Eastward by riverside tower the waters flow;
Spring, lazy and weary, leans on breeze soft and slow.
A cluster of peach blossoms run riot, no master nigh.
Which do you prefer, tell me, the deep or the shy?
Original Poem
「江畔独步寻花 · 其五」
杜甫
黄师塔前江水东，春光懒困倚微风。
桃花一簇开无主，可爱深红爱浅红？
Interpretation
This work is from Du Fu's suite of poems Song of the Eight Immortals of the Cup (《饮中八仙歌》), likely composed around 746 CE during the Tianbao era of Emperor Xuanzong. At that time, Li Bai had concluded his brief tenure as an Academician-in-Waiting at court and had left Chang'an under the pretext of being "granted gold and sent home." Du Fu, newly arrived in the capital, witnessed the unrestrained revelry of the nobility and literati—figures like He Zhizhang, Li Jin, Li Shizhi, and Cui Zongzhi—in the final act of the High Tang's golden age. The eight "Immortals of Wine" in the poem serve as the most vivid spiritual cross-section of that era's ethos. Li Bai, featured as the climactic figure, receives the most vivid and concentrated brushstrokes. In just four lines, Du Fu creates both an affectionate sketch of his friend's character and an elegiac portrait of the unique spirit of freedom that defined an age.
First Couplet: “李白一斗诗百篇，长安市上酒家眠。”
Lǐ Bái yī dǒu shī bǎi piān, Cháng'ān shì shàng jiǔ jiā mián.
With a single gallon of wine, Li Bai could write a hundred poems; / In the taverns of Chang'an's markets, drunk, he'd find his homes.
These opening lines outline Li Bai's two defining traits through a striking contrast: his unparalleled creative power and his untrammeled way of life. "A hundred poems with a single gallon of wine" is a supreme artistic hyperbole, yet it perfectly captures Li Bai's unique creative process where wine did not dull but catalyzed an eruption of inspiration. "Drunk, he'd find his homes in Chang'an's markets" pulls this poetic genius from the halls of power back into the common city streets. His chosen stage was not the imperial banquet but the bustling, cosmopolitan taverns of Chang'an's Western Market, where foreign merchants and ordinary folk mingled. To sleep off his drunkenness there meant immersing his creativity and his very life in the raw, vibrant humanity of the world. This was a transcendence of the traditional scholar's elegant gatherings and, in the posture of bodily inebriation, a gentle rebellion against conventional propriety.
Second Couplet: “天子呼来不上船，自称臣是酒中仙。”
Tiānzǐ hū lái bú shàng chuán, zì chēng chén shì jiǔ zhōng xiān.
Summoned by the Son of Heaven, he'd not board the royal barge; / "Your servant," he proclaimed, "is an immortal born of the wine-vat's charge."
This couplet elevates the poem's dramatic conflict and its spiritual statement to their peak. Emperor Xuanzong, enjoying a pleasure cruise on the Xingqing Palace pond, summoned Li Bai to compose poetry—the highest honor most literati could dream of. Li Bai's response, however, was "he'd not board the royal barge"—an act of refusal enabled by drunkenness ("could not") but rooted equally in proud independence ("would not"). Even more brilliant is his self-proclamation: "Your servant… is an immortal born of the wine-vat." The word "servant" formally acknowledges the sovereign-subject hierarchy, but the phrase "immortal born of the wine-vat" instantly achieves a spiritual transcendence and equality with imperial authority. Assuming the carefree identity of a Daoist transcendent, he placed himself on a par with the human emperor, transforming a potential act of subservient court poetry into a declaration of independent selfhood. This "drunkenness as a shield" represents a masterful balance between unbridled behavior and political savvy.
Holistic Appreciation
Although merely a fragment from a larger suite, this work stands as a complete and radiant jewel. With a novelist's economy of detail, Du Fu uses only four lines and twenty-eight characters to paint an immortal spiritual portrait of Li Bai. The structure is exquisite: the first two lines depict his "earthly abandon"—drinking, sleeping, and creating amidst the common crowd, full of raw vitality and grounded energy. The latter two lines depict his "transcendent pride"—maintaining distance from supreme power through drunkenness and defending his spiritual autonomy by declaring himself an "immortal." This contrast between the "earthly" and the "heavenly" perfectly outlines the dual nature of Li Bai as the "Banished Immortal": deeply attached to the worldly pleasures of wine and revelry, yet always maintaining an aloof pride toward secular authority.
On a deeper level, Du Fu captures and crystallizes the essential spirit of High Tang culture: an overflowing self-confidence, an assertion of individuality, and the immense tension in pursuing spiritual freedom within the confines of order. Li Bai's image thus becomes the ultimate, most romantic symbol of the High Tang ethos.
Artistic Merits
- Fusion of Epic Scope and Graphic Vignette: Du Fu's suite aims to chronicle an era's spirit by profiling the "Eight Immortals." In portraying Li Bai specifically, he selects highly dramatic, visual scenes—"sleeping in a tavern" and "refusing the royal barge"—much like a master cartoonist who captures the essence with a few telling strokes.
- Spiritual Tension Through Paradoxical Rhetoric: The contradiction between "summoned by the Son of Heaven" and "would not board" constitutes a paradox of action. The contradiction between "Your servant" (a worldly identity) and "an immortal born of the wine-vat" (a transcendent identity) constitutes a paradox of self-perception. These very paradoxes concentrate the charm of Li Bai's personality and the wisdom of his existence, which Du Fu captures and presents with precision.
- Integration of the Common and the Sublime: The poem places Li Bai in the common space of "Chang'an's markets," yet through his talent for "a hundred poems" and his proclamation as an "immortal," elevates his image to a sublime spiritual plane. This ability to ascend from the streets to the heavens demonstrates Du Fu's supreme power of artistic synthesis.
Insights
The image of Li Bai in these four lines provides an eternal mirror for all who seek spiritual freedom and personal integrity. His "drunkenness" was not an escape but a unique form of clarity; his "abandon" was not indecorum but an outward manifestation of inner dignity.
In contemporary society, we may no longer face summons from an "Son of Heaven," yet we are constantly subject to various visible and invisible pressures of conformity and performance. Li Bai's posture as an "immortal born of the wine-vat" teaches us that true freedom lies not necessarily in total rebellion, but in building an inviolable inner sanctuary while engaging deeply with reality. He shows us how to preserve a bottom line within compromise, to maintain a detachment of spirit within worldly involvement, and to define the value of life through our own "poems" (be they literary, artistic, or any passionate endeavor) rather than by external measures alone.
Ultimately, this work reminds us that a truly great age is one that can accommodate and illuminate such untamed and brilliant souls. The value of Du Fu's masterpiece lies precisely in using a poet's heart to understand and eternally commemorate the soul of another poet, which shone as brightly as a star.
Poem translator
Xu Yuanchong (许渊冲)
About the poet
Du Fu (杜甫), 712 - 770 AD, was a great poet of the Tang Dynasty, known as the "Sage of Poetry". Born into a declining bureaucratic family, Du Fu had a rough life, and his turbulent and dislocated life made him keenly aware of the plight of the masses. Therefore, his poems were always closely related to the current affairs, reflecting the social life of that era in a more comprehensive way, with profound thoughts and a broad realm. In his poetic art, he was able to combine many styles, forming a unique style of "profound and thick", and becoming a great realist poet in the history of China.
