Editing Li Bai (section)

===Fantastic imagery===
An important characteristic of Li Bai's poetry "is the fantasy and note of childlike wonder and playfulness that pervade so much of it".<ref name="Watson, 142"/> Burton Watson attributes this to a fascination with the [[Taoist priest]], [[Taoist]] recluses who practiced alchemy and austerities in the mountains, in the aim of becoming [[Xian (Taoism)|xian]], or immortal beings.<ref name="Watson, 142"/> There is a strong element of Taoism in his works, both in the sentiments they express and in their spontaneous tone, and "many of his poems deal with mountains, often descriptions of ascents that midway modulate into journeys of the imagination, passing from actual mountain scenery to visions of nature deities, immortals, and 'jade maidens' of Taoist lore".<ref name="Watson, 142"/> Watson sees this as another affirmation of Li Bai's affinity with the past, and a continuity with the traditions of the [[Chuci]] and the early [[Fu (literature)|fu]].<ref name="Watson, 143"/> Watson finds this "element of fantasy" to be behind Li Bai's use of [[hyperbole]] and the "playful personifications" of mountains and celestial objects.<ref name="Watson, 143"/>