Watching the Divine Performing Arts’ Program “The Poet’s Vision”

[PureInsight.org] I thought I knew Li Bai pretty well. When I was a child I could recite several poems by Li Bai. I appreciated his bold and uninhibited, free and easy character. However, only after watching the Divine Performing Arts’ program “The Poet’s Vision” was I able to see the true Li Bai. The following is a story about Li Bai’s life.

Li Bai was full of talent but the emperor didn’t appreciate his genius. Naturally, this depressed Li Bai. So after being demoted, Li Bai left the capital. The Double Ninth Festival was occurring at that time, and yellow flowers blossomed everywhere. Li Bai drank a lot of wine, and he went to the mountains to seek peace of mind. There, he wrote the following poem to express his feeling:

Wash away the depression of a thousand years,
Linger around hundreds of wine pots.
On this enjoyable night idle talk would be preferable,
I couldn’t fall asleep due to the bright moonlight.
After I get drunk I will lie down on the empty mountain,
The sky is the quilt and the earth is the pillow.

Although Li Bai was very tall, his movements were quick and graceful as he staggered around in the mountains with his wine. After drinking and drinking, he fell asleep and had a dream in which immortal fairies came to visit him.

The fairies were pretty and luxurious in appearance. They danced beautifully as if they were sprinkling sweet dew. Then they left Li Bai with a smile. People often talk about the heavens and the human world. In fact, how could the human world be comparable to the heavens?!

Li Bai was inspired by the fairies’ beautiful dance and wrote up another masterpiece after awaking:
At the Double Ninth Festival I drank on Long Mountain,
The yellow flowers smiled and chased after me.
I watched the wind blowing tipsily off the hat,
I danced well and the moon urged me to stay.

We can understand why Li Bai was depressed when he was demoted and wanted to drink a lot of wine after leaving the capital. But being drunk, however, didn’t interfere with his source of creative writing, because the inspiration came from the heavens. Li Bai’s mind had already reached heaven when he looked down upon the secular world to write. That is why he was respected as an “Immortal Poet.” His works greatly reflected the harmony between heaven and human beings. If lives come from the heavens, then isn’t everything, including our culture, civilization, arts, skills, etc., from the heavens as well?

Then for what do human beings live in this world? Isn’t it for them to return to their homes in the heavens?

The reason why Li Bai could let go of his worries was that he knew that in the heavens there was a bright moon, dancing fairies, auspicious clouds, and the vastness of the Milky Way. That was what he sought after. Regarding his demotion, he shrugged it off with a smile because it was just like the wind blowing off the hat; why be bothered to worry about it?

Translated from: http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2009/2/6/57677.html