Did Concubine Yang really wear boots for Li Bai?

Since ancient times, people have talked about some stories that happened to Li Bai, a romantic poet. For example, one of the four beauties in ancient times, Yang Guifei, studied ink for him, and Gao Lishi, a prominent figure in the prosperous Tang Dynasty, studied for him. He took off his boots, but such stories are too legendary, and people can't help but doubt the authenticity of the story. Does Li Bai really have such a great reputation?

The first confirmed legend is that Yang Guifei studied ink for him instead of putting on his boots. It was Gao Lishi who took off his boots. Next, let’s talk about Li Bai’s face issue.

Looking through the "New Book of Tang: Biography of Gao Lishi", the record of Gao Lishi is that "Suzong was in the East Palace, his brother was Lishi, and his king and princess called him Weng", while Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty himself " Or call him general without his name." How could Li Bai, who had just arrived in Chang'an for the first time in Chang'an, humiliate such a prominent figure in public, for whom the prince called him brother, the prince and princess called him (the older generation), and the emperor did not call him by his first name? Such an approach will only show that Li Bai has too low emotional intelligence and may even not be able to interact with others at all.

Looking at the deeds of Concubine Yang, the problem becomes even more obvious. Yang Yuhuan was originally the concubine of the longevity king Li Hao. Later, she was favored by Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty. He first made her a Taoist priest, and then, in Tianbao Si Zai (745 AD) returned to secular life from a Taoist priest and was canonized as a noble concubine. As for Li Bai, in the third year of Tianbao, he had been "given gold and returned" by Emperor Xuanzong of the Tang Dynasty, and left Chang'an! Therefore, there is no way to talk about Concubine Yang's grinding. This shows how unbelievable such a story is.

However, there are similar records in the authoritative official history. "New Book of Tang·Li Bai Biography" says:

"(Li) Bai was drunk in the market with drinkers. The emperor was sitting in the agarwood pavilion. He felt something and wanted to get Bai as a piece of music. He called him in. But Bai was already drunk, with his eyes on the left and right, and he was writing a poem, which was graceful and precise, without thinking about it. The emperor loved his talent, so he served the emperor for several banquets. When he was drunk, he made Gao Lishi take off his boots. Noble, shameful, pick up his poems to stimulate Yang Guifei, the emperor wants to be white in officialdom, but the concubines often feel frustrated."

In this record, the mention of Gao Lishi taking off his boots and the excerpt of poems to inspire Concubine Yang are also vague and unclear. It seems to be much more credible than the folklore story. In addition, such a record , from the "New Book of Tang" officially compiled by the Northern Song Dynasty, is very authoritative, because scholars of all ages have preconceivedly regarded it as the real history. However, as mentioned before, the title of "Noble Concubine" was only given after Li Bai left Chang'an, so this record is obviously problematic.

The first book where this happened was "Youyang Zazu". As a notebook novel, its authenticity itself needs to be discussed. It is worth noting that this notebook novel was published earlier than "New Book of Tang". It is possible that "New Book of Tang" was selected from "Youyang Zazu". The authenticity of this matter has not yet been determined, but it is obviously unlikely based on Gao Lishi's identity at the time