While I read Li Bo’s poetry, I felt that Li Bo was lonely man and comported himself through drinking and traveling. In Drinking Alone with the Moon, he drinks alone but with moon and his own shadow. There is a legend that Li Bo died himself by drowning while trying to embrace the moon’s reflection on the water when he was drunken. And the legends about Li Bo’s death shows us how he loves wine and moon. In addition, in Sitting Alone by Jingting Mountain, he gets comfort through looking at the Jingting Mountain. In The Hardships of Traveling the Road I and In the Quite Night, you can see that Li Bo was traveling. I believe he is not good father if he had a family because he will not care his own family but drink wine, like to travel and appreciate landscapes. However, his habit shows us that Li Bo believed in Daoism deeply. When he describes his dream in A Song on Visiting Heaven’s Crone Mountain in a Dream: On Parting, there are many fantasies and colorful imagery.
Unlike Li Bo, Du Fu’s poetries are about the reality of his country, Tang Dynasty. He missed the glorious time of Tang Dynasty in the past and how people’s lives are pitiful. Because government officials did not follow Confucian duty and An Lushan Rebellion brought chaos in Tang Dynasty, the time period was gloomy and sorrowful. In Autumn Meditations, he express the capital of Tang is like a chessboard. There are many political power struggle and government does not care its citizens as it did before. In Spring Prospect, he is in full of sorrow. Even spring comes and blooms flowers, people spend hard time and it is hard to meet family.
Both of the poets lived in same time period in Tang Dynasty and experienced An Lushan Rebellion which brought chaos to even Chang’an, which is the capital of Tang. However, their poetry’s’ themes are different. They are included sorrow but they are different types of sorrow. I felt that Li Bo tried to forget about the bad issues and comfort himself while Du Fu deplore the situations of ordinary people and criticize government that it does not work properly.
- What would you be like if you lived in Chang’an at the same time period-engaging in the problem or getting out from?
- Comparing today’s musician, Is Li Bo similar for spending his life with wine and living freely?
- Is it true that when one uses money like Li Bo, money comes right back to one?
1. I can’t even imagine living in their time period. I can’t say if it was harder for women or men, but according to Du Fu, in “Ballad of the Firewood Vendors”, it wasn’t an easy time period for women either.
2. I believe Li Bo’s life was nothing like today’s musicians. Musicians nowadays, popular ones, live a lavish lives, and spend their earnings on parties and drugs. Li Bo’s drinking problems led to his dismissal from Hanlin Academy. It is evident that he had a drinking problem throughout his life, and it could be the possibility of his death.
3. I believe here, in this particular context, Li Bo is addressing this poem to the host of the party. And he means, that if one is throwing party, he shouldn’t be greedy, in my opinion. What is spent today, can be earned back tomorrow.
I cannot also imagine living in that dynasty as I have no experience at all. However, I can say that both men and women had difficult times. Maybe both poets expressed their thoughts through their poems. Drinking appears a lot in the poems of Li Bo. His pomes show how he loves and enjoys drinking. Nature also appears in his poems and this shows how he also loves nature. I think he believes spending money on drinking has much value than the amount of money. I personally guess that he buys wine with money he exchanged with gold. Then, he buys wine with that money. Therefore, it means that the money comes right back when drinking.
I can see a comparison between Li Bo’s “Bring in the Wine” poem and some of today’s music about drinking. This poem seems to justify why you shouldn’t worry about spending your money or any of your other worries, just enjoy the moment. There are countless modern songs about this exact thing. Also, from Li Bo’s perspective, spending money will always result in a material gain, be it wine or any other luxury/pleasure so it’s as if he didn’t spend anything at all. These luxuries are equal to the money spent so he doesn’t feel like he has lost anything. He seems to believe that there is no need to be stingy, this is the right way to enjoy life.
Li Bo’s poems especially piqued my interest because it was so different from the calm nature vibes that the other poems gave off. His preferences for drinking wine must have been an accurate reflection of his personality, as he seemed to be a free-spirit who did not have any inhibitions to hold him back from experiencing the pleasures he wanted to take part in. I also noticed that he wrote about the moon often and seemed like someone who enjoyed spending time alone. However, the similarities I do see in Li Bo’s poems that are also present throughout the works of the other poets, is the idea of going off alone to do what makes each of them happy. For the other poets, it was enjoying the peace and quiet of nature, away from the materialistic world. But for Li Bo, it was indulging in alcohol and just having a good time with others. Overall, it was an interesting read.
In my mind, Li Bo is living his life more as a philosopher versus a typical musician in today’s world. Sitting around and drinking wine in relative peace is something I think most musicians don’t do. In today’s world, musicians are working hard to get exposure for their work and using tools such as social media and running music tours. In both lives though, I am sure alcohol becomes a part of the lifestyle. It can be viewed as a muse especially when one is struggling to be inspired or is stressed out.
I believe that there were difficulties for both men and women of this time. You usually see that women face more hardships in the dynasty but you see the problems of both. I could see why people compare Li Bo to modern day musicians. Yes, they both talk about living lavishly and getting drunk but they do it for different reasons. Musicians talk about drinking and doing drugs because they have a target audience and this is what is popular. It is what sells records now. Li Bo talks about drinking and living lavishly because that is what he loves to do. He does it to escape. Li Bo is at peace and alone. He isnt lonely he prefers this. But nowadays they only do it to party and be with a large group of people. They are not at peace, they are being rowdy. These musicians want to obtain materialistic items when Li Bo wants to escape that world and find an inner peace. Overall, this was a great read and it was very entertaining. It was something we love to talk about because it is so relatable to our generation.
I certainly agree with Joses viewpoint of Li Bo using wine or any other alcoholic drink as a remedy for peace and tranquility. li Bo drinks wine because he sees it as a gateway to be at peace and escape from everything else. Being a musician isn’t an easy job because you have so much stress and also the fact that you have fans and crowds to entertain and play music fans want. Li Bo lives a life of peace and sees that drinking wine isn’t a waste but it’s a remedy for his body. This was an interesting reading overall because it gave readers a glimpse of how many people indulge in their own happiness in their own ways.