Talk:Li Bai

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[edit] Spelling

I've changed all the references to "Li Po"; I'd prefer "Li Bai", but we need to be consistent. --Markalexander100 03:54, 22 Feb 2004 (UTC)

Actually, I prefer "Li Bo". Spencer195 08:40, 18 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Better than Li Po. :) Markalexander100 08:51, 18 Mar 2004 (UTC)

The narrator of the movie at the China pavilion at Epcot seems to be saying "Li Bao." ♥ «Charles A. L.» 19:34, May 4, 2004 (UTC)

You probably heard Li Bai. That's what I've always heard in Taiwan as well. --Menchi 20:10, 4 May 2004 (UTC)

i strongly propose a name change of this article to "Li Bai". Wade-Giles was previously used because the Chinese lacked a unified system of transliterate their language to English. But with the establishment of pinyin, the problem has been solved and we should stick to that. Objections anyone? --Plastictv 20:00, 31 Mar 2005 (UTC)

this is a no-brainer, I moved the page. LG-犬夜叉 00:37, Apr 1, 2005 (UTC)

Thank you :) --Plastictv 06:02, 2 Apr 2005 (UTC)

I've (1) added 'Li Po' to the top as this is the name the poet is traditionally known by in English; (2) added an explanation of why Li Po is no longer used -- and this is not simply a matter of Wade Giles. If you would check a few sources, you would find that bó is a 读音 reading of 白; (3) removed the Simplified Chinese/Traditional Chinese character pairs since the two are identical here anyway. The result, I hope, is to clean up the clutter at the head of the article and to reassure people who are used to Li Po that they are not somehow politically incorrect and explain why his name has been changed.

Bathrobe 02:26, 6 May 2005 (UTC)

PLEAESPLEASE leave 'Li Po' in a highly visible place. I don't know any-thing about Chinese, but I know I love (the English translations of) Li Po's poetry. I want to be able to find him without puzzling through some text.

 I think it should just be Li Bai. You could mention that he's also known as li po, or li bo, but li bai is more used.- An outsider.

[edit] Mercury & homeland

I also toned down the mercury poisoning theory less forceful- I think it's one theory rather than generally accepted. Similarly with his birthplace- as far as I know, it's most likely that he was somewhere further west than modern Sichuan. Markalexander100 03:54, 22 Feb 2004 (UTC)

[edit] Influence

Firstly, Wikipedia:Avoid_weasel_terms. Saying he was influential just repeats the intro. Markalexander100 08:30, 18 Mar 2004 (UTC)

Question: Why are the Chinese characters in bold? I haven't seen many other pages that practice this, and, frankly, it makes the characters slightly (not badly, but still) difficult to read. --Golbez 06:43, 12 Apr 2004 (UTC)

Yeah, it's difficult to read. Changed. --Menchi 06:57, 12 Apr 2004 (UTC)

The Influence section is completely Eurocentric. TheEvilPanda 14:50, 19 September 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Wade-Giles

i'm very inclined to entirely remove the table of different versions of Li Bai's name on the right. However, i'm kept from doing so because many Western audiences are more familiar with his Wade-Giles name "Li Po" or "Li Pai" rather than his pinyin name. Suggestions anyone? --Plastictv 06:29, 2 Apr 2005 (UTC)

I think you're going too far. Pretty much every page about a historical Chinese figure has a section called "Names" listing the many ways to transliterate the name of that person. It can't be helped. There's no real reason to remove it though, it doesn't do any harm to have all the other names listed for posterity. Wikipedia doesn't charge by the page. --Carl 03:16, 3 Apr 2005 (UTC)

You definitely should not remove that information. Wikipedia articles on Chinese figure provide all major transliterations of names. —Lowellian (reply) 19:37, 4 October 2005 (UTC)

[edit] Alcoholic

A link has rfecently been added to alcoholics. Other than his alcohol-related death, is there any reason to consider Li Po an alcoholic? Kdammers 01:22, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

None whatsoever. Mark ¹ 11:31, 11 January 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Middle Chinese

It is my tentative suggestion that Li Bai (and all the Tang and Song Chinese figures) should also include the Middle Chinese of at least their accepted popular name. A good system to follow (if it is not plagarism) would be Hugh M. Stimson's transcriptions in his 1976 Tang Poetic Vocablary. This system renders Li Bai as Lǐ Bhæk. DMC 02:12, 16 February 2006 (UTC)

It's hard to be accurate on those though. AQu01rius (User | Talk | Websites) 22:25, 8 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] martial artist?

I read from somewhere that he traveled around with a sword on his hip (and that he can do a sword dancing or something) and wine on one hand. Not to mention a tv series and novel showing him like a kungfu master :\

Not really. He described in a poem how he was dedicated to fencing when he was 15, and killed several people. That doesn't make him a martial artist. AQu01rius (User | Talk | Websites) 22:22, 8 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] etymology

the intro should only pertain to a summarization of this figure. A separate section should be added for the etymology of his name.

63.229.221.138 01:21, 3 December 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Texts

I added some links to poems with English translation available online. I know Wikipedia isn't a link repository, but surely it's useful to be able to read a selection of his poems. Kaicarver 14:35, 30 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] "Ling" Po?

Is his name ever mistranslated in the west as "Ling" Po? I just saw an old Harold Lloyd movie called The Cat's-Paw which makes frequent references to a "Ling Po" which I believe is a corruption of Li Po, but am not sure.--Silverscreen 16:04, 19 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Translators?

I haven't been able to find the source of the translation in this article. Is it original work by one of the article's editors?Easchiff 06:05, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Alternative Translation

I've added an alternative translation of one of Li Po's poems. source: http://www.poetrystore.com/lipo.html Intranetusa 02:47, 2 July 2007 (UTC)

It's a good translation. However, this translation, and also the one that was already in the article, both need references (in the main article - not the discussion page) that indicate who the translator is, where the translation was published, etc.; this is a Wikipedia policy (see WP:Citing Sources). If you can find this information (the web-reference you give doesn't have it either), please just delete the unreferenced one that's been in the article so far.Easchiff 21:18, 2 July 2007 (UTC)

OK; the translation you used is Arthur Waley's. I've added the reference to the article, deleted the unsourced translation, and uploaded Waley's translations for three of Li Bai's poems with the same title "Drinking Alone by Moonlight" to Wikisource.Easchiff 20:32, 3 July 2007 (UTC)

[edit] The Epcot pavilion sentence

Can someone please fix the sentence? It can't possibly be Li Bai himself. Xiner (talk) 02:03, 27 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Source Needed/ POV

"As a result, his poems flow spontaneously and effortlessly, like the river running to the ocean – it is simply unstoppable." --- this line should not exist in this article unless it is from a notable critic. I will change it for the moment being until the author has a chance to cite the source. THanks Mrathel 13:55, 19 October 2007 (UTC)

Also, these sentences will be removed:

his poems, Li Bai tried to avoid the use of obscure words and historical references. Unlike other ancient Chinese poets such as Du Fu, Li Bai had no need to prove himself to the public; instead, he could afford to concentrate on communicating his genuine feelings to the readers. His ability to create extraordinary out of ordinary was an unusual gift among his contemporaries, and was most likely the reason why he was considered the "Poem-God

1. Why does Du Fu feel the need to prove himself to the public, and can you give evidence that shows that Li Bai had no need to do so. Maybe there is a good explanation for this, but I fail to see it, and if it exists, it needs to be referenced.

2. "communicating his genuine feelings to the readers." how can the editor know which feelings of Li Bai's were genuine and which were not.

3. "his ability to create the extraordinary out of the ordinary was an unusual gift among his contemporaries," -- Can you expand on exactly how his contemporaries lacked the gift of extraordinaryating?

-- I will give some time for a reply then I will remove the text and replace it with less POV material. Mrathel (talk) 13:44, 28 May 2008 (UTC)

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