Chinese poem illustration: 南陵别儿童入京/ Farewell to Kids and Servants Going to Chang’an from Nanling by Li Bai

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The career life is never a easy journey, even for the most talented person in Tang dynasty , Li Bai. He tried out all kinds of approach to win his fame , to be noticed by the emperor. He traveled throughout the country to make friends, he married with two prestigious lady who is the daughter of premier minister, he made friends and send his poems and articles to the high ranking officials and royal family members, he practiced Taoism which is the religion adopted by the emperor, not to say going to parties and dinners with the most famous celebrities of the Tang dynasty. Yet, nothing happened after 27 years of endeavour, finally Li Bai went back his sweet home in Shandong province, so called Nanling(南陵) at the time, to lead a normal life for his rest life.

One day in year 742, a message came directly from the emperor, to summon Li Bai to the royal court. This poem depict the very moment the day Li Bai heard the message, the day with most happiness in his life.keeping in mind , always with extreme pride and self-respect , Li Bai was in such a shame as he was treated as a loser before this day. Now his talent and capacity was recognized, his shame was wiped out. This was implied in the title of farewell to junior person or his servants , now Li bai would left them, the average people and the shame behind. With such, the last two sentences make it sense.

A little gossip on the types of wines in Tang dynasty is at the end of the video, introducing the differences between white, green and clear wine.(白酒, 绿酒,清酒)

南陵别儿童入京
李白

白酒新熟山中归,
黄鸡啄黍秋正肥。
呼童烹鸡酌白酒,
儿女嬉笑牵人衣。
高歌取醉欲自慰,
起舞落日争光辉。

游说万乘苦不早,
著鞭跨马涉远道。
会稽愚妇轻买臣,
余亦辞家西入秦。
仰天大笑出门去,
我辈岂是蓬蒿人。

CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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