When it comes to Li Bai’s hometown, everyone thinks it is in Jiangyou, Sichuan. The Li Bai International Cultural Festival is held there every year, promoting tourism and culture, and the atmosphere of Li Bai is everywhere in the city. Now, the view that Li Bai's hometown is in Jiangyou seems to have been widely accepted at home and abroad. The new editions of "Concise Encyclopedia Britannica" and "Encyclopedia of China" about Li Bai clearly stated that Li Bai was "a native of Jiangyou, Sichuan." The new version of the textbook "Chinese History" also says: "Li Bai, whose courtesy name is Taibai, was born in Mingming" (Mingming means Jiangyou, Sichuan).

According to Zhao Yahui’s blog, an article in People’s Daily on August 10, 2002 disclosed an important detail, saying that in 1982, Jiangyou unexpectedly received an autographed inscription from Deng Xiaoping’s daughter. Four words: "Li Bai's hometown". He also said that before Deng Xiaoping wrote these words, he had a conversation with Guo Moruo. The first half of this story is absolutely true, because the monument engraved with these four words stands in Jiangyou; in the second half, it is said that these words were written after a long conversation with Guo. It is impossible to tell whether or when the conversation was held. Confirmed because Guo passed away a few years ago. I believe that leaders’ inscriptions are an advocacy and respect for historical and cultural monuments, and are also a nod to mainstream views, but they do not necessarily have the ultimate academic power of decision-making, especially in the face of complex historical mysteries. For example, there is a situation now. One leader inscribed "the hometown of Emperor Xi" in one place, while another leader inscribed "the former capital of Emperor Xi" in another place. It is not surprising that each has his own title. But no matter what, Xiaoping's inscription is a real existence, and it greatly increases the authority that Li Bai's hometown belongs to Jiangyou. Everything shows that Li Bai’s hometown is firmly established in Jiangyou, Sichuan, and no one should have any doubts.

However, the unexpected happened. In August last year, Hubei Anlu broadcast a promotional video titled "Li Bai's Hometown, Ginkgo Hometown, Hubei Anlu Welcomes You" on the CCTV International Channel. Immediately, "Jiangyou suffered from the "Li Bai's Hometown" crisis, and four CCTV sets Posts such as "He is an accomplice" came out, and Jiangyou netizens began to seriously denounce Hubei Anlu's "infringement" on the Internet. Soon the Jiangyou Municipal Committee and the Anlu Municipal Government were also involved in the matter, each striving for the ownership of "Li Bai's Hometown". Make a deal. At that time, everyone thought that Hubei Anlu was going to be in trouble and would be pushed into the dock, but the result was unexpected. On September 15, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce issued a reply to the Hubei Provincial Administration for Industry and Commerce: "As Li Bai's long-term residence, Anlu City is reasonably called 'Li Bai's hometown'. This is a violation of objective facts. Normal narration and explanation are fair uses as stipulated in Article 49 of the "Regulations on the Implementation of the Trademark Law". "Yes," Li Bai lived in Anlu for ten years, married a wife and had children, and for a time he was still traveling around. It seems that there is nothing wrong with Anlu wanting to publicize the base area and the remaining place in the world. But this time the conflict intensified, and Jiangyou later gained the upper hand.

I have nothing to say about this lawsuit. I think this incident revealed that the current use of the term "hometown" is full of ambiguity and ambiguity. It also exposed another major hidden fact that has been covered up for a long time, that is, where is the real hometown of Li Bai? Besides Jiangyou and Anlu, is there any place that has more reason to be called Li Bai’s hometown? On this issue, are there any cases where modern people’s strong words ignore the statements of the ancients and basic historical data? The dispute between Jiang and An is very much like everyone fighting for a treasure. The two people who are most likely to win the treasure are particularly fierce. In fact, they both ignore the opinions and feelings of the real owner of the treasure.

Here, the crux of the question is, what is hometown? Does it refer to a person’s place of birth, a place where he has lived for a long time, or his place of origin, ancestral home, or hometown? Which one of them should you choose?

Not long ago, an article in Shanghai's "Yi Wen Che Zi" magazine, which has always been serious, pointed out after research that the word "hometown" is often misused in local publicity, and some places often refer to themselves as the "hometown" of a celebrity. Attract tourists on the grounds that the person once lived in the area. In fact, "hometown" refers specifically to a person's hometown, hometown, place of origin, and the place where his ancestors have lived for generations. If his ancestors had not lived here, no matter how long he lived, he would not be able to call it his "hometown."

The article also gave an example: Chiang Kai-shek had lived in Taiwan for a long time, but who would call Taiwan "Chiang Kai-shek's hometown"? Chiang’s hometown is still the mouth of Xikou, Fenghua, Zhejiang. "The place where you have lived for a long time" is not necessarily your "hometown", and the "place of birth" is not necessarily your "hometown". For example, if a foreign pregnant woman gives birth to a baby while traveling in Shanghai, is Shanghai the "hometown" of this baby? He also said that the place where he has lived for a long time should be called "old place", which is called revisiting the old place; the house where he has lived for a long time should be called "former residence", the so-called former residence of so-and-so; but "former place", "former residence" and "hometown" Not a concept at all. And so on.

I understand the painstaking efforts in the article "Yi Wen Jie Zi", but it still cannot solve the problem of Li Bai's hometown ownership. If the "place of birth", "the place where you lived for a long time", and "the place where your ancestors lived" are all in the same place, then of course there is no problem; what if they are inconsistent? For example, Li Bai's birthplace is generally believed to be Suiye in Central Asia, which is inconsistent with his ancestral home in Longxi. So which one is his hometown? Chengji's ancestral home in Longxi and Jiangyou, Sichuan, where he lived for a long time, are not consistent, so which one is his hometown?

Jiang Yan's "Farewell" says: "Look at the trees as my hometown, and judge the northern beams to say goodbye forever." This may be the earliest appearance of the word hometown. In fact, it is impossible to give an impeccable attribution to "hometown" now. Hometown is a conventional concept. If you don't dig into the corners, it is not difficult to gain true knowledge. It is the pursuit and affirmation of the "root". How a person, especially an ancient person, identifies his hometown - even though he may not necessarily use this word, the one who has the most say is himself. Li Bai's real and only "hometown" that has been affirmed countless times by history books can only be Longxi Chengji (now Qin'an County, Tianshui, Gansu Province, Qin belongs to Longxi County, and Han belongs to Tianshui County).

It must be noted that we are looking for Li Bai’s hometown, and in fact Li Bai is also looking for his hometown; if these two pursuits overlap, there will naturally be nothing to say; if two hometowns appear, then Which one should I be sure of? This is just like when a person says who his parents are, but we don’t believe him and insist on identifying his parents in another way. We may think that Li Bai’s hometown is Jiangyou, Sichuan; but for Li Bai, his hometown is undoubtedly Chengji, Longxi. This is what he emphasized repeatedly, and his tone was firm and unambiguous. When we determine Li Bai's hometown, should we agree with the historical identification of Li Bai himself, or should we ignore Li Bai, disobey him, and stick to what we think of Jiangyou, Sichuan? When it comes to determining Li Bai’s hometown, should we respect Li Bai’s personal opinions? If Li Bai clearly expressed his affirmation of his ancestral home, for reasons of understanding, for reasons of interest, and for modern people's self-righteousness, we just refuse to acknowledge it, turn a blind eye, and turn a deaf ear. Is this right?

Let us see what Li Bai himself said. Three of Li Bai's poems clearly state his family background. "Books with Han Jingzhou" says: "White Longxi commoners lived in the Chu and Han Dynasties." The second part of "Two Poems for Zhang Xianghao" says: "He was originally from Longxi, and he first served as a border general of the Han Dynasty. His military exploits covered the world, and his fame soared into the blue clouds. He fought hard. Jing Buhou was quite melancholy at that time. "The History of Pei Chang in Shang'an Prefecture" says: "Bai's family was in Jinling, and his surname was You. He suffered from the hardship of Juqu and was forced to live in the Xianqin Dynasty for a long time. "In this latter article, "Jinling" and "Longxi" seem to be contradictory. In fact, "Jinling" here refers to "Jiankang County" in Xiliang, which refers to the current Lanzhou area in Gansu Province. According to the historical materials, "Book of Jin·The Sheng Biography of King Wuzhao Li Xuan" records as follows: "King Wuzhao's name is Rigao, and his courtesy name is Xuansheng. In the fourth year of Long'an (400), he was worshiped by all the heroes, and he took the title of Liang Gong. Dunhuang and Jiuquan were thousands of miles away. His son Li Xin succeeded in attacking Juqu Mengxun and was defeated. His younger brother Xun succeeded in conquering Dunhuang and died. "This happened in the first year of Emperor Jingping of the Song Dynasty (423). The "Juqu Mengxun Difficulty" incident in 2008). "Jinling" has been clarified for the research community. In short, it is very clear that Li Bai considers himself a native of Chengji, Longxi. Li Bai also liked to call himself a "Xihuang person". He said, "I have been studying Taoism for thirty years, and I call myself a Xihuang person. The roof is like a dream, and the clouds and pines grow close to each other." "The breeze in the north is small, and I call myself a Xihuang person." "Xihuang people." "Emperor" is Fuxi, who is revered by historians as the head of the "Three Emperors". It is said that he was born in Chengji, Longxi.

Let’s take a look at what the recognized authoritative documents say.

Li Yangbing's "Preface to the Collection of Thatched Cottage", Wei Hao's "Preface to the Collection of Li Hanlin" and Fan Chuanzheng's "Tang Zuo Supplementary Collection of Hanlin Scholar Li Gongxin's Tombstone" are all texts left by Li Bai when he was alive or shortly after his death. The value of historical materials is extremely precious. They all prove that What Li Bai said during his lifetime that he was "originally from Longxi", that is, the Chengji people from Longxi, is true and reliable. Li Yangbing's "Preface to the Thatched Cottage Collection" says: "Li Bai, named Taibai, was born in Chengji, Longxi, and was the ninth grandson of King Wuzhao of Liang. He continued to be in the Gui group and was prominent in his life. He was not guilty in the middle period, and was relegated to Tiaozhi, and changed his surname and given name." Wei Hao's "Preface to the Collection of Li Hanlin" says: "Bai was originally from Longxi, but his family was in Mian. Since he was born in Shu, he was a handsome country." Fifty years after Li Bai's death, Fan Chuanzheng, Fan Lun's son, wrote "Tang Zuo Supplements" The tombstone of Li Gongxin, a Hanlin scholar, says: "The public's name is Bai, and his courtesy name is Taibai. He was born in Chengji, Longxi. It is difficult to find the genealogy of a family with no heirs. The granddaughter of the public searched the box and found the deceased son of the public, Bo Qin Shushou. Okay, the paper is broken and the characters are missing, so I can't prepare it in detail. It is estimated that the ninth generation grandson of King Wuzhao of Liang Dynasty was in trouble. The whole house was scattered among the broken leaves, so the name was changed since the dynasty. At the beginning of the Shenlong period, he returned to Guanghan and became a native of the county."

It is sad to say that in November of the first year of Zong Baoying in the Tang Dynasty (762), Li Bai could not afford to fall ill. He handed the draft of his poems to his uncle on his sick bed. Tu County magistrate Li Yangbing edited, and later Li Yangbing compiled his poems and essays into ten volumes of "Thatched Cottage Collection" and wrote a "Preface" for it, which is the famous "Preface to Thatched Cottage Collection". Yang Bing said in the "Preface" that he "was about to be crowned, and his father was very ill. He drafted thousands of volumes, and the collection was not revised. He handed me the slips on his pillow for the preface." Among them, the phrase "giving slips on a pillow" is so sad! I would like to ask, what does the phrase "Li Bai, courtesy name Taibai, born in Chengji, Longxi" on the pillow mean? Isn't it enough to explain where Li Bai's hometown is?

Whether to respect Li Bai’s personal opinions is a prominent issue in Li Bai’s research. Guo Moruo wrote "Li Bai and Du Fu" during the Cultural Revolution. Affected by the supercilious trend of the time, he constantly criticized Li Bai for "just looking at people and talking with a snobbish eye" and "it seems to have been fabricated by Li Bai himself or his ancestors. Just to improve his own family status" and so on. Now it has been proved by the research of many researchers that Li Bai did not tell lies. There are still many unanswered questions in the study of Li Bai's family history. For example, where was Li Bai born? Was he born in Jiangyou Qinglian? For example, is Li Bai the descendant of Li Guang, or is he the grandson of Li Ling, who has always kept secret? For example, when Li Bai arrived in Sichuan when he was five years old, where did he go to Sichuan? From Suiye to Jiangyou, Tianshui, and Qin'an were the only places that the Silk Road must pass through. At that time, the geographical conditions of Longxi Chengji were no worse than those of Jiangyou. How could Li Ke, who had fled home, come to Sichuan? Why not stop at your hometown where you must pass by? Who can be sure that Li Ke and Li Bai never stayed or lived in Qin'an? The top of the relic pagoda in the reclining Buddha hall of Nanguo Temple in Tianshui was originally embedded with a small stone tablet, on which was engraved a five-character poem by Li Bai: "Since then, the wind and dust are far away, the mountains are high, the moon is cold, and the nights are cold. The east spring is clear and the bottom is clear, and the top of the west pagoda reaches the sky. The lamp of the Buddha's seat is always shining. , The incense in the Zen room is half burning. There are three or five old monks, and the ancient cypress is thousands of years old. "This poem is not recorded in any poetry collection. Has Li Bai ever been to Tianshui?" Also, Li Bai's Zui Cao He Man Shu has been verified to be true, so where did he learn Tibetan writing? No matter what, Li Bai, as a native of Longxi, has always remained the same.

In fact, the conclusion is very clear, Li Bai’s hometown is Qin’an, Gansu. As for Jiangyou, Sichuan, as many scholars have pointed out, it can only be Li Bai's second hometown.