Li Ke is the father of the poet Li Bai. His life story is not accurately recorded, and his birth and death are unknown.

Introduction:

Some people have researched why Li Bai's father Li Ke "escaped to Shu" or "hidden back to Guanghan". If the country and family were destroyed and he fled to a foreign land, then He should have returned to his place of origin a long time ago; if he was exiled to a distant place because he violated the criminal law, there would be no need to "sneak back to Guanghan" after more than a hundred years.

This makes people speculate that perhaps there was a more direct reason that prompted Li Bai's father to "escape" and "sneak back" to the Daba Mountains, which in turn made Li Bai have a flicker of his family background. His words made it impossible for future generations to truly understand the life experience of this great poet.

Origin of the name:

The inscription written for him by Fan Chuanzheng, the son of Li Bai's good friend, revealed that Li Bai's father was named Li Ke. Unfortunately, the name was not specified. Fan Chuanzheng's "Preface to the Tombstone of Li Gongxin, a Hanlin Scholar from the Tang Dynasty" said that Li Bai's father was called Li Ke, saying: "The guest was a bum, so he was named after the guest." Lying high in the cloud forest, I don't ask for a salary or official position.

From this passage, it is difficult for people to see Li Ke’s true face. However, researchers also drew their own portraits of Li Ke from this passage.

Mystery of life experience:

Sinner

Mr. Chen Yinke believed in "Questions about the Li Taibai Clan" that Fan Chuanzheng said, "Guests want to invade their own towns, so they "In the name of customers" is not convincing. Mr. Chen said that the reason why Li Bai's father was a famous guest was because "people from the Western Regions had names that were not commonly used in China, so they called them foreigners." Here, Mr. Chen based his theory on the fact that Li Bai’s ancestors were descendants of the Hu people from the Western Regions. Mr. Chen also said that Li Bai's ancestors were exiled to the Western Regions because of their crimes. ?

Mr. Guo Moruo disagreed with Mr. Chen in his book "Li Bai and Du Fu". He believes that a careful examination of the texts about Li Bai's family history (such as Fan Chuanzheng's "Preface to the Tombstone of Li Gongxin" and Li Yangbing's "Preface to the Thatched Cottage Collection") shows that there is no fact that Li Bai's ancestors were exiled to the Western Regions for crimes.

Hermit

How to interpret the word "苋" in the "Preface to Li Gongxin's Tombstone" quoted by Fan Chuanzheng? People today have different views. Literally, "Bu" is usually interpreted as "escape". The so-called "Buke" means "a fugitive".

Mr. Jiang said that although Li Bai’s ancestors have lived in the Western Regions for several generations, the Chinese cultural traditions have not been lost. Li Bai’s father Li Ke was a hermit with high cultural accomplishment. In the early days of Shenlong (705 AD), he returned to Guanghan, "because his family was in Mian" and "living high in the cloud forest, not seeking official salary". The style of "releasing one's status" he showed was not "accommodating a knight", but See through the world of mortals and indulge in the mountains and rivers.

Li Ke later moved his family back to Sichuan from the Western Regions for this reason. Li Ke devoted all his efforts to the education of his children in seclusion. From Li Bai's later autobiography, it can be seen that Li Ke was a man of noble moral character, profound knowledge, and strict education for his children.

Landlord

In the article "Questions about Li Taibai's Clan", Mr. Chen Yinke said that although Li Bai's ancestors were "relegated for crimes", he also said that they were "Hu merchants". In his book "Li Bai and Du Fu", although Mr. Guo Moruo refuted Chen Yinke's statement that Li Bai's ancestors were "barbarians from the Western Regions", he also determined that "Li Ke must have been a wealthy businessman"; and he was also "a merchant and landlord".

Mr. Guo Moruo said that the Li family's commercial scale is quite large. It has two villages in the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze River. On the one hand, it transports the products of Bashu to Wu Chu, and on the other hand, it sells the products of Wu Chu. The products are shipped to Bashu.

It is also said that Li Bai's name is "Li Twelve", which shows that Li Bai's brothers have a large family, which proves that "Li Ke must be a wealthy businessman, otherwise he would not be able to carry so many "People travel long distances"; it is also said that Li Bai's family was engaged in business, which can also be found in Li Bai's works.

Famous scholars who have similar views to Mr. Guo Moruo include Wang Yao, Zhan Ying, Mai Chaoshu, etc.

Xia Ke

There is such a description in Qing Dynasty scholar Wang Qi's "Li Taibai Chronicle":

"Du Shi Supplement" says: Fan Chuanzheng's "Li Bai's New Tombstone" "Preface" says that Bai Benzong's son first lived in Shuzhiming to avoid his enemies.

Comparing the above-mentioned Li Ke's "exile" theory, "hermit" theory, and "merchant landlord" theory, we believe that Li Ke's "chivalrous man" theory put forward by Mr. An Qi is more consistent with the records of Li Bai's life experience and Li Bai’s own temperament, words and deeds.

It is conceivable that Li Bai's good chivalry was not only influenced by the world's customs at that time, but also had a close relationship with his chivalrous father.

Extended information:

Various theories on Li Bai's life experience

The first person to mention this was Yu Shao, the governor of Zizhou in the Tang Dynasty. He was the first to erect a monument in Li Bai's hometown. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, Cao Xuequan's "Records of Scenic Spots in Sichuan" contains the content of the inscription: "The son of Bai Benzong, he first fled to Shu, and lived in Shu in Mingming, Taibai was born in Yan." The next person to mention this was Du Tian from the Song Dynasty.

Only in contemporary times, "China Youth Daily" published "The Mystery of Li Bai's Life Experience" on July 28, 1985, paraphrasing Taiwanese scholar Luo Xianglin's opinion: Li Bai was after Li Jiancheng. Han Weilu wrote an article in 1988 titled "An Explanation of Li Bai's "Fifth Generation as a Commoner" Should Be Li Jiancheng's Great-great-grandson" to argue that Li Bai was a member of the Tang clan and Li Jiancheng's great-great-grandson.

Xu Benli, who held the same view, published "Li Bai is the fifth grandson of Li Yuan" in 1990 and also believed that Li Bai should be the twelfth grandson of King Liangwuzhao, the seventh grandson of Taizu Li Hu, and the fifth grandson of Gaozu Li Yuan. The grandson and the prince became the great-great-grandson.

And Zhu Qiude's "On Li Bai's Clan Complex and Its Influence on Various Elements of Life" ("Silk Road Academic Journal" Issue 4, 1997) also made a detailed analysis of Li Bai's life experience and various elements of his life. A comprehensive inspection and evaluation is carried out in order to get closer to the original appearance of history.

Li Bai's researchers mainly cite Li Yangbing's "Preface to the Thatched Cottage Collection" and Fan Chuanzheng's "Combined Preface to the Tombstone of Li Gongxin, a Hanlin Scholar in the Collection of Tang Zuo". Li Yangbing's "Preface to the Thatched Cottage Collection" was written at the same time as Li Bai, and the details of his life experience were probably dictated by Li Bai. When Fan Chuanzheng was writing the "Preface", Li Bai's granddaughter accompanied Fan and presided over the move of his grandfather's tomb.

Baidu Encyclopedia—Li Ke