Li Po was born in central Asia. After his father moved the family back into China in 705, he started his poetic compositions. With mountains near his house, he found adventure and became a skilled swordsman and led a life of a knight-errant when he was older. Po traveled and married a daughter of a retired prime minister in 727, but soon went back to traveling the regions and neighboring countries around him. His most exciting travels were to the capital Ch’ang-an where he was presented to the emperor Hsuan-tsung and was showered with extravagant gifts. He was then appointed as a member of the Hanlin Academy and was lionized by fellow scholar-officials. The next travel he experienced was in 744. By this time he was divorced from his first wife and remarried. He was also becoming a drunk and visiting city taverns. Soon Po became known as one of the “Eight Immortals of the Wine-Cup”. During this year he was initiated in the Taoist religion along with his friend Tu Fu. After 10 years of traveling he became mundane by troubles and began to complain about the lack of money and property. Po’s last adventure before his death was being imprisoned and threatened with death after being captured by royalist troops who also captured Prince of Yung, a friend of Po. Li Po was given amnesty and after 2 years of being free, he died in Tang-t’u where it is rumored he drowned while drunkenly leaning from a boat to embrace the moon’s reflection on the water. He is most credited for his romantic songs on wine and nature. At the height of his prosperity, his writings reflected the grandeur of the T’ang dynasty.
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