早发白帝城

Culturally and historically, Baidi City, a strategic Yangtze River fortress with roots in the Three Kingdoms period, was an iconic stop for travelers in the Tang Dynasty (618–907), a golden age where poetry thrived under imperial patronage and widespread literary enthusiasm. The Yangtze was not merely a transportation route but a deep cultural symbol of life’s transient, ever-flowing journey, while ape cries, traditionally associated with melancholy and longing in classical Chinese verse, take on a dynamic, energizing tone here. Socially, the 755 An Lushan Rebellion had shattered the Tang Dynasty’s prosperity, and Li Bai, who had unwittingly allied with a rebel prince, was wrongfully exiled to the remote Yelang region. His sudden pardon in 759 marked a dramatic turning point in his life, and this poem was penned mid-voyage home, capturing his raw, unfiltered euphoria at regaining freedom. Li’s creative purpose was to immortalize this moment of liberation; artistically, he masterfully uses hyperbole (the bold claim of a thousand-mile journey completed in a single day), rhythmic brevity that mirrors the Yangtze’s swift current, and a deliberate subversion of traditional symbolic meanings to amplify his relief and renewed zest for life, blending personal emotional intensity with vivid natural imagery to craft a timeless work of romantic poetry.