On the Imagery and Connotation of the Moon in Li Bai's Poems

The legend, which says that the great poet Li Bai was born for his mother's dream of Venus and in his later years he drunkenly went into the river to seek the moon and died, shows the poet had an unquenchable passion for the moon. Among his 1000 poems, 336 are concerned with the moon imagery; more than 400 have some relations with the moon. In his poems, imagery of the moon is so rich; the connotation is so profound; the technique of expression is so outstanding; the artistry is so superb, that no other poets could parallel him. Li Bai had a great effect on the other ancient poets'(such as Liu Yuxi,Su Shi) chant poems on the moon. He also made a great contribution to the formation and development of the Chinese culture about the moon.