why is li bai's silent night thoughts famous?

Question

here is the poem in english
-night thoughts
i wake up and moonbeams play around my bed
glittering like hoarfroast to my wondering eyes
uowards the glourious moon i raise my head
then lay me down and thoughts of home arise

Answer 1

You have to remember that Li Bai (also known as Li Po or Li Pai) lived between 701-762 AD in the "prosperous Tang" period of the Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD). This was considered the "peak" period of Chinese poetry with almost 50,000 poems created by 60 poets (do the math). Most poems were five to seven words per line.

Li Bai was given the title of 'Heavenly Poet' (shih-xian) by the people and is considered the most influential and famous poet in Chinese history. His poems are romantic in style, using hyperbolic language and imagery without making it seem excessive, and are otherwise passionate and imaginative. His poems cover a wide range of topics, including politics, nature, social issues.

A more direct translation of his poem "Thoughts in the Silent Night" (Jing Ye si) would be as follows:

"The moon shines brightly above my bed,
Frost is on the ground.
Lifting my head up to the sky and see the bright moon,
I think of my hometown as i lower my head

You can see by these two similar, but different translations, the problem associated with translating a poetic work, but you can also see the beauty of poetry as it still paints a similar picture. What you need to know is the wandering nature of the poets of the time. Imagine, to wake up and see "frost" on the floor beside your bed...what does that tell you about where he's sleeping? The moon that he sees is there because there is no "roof" over his head...again, what does that tell you about where he's sleeping? And finally, it makes him think about his home, or hometown as he lays back down to sleep. What does that tell you about how he feels? Here is a lonely wandering poet, sleeping outside with frost on the ground, not sure about where he's going, but missing where he's been and what he sees as his home...yet he still was able to see and appreciate the beauty of the moonlight playing off the frost. What does that tell you about his heart and the way he looks at life?

The ability to convey that much information in so few words is the essence of poetry...which is why he's probably the most famous poet in Chinese history, at least of that time.

Hope this answers your question :)

Answer 2

Quiet Night Thoughts

Answer 3

Kevin S. hit this one on the head. No one else need apply.