Editing Li Bai (section)

===Poetic tradition===
[[File:A Painting of Li Bai with his poetry.jpg|thumb|A painting of Li Bai with his poetry shown]]
Li Bai had a strong sense of himself as being part of a poetic tradition. The "genius" of Li Bai, says one recent account, "lies at once in his total command of the literary tradition before him and his ingenuity in bending (without breaking) it to discover a uniquely personal idiom..."<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}}), p.  296.</ref> [[Burton Watson]], comparing him to Du Fu, says Li's poetry, "is essentially backward-looking, that it represents more a revival and fulfillment of past promises and glory than a foray into the future."<ref name="Watson, 141">Watson, 141</ref> Watson adds, as evidence, that of all the poems attributed to Li Bai, about one sixth are in the form of ''[[yuefu]]'', or, in other words, reworked lyrics from traditional folk ballads.<ref>Watson, 141–142</ref> As further evidence, Watson cites the existence of a fifty-nine poem collection by Li Bai entitled ''Gu Feng'', or ''In the Old Manner'', which is, in part, tribute to the poetry of the Han and Wei dynasties.<ref name="Watson, 142">Watson, 142</ref> His admiration for certain particular poets is also shown through specific allusions, for example to [[Qu Yuan]] or [[Tao Yuanming]], and occasionally by name, for example Du Fu.

A more general appreciation for history is shown on the part of Li Bai in his poems of the ''[[Huaigu (poetry)|huaigu]]'' genre,<ref>Watson, 145</ref> or meditations on the past, wherein following "one of the perennial themes of Chinese poetry", "the poet contemplates the ruins of past glory".<ref>Watson, 88</ref>