Transcendent

Lunch with AL.

I shall not elaborate here what we talked about. Just that on my way back to the hospital, a story of Li Bai (李白) flashed through my mind.

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I am sure very few of us would doubt Li Bai as one of the greatest poet in the history of China. In 742 AD, he was summoned to Chang'an (長安) by Emperor Li Longji (李隆基). In fact, Emperor Xuanzong (唐玄宗) was so impressed by the political view of our Poet Transcendent that Longji held a big banquet in Bai's honor. Li Bai served at the Hanlin Academy (翰林院) shortly afterwards.

You may ask, with his exceptional expertise in poetry and literature (Li Bai was born in Kyrgyzstan and could speak several languages of middle Asia), why didn't Emperor Xuanzong offered him a more senior position in the government - say, the Prime Minister?

Alas, if that's the case, I suppose the only political achievement of his would be waiving the taxation of wine and liquor in China, just like what a certain Henry did some twelve centuries later in our city!