Li Bai
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Li_Bai
Many of the Classical Chinese poets were associated with drinking wine, or more precisely, alcoholic beverages. In fact, Li Bai was part of the group of Chinese scholars during his time in Chang’an, called the “Eight Immortals of the Wine Cup”, as mentioned in a poem by fellow poet Du Fu. However, Li Bai is of special note in this respect. As Burton Watson put it, “[n]early all Chinese poets celebrate the joys of wine, but none so tirelessly and with such a note of genuine conviction as Li [Bai].
Li Bai (aka Li Po, among other Westernized spellings) is one of the most prolific and well-known Chinese poets of the Tang Dynasty. Famous for his technical prowess and “glorification of alcoholic beverages (and, indeed, frank celebration of drunkenness),” Li Bai penned such works as “Drinking Alone in the Moonlight,” translated below:
A pot of wine, under the flowering trees;
I drink alone, for no friend is near.
Raising my cup I beckon the bright moon,
For her, with my shadow, will make three people.
The moon, alas, is no drinker of wine;
Listless, my shadow creeps about at my side.
Yet with the moon as friend and the shadow as slave
I must make merry before the Spring is spent.
To the songs I sing the moon flickers her beams;
In the dance I weave my shadow tangles and breaks.
While we were sober, three shared the fun;
Now we are drunk, each goes their way.
May we long share our eternal friendship,
And meet at last on the paradise.
I, too, am a poet who frankly celebrates drunkenness, having penned such works as the following haiku:
I drink to forget
how stupid I act while drunk
oops, infinite loop
Mr. Li, I pour a little out for you now. May you rest easy in the everlasting bender of paradise.
