinking, the ideas in writing are as swift as the flow of a spring; Li Bai was different from the ordinary men in this respect. So he won the good name of “Shi Xian.” It will be seen from this that Li Bai’s creation is closely related to the Taoism. Wine is the activator that can stimulate his passion in writing which helps him reach the height of being an immortal.

3. The influence of Taoism on Li Bai’s Thought

1) Throughout Li Bai’s life, we can know about that he had been influenced deeply by The Book of Master Zhuang.Li Bai had carried on the free thought of