Li Bai [or Li Po or Li Bo or Rihaku]

The Chinese poet Li Bai (sometimes written as Li Po, Li Bo, or Rihaku), who lived during the T'ang dynasty, was born in what is now the Sichuan province. Most authorities believe that he was a Taoist. Li Bai's unconcern

You Ask Why

by Li Bai [or Li Po or Li Bo or Rihaku] (701–762)

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2<author>
3  <person id="7065" sex="1" role="author">
4    <name>
5      <lastname>
6        Li Bai [
7        <i>or</i>
8        Li Po
9        <i>or</i>
10        Li Bo
11        <i>or</i>
12        Rihaku]
13      </lastname>
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15    <life-events>
16      <date ty="birth" circa="false" suffix="ad">701</date>
17      <date ty="death" circa="false" suffix="ad">762</date>
18      <text-value>(701–762)</text-value>
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21  </person>
22</author>
23

You ask why I make my home in the mountain forest,

and I smile, and am silent,

and even my soul remains quiet:

it lives in the other world

which no one owns.

The peach trees blossom.

The water flows.

Click here for complete poem