40 Facts About Bai Juyi

Bai Juyi, courtesy name Letian, was a Chinese musician, poet, and politician during the Tang dynasty.

Bai Juyi achieved fame as a writer of verse in a low-key, near vernacular style that was popular throughout medieval East Asia.

Bai Juyi's younger brother Bai Xingjian was a short story writer.

Bai Juyi lived through the reigns of eight or nine emperors, being born in the Dali regnal era of Emperor Daizong of Tang.

Bai Juyi had a long and successful career both as a government official and a poet, although these two facets of his career seemed to have come in conflict with each other at certain points.

Bai Juyi was born in 772 in Taiyuan, Shanxi, which was then located a few miles from the modern city, although he was in Zhengyang, Henan for most of his childhood.

Bai Juyi's family was poor but scholarly, his father being an Assistant Department Magistrate of the second-class.

Bai Juyi went to live with relatives in the area known as Jiangnan, more specifically Xuzhou.

Bai Juyi's education was delayed by seven years due to his father's death.

Bai Juyi was made a member of the Hanlin Academy, in 807, and Reminder of the Left from 807 until 815, except when in 811 his mother died, and he spent the traditional three-year mourning period again along the Wei River, before returning to court in the winter of 814, where he held the title of Assistant Secretary to the Prince's Tutor.

Bai Juyi made enemies at court and with certain individuals in other positions.

Bai Juyi wrote two long memorials, translated by Arthur Waley as "On Stopping the War", regarding what he considered to be an overly lengthy campaign against a minor group of Tatars; and he wrote a series of poems, in which he satirized the actions of greedy officials and highlighting the sufferings of the common folk.

Bai Juyi was demoted to the rank of Sub-Prefect and banished from the court and the capital city to Jiujiang, then known as Xun Yang, on the southern shores of the Yangtze River in northwest Jiangxi Province.

Bai Juyi was delighted by the flowers and trees for which his new location was noted.

In 819, Bai Juyi was recalled to the capital and given the position of second-class Assistant Secretary.

Again, Bai Juyi wrote a series of memorials in remonstrance.

Again, Bai Juyi was sent away from the court and the capital, but this time to the important position of the thriving town of Hangzhou, which was at the southern terminus of the Grand Canal and located in the scenic neighborhood of West Lake.

Bai Juyi ordered the construction of a stronger and taller dike, with a dam to control the flow of water, thus providing water for irrigation, relieving the drought, and improving the livelihood of the local people over the following years.

Bai Juyi used his leisure time to enjoy the beauty of West Lake, visiting the lake almost every day.

Bai Juyi ordered the construction of a causeway to allow walking on foot, instead of requiring the services of a boat.

In 825, at age 53, Bai Juyi was given the position of Governor of Suzhou, situated on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and on the shores of Lake Tai.

In 832, Bai Juyi repaired an unused part of the Xiangshan Monastery, at Longmen, about 7.5 miles south of Luoyang.

Bai Juyi moved to this location, and began to refer to himself as the "Hermit of Xiangshan".

In 846, Bai Juyi died, leaving instructions for a simple burial in a grave at the monastery, with a plain style funeral, and to not have a posthumous title conferred upon him.

Bai Juyi has a tomb monument in Longmen, situated on Xiangshan across the Yi River from the Longmen cave temples in the vicinity of Luoyang, Henan.

Bai Juyi has been known for his plain, direct, and easily comprehensible style of verse, as well as for his social and political criticism.

Bai Juyi collected his writings in the anthology called the Bai Zhi Wen Ji.

One of the most prolific of the Tang poets, Bai Juyi wrote over 2,800 poems, which he had copied and distributed to ensure their survival.

The accessibility of Bai Juyi's poems made them extremely popular in his lifetime, in both China and Japan, and they continue to be read in these countries today.

Bai Juyi wrote intensely romantic poems to fellow officials with whom he studied and traveled.

One friend, Yu Shunzhi, sent Bai a bolt of cloth as a gift from a far-off posting, and Bai Juyi debated on how best to use the precious material:.

Bai Juyi's works were highly renowned in Japan, and many of his poems were quoted and referenced in The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu.

Bai Juyi was known for his interest in the old yuefu form of poetry, which was a typical form of Han poetry, namely folk ballad verses, collected or written by the Music Bureau.

Bai Juyi is known for his well-written poems in the regulated verse style.

In those two poems of Bai Juyi reflected the situation of political and culture in the middle Tang dynasty after the An Lushan Rebellion, and he was concerned that the popularity of foreign music could lead the Tang society into chaos.

The pipa in the poems of Bai Juyi represents the expression of love, the action of communicating, and especially the poet's feelings on listening to music.

Bai Juyi is considered one of the greatest Chinese poets, but even during the ninth century, sharp divide in critical opinions of his poetry already existed.

Bai Juyi was criticized for his "carelessness and repetitiveness", especially his later works.

Bai Juyi was nevertheless placed by Tang poet Zhang Wei in his Schematic of Masters and Followers Among the Poets at the head of his first category: "extensive and grand civilizing power".

Bai Juyi is one of the main characters of the 2017 Chinese fantasy film Legend of the Demon Cat, where he is portrayed by Huang Xuan.