Editing Li Bai (section)

===Early years===
In 705, when Li Bai was four years old, his father secretly moved his family to [[Sichuan]], near [[Chengdu]], where he spent his childhood.<ref name="Wu, 58">Wu, 58</ref> Currently, there is a monument commemorating this in [[Zhongba Town]], [[Jiangyou]], Sichuan province (the area of the modern province known then as Shu, after a former independent state which had been annexed by the Sui dynasty and later incorporated into the Tang dynasty lands). The young Li spent most of his growing years in [[Qinglian, Jiangyou|Qinglian]] (青莲; lit. "Blue [also translated as 'green', 'azure', or 'nature-coloured'] Lotus"), a town in Chang-ming County, Sichuan, China.<ref name="Sun, 20"/> This now nominally corresponds with Qinglian Town (青蓮鎮) of [[Jiangyou]] [[County-level city]], in [[Sichuan]].

The young Li read extensively, including [[Confucian classics]] such as ''[[Book of Songs (Chinese)|The Classic of Poetry (Shijing)]]'' and the ''[[Book of History|Classic of History (Shujing)]]'', as well as various astrological and metaphysical materials which Confucians tended to eschew, though he disdained to take the literacy exam.<ref name="Wu, 58"/> Reading the "Hundred Authors" was part of the family literary tradition, and he was also able to compose poetry before he was ten.<ref name="Sun, 20"/> The young Li also engaged in other activities, such as taming wild birds and fencing.<ref name="Wu, 58"/> His other activities included riding, hunting, traveling, and aiding the poor or oppressed by means of both money and arms.<ref name="Sun, 20"/> Eventually, the young Li seems to have become quite skilled in [[swordsmanship]]; as this autobiographical quote by Li himself both testifies to and also helps to illustrate the wild life that he led in the Sichuan of his youth:

{{Blockquote|"When I was fifteen, I was fond of sword play, and with that art I challenged quite a few great men."<ref>Wu, 58. Translation by Wu. Note that by [[East Asian age reckoning]], this would be fourteen rather than fifteen years old.</ref>}}

Before he was twenty, Li had fought and killed several men, apparently for reasons of [[chivalry]], in accordance with the knight-errant tradition (''[[youxia]]'').<ref name="Wu, 58"/>

In 720, he was interviewed by Governor Su Ting, who considered him a genius. Though he expressed a wish to become an official, he never took the [[Chinese civil service examination|civil service examination]].