Editing Li Bai (section)

===Letters for political patronage===
A somewhat lesser known capital of Li Bai's life are the letters he wrote to various officials. In most of them, his aim was to seek political patronage. The famous letter to [[Han Jing Zhou]] (韩荆州) is maybe the most known example of his writing. Li Bai's style in his letters was very exaggerated, sometimes arrogant too. Contrary to what was the common practice at the time, I. e. self – depreciating tone for one's self and a praising tone for the candidate patron, Li Bai ornates his own personal image very vividly. Victor H. Mair translated some notable letters of Li Bai. An excerpt from the letter to Han Jing Zhou (与韩荆州书, pin yin: yǔ hán jīng zhōu shū), which Mair dates around 734 CE, illustrates Li Bai's perception of himself:<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Mair |first1=Victor |title=Li Po's Letters in Pursuit of Political Patronage |journal=Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies |date=1984 |volume=44 |issue=1 |page=130}}</ref>

''" At fifteen, I was fond of swordsmanship and ranged broadly in search of employ- ment [131] with various lords. At thirty, I became an accomplished litterateur and
contacted successively a number of high officers. Although I am not quite a six- footer I am braver than ten thousand men. Princes, dukes, and high ministers admit that I have moral courage and high principles. This, then, has been my
past spiritual biography. How could I venture not to explain it fully to Your
Lordship ?"''