Editing Li Bai (section)

===Surviving texts and editing===
Even Li Bai and Du Fu, the two most famous and most comprehensively edited Tang poets, were affected by the destruction of the imperial Tang libraries and the loss of many private collections in the periods of turmoil ([[An Lushan Rebellion]] and [[Huang Chao]] Rebellion). Although many of Li Bai's poems have survived, even more were lost and there is difficulty regarding variant texts. One of the earliest endeavors at editing Li Bai's work was by his relative [[Li Yangbing]], the magistrate of [[Dangtu]], with whom he stayed in his final years and to whom he entrusted his manuscripts. However, the most reliable texts are not necessarily in the earliest editions. Song dynasty scholars produced various editions of his poetry, but it was not until the Qing dynasty that such collections as the ''[[Complete Tang Poems]]'' made the most comprehensive studies of the then surviving texts.<ref>Paul Kroll, "Poetry of the T'ang Dynasty," in [[Victor H. Mair]], ed., ''The Columbia History of Chinese Literature.'' (New York: Columbia University Press,  2001). {{ISBN|0-231-10984-9}}), pp. 278–282, section "The Sources and Their Limitations" describes this history.</ref>