Page:The works of Li Po - Obata.djvu/232

 LI PO— A BIOGRAPHY by SUNG CHI

(From the "New Book of Tang" 1 )

Li Po, surnamed Tai-po, is a descendant in the ninth generation from the emperor Hsing-sheng. His ancestor in the latter part of the Sui dynasty was for some wrong-doing exiled to the west barbarian land; but the family escaped and returned in the beginning of the Shen-lung era. They sojourned in Pa-hsi.

At the time of Po's birth his mother dreamed of the planet of Chang-keng, and because of this he was named after the star. At ten years of age he was versed in "the Odes" and "the History." When he was grown up, he hid himself in the Min Mountain, and would not re- spond though the province called for men of talent.

Su Ting became Governor of I-chou. On seeing Po, he wondered and said: "This lad is a genius, he is bril- liant and singular. If a little more learning be added, he may be compared with Hsiang-ju." But Po delighted in strategems of crisscross alliances, took to swordsman- ship, and to errantry, scorning riches but esteeming alms-giving.

Later he sojourned in Jen-cheng; and with Kung Chao-fu, Han Chun, Pei Cheng, Chang Shu-ming, and Tao-mien, dwelt in the Chu-lai Mountain, daily drinking

iThe "New Book of Tang" was finished in 1060 by Ou-yang Hsiu and Sung Chi. Sung Chi, who did all the biographies in this book died in 1061.

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