Li Bai is a romantic poet of Tang Dynasty . This romance does not come easily. Li Bai was fond of swordsmanship, usually accompanied by poetry and wine, and would travel to the mountains and rivers from time to time. Especially when he was 18 to 62 years old, he would go out and roam almost every year.
All of this requires money to support. If there is no money, reality is likely to force Li Bai back to a realist poet like Du Fu .
Li Bai should not be short of money, at least generally he is decent.
At the same time, we also know that Li Bai is a pure poet. He has almost never held any official position and has no serious job. Where did Li Bai get the money for food, drink and fun?
In fact, based on Li Bai's life and brief reasoning, this question is not difficult to answer.
rest on your laurels
This laurel is family wealth. Li Bai's life experience has always been a mystery, but one thing is certain: Li Bai's father is Li Ke. Fan Chuanzheng's "Preface to the Tombstone of Li Gongxin, a Hanlin Scholar from the Tang Dynasty" contains:
The guest came to visit his town, so he named it after the guest. Lying high in the cloud forest, I don't ask for a salary or official position.
Li Ke’s identity is also a mystery. Later generations speculated that there were hermits, sinners, knights, and merchants, among which the merchant theory was more widely spread. For example, Mr. Chen Yinke believes that Li Ke is a Hu businessman who was relegated for his crimes. For we will adopt this statement for now.
Li Bai was born in a merchant family, so he should not be short of money. Li Bai was able to study at an early age and was praised and rewarded by celebrities. This must have something to do with his family background.
Li Bai could not participate in the imperial examination because he came from a merchant family. After all, Tang law stipulated that businessmen and businessmen could not participate in the imperial examination; if they wanted to participate, they might be beheaded.
In fact, Li Bai's decision to spend a lot of money and open up social contacts cannot but be said to be a helpless choice, but it also indirectly shows that Li Bai's family is relatively wealthy and can support him in carrying out a series of social activities.
Li Bai himself said, "I traveled east to Weiyang in less than a year and scattered more than 300,000 yuan in gold." It can be seen how rich his family is.
Eat Rewards
Li Bai worked hard and worked hard, and finally got the opportunity to worship Hanlin in the first year of Tianbao, that is, AD 742.
Although Li Bai was able to get close to Xuanzong, he only did poetry, entertainment, and accompanying people. Li Bai had some thoughts in his mind and began to behave inappropriately. In addition, Xuanzong became increasingly tired of the life of an imperial literati. A year later, Li Bai was given a gold and was released.
Li Bai was 44 years old this year.
How much money did Xuanzong give Li Bai? This statement is also controversial, but it should not be less, because Li Bai was already famous all over the world at that time. When dealing with well-known scholars, Xuanzong at least had to show off. Once the emperor takes action, can this number be less?
In fact, after the age of 42, Li Bai's life began to become rich, and this "gift of gold" must have a lot to do with it.
Eat "soft rice"
This soft rice is the women around Li Bai.
Judging from the literature, Li Bai got married at least 4 times in his life, and he frequently had children.
Why do you want to get married? There are probably two factors. One is that there are not many people in the man's family, and the other is that the woman has an unusual background, either rich or noble, or both.
Li Bai's first wife should be Xu's . Wei Hao of the Tang Dynasty wrote in the "Preface to the Collection of Li Hanlin":
Bai Shi married Xu and gave birth to a daughter.
This Xu family is the granddaughter of Xu Yushi, the prime minister of Emperor Gaozong of Tang Dynasty. Li Bai entered the Xu family as the first son-in-law. After that, Li Bai "drunk away in Anlu and wasted ten years."
After Xu was Liu's . We don’t know who Liu is. However, judging from Li Bai's poem "Farewell to the Children in Nanling", "The foolish woman in Kuaiji lightly bought the minister, and Yu Yi resigned from his home and went west to the Qin Dynasty", Liu looked down on Li Bai, and he must have a strong family background.
Li Bai's fourth wife was Zong, the granddaughter of the prime minister Zong Chuke . Although Zong Chuke died early, he had served as prime minister and was a member of the clan, so he should still have family assets. At this time, Li Bai was already in his 50s. The combination of the two is purely the need for soul communication. After the Anshi Rebellion, Li Bai was homeless, thanks to the Zong family's help in life.
Eat friends
Li Bai started at the age of 26, from the Yangtze River Basin to the Yellow River Basin, and then to the Yangtze River Basin, leaving his footprints all over the world. He went and drank wherever he went, almost walking, playing and drinking.
As I said before, didn’t Li Bai spread wealth and make connections? But when you go to a friend's place, you should always show your kindness as a landlord. You should also see him off when you leave and give him some money for transportation, right?
Many of Li Bai's poems describe this feeling of farewell, such as " to Wang Lun".
Li Bai traveled to Jingxian County, Wannan Anhui , and visited Peach Blossom Pond with Wang Lun. Wang Lun entertained her warmly, and he must have given her something as a parting gift. The phrase "not as good as Wang Lun's love for me", many people speculated that it also had a deeper meaning.
There are probably many more ways for Li Bai to make money. The above is just a reasonable guess based on some classics. Li Bai was talented and roamed around. Later, he became famous all over the world, and people liked to make friends with him. Li Bai gradually became a hot IP, and even alarmed the aloof Xuanzong.
Writer Zhang Dachun said that Li Bai is a self-media that travels everywhere. I would like to ask, can such self-media be short of money?
