Li Ba (most famous poet in China)

The following is a poem by Li Bai (or in English it would be Bai Li), one of the most famous poet in China. I copied the following from Chinapage. You can also hear the recitation in Chinese if you go to Chinapage.

I taught this poem (and few other poems) to J when she was 3 or 4 y.o .... I doubt she remembers it now. I went soft on Prime and didn't teach him much and definitely not poetry. In China, children are asked to memorize many poems when they are very young. I still remember my mom telling me when I was 3 y.o. I would stand outside the apartment in China and recite poetry from 100 poems book proudly - bubbling (sp??) my head left to right.

"Ye Si" (Night thoughts) is one of Li Bai's most famous poem. I think everyone in China knows it by heart or has heard of it. (No wonder it has few different translations; other poems by others Chinese poet on Chinapage are not even translated). It takes a scholar to understand most Chinese poetry and some poems are studied in schools.

Thoughts in a Tranquil Night
Translation by: L. Cranmer-Byng
Athwart the bed
I watch the moonbeams cast a trail
So Bright, so cold, so frail,
That for a space it gleams
Like hoar-frost on the margin of my dreams.
I raise my head, --
The splendid moon I see:
The droop my head,
And to dreams of thee --
My Fatherland, of thee!

Night Thoughts
(different translation by H.A. Giles )

I wake and moonbeams play around my bed

Glittering like hoarfrost to my wondering eyes

Upwards the glorious moon I raise my head

Then lay me down and thoughts of home arise

History on Li Bai

Li Bai (701-762) was born in Suiye in Central Asia. His ancestors had been banished there by the Sui rulers. At five he moved to Sichuan with his father, who was probably a rich merchant. When young, he studied not only Confucian classics, but works of other schools.

After 20 he first traveled for and wide in Sichuan, and then he started a long journey to Central, East and North China. He did not sit for the civil service examination, for he looked down upon it. But he wished to become an official.

When he was 42, he was recommended to Tang Xuan Zong , who ordered him to go to Chang'an. He stayed there for three years and was bitterly disappointed. During the years of An Lushan's rebellion, he joined the staff of Prince Li Lin. Later, because Li Lin tried to seize power and failed, Li Bai was exiled to Yelang. On his way to Yelang he was freed by an amnesty. He went to East China and died at 62 in Dangtu, Anhui.