Li Yangbing
8th century Chinese calligrapher, poet, and politician
Li Yangbing (traditional Chinese: 李陽冰; simplified Chinese: 李阳冰; pinyin: Lǐ Yángbīng; Wade–Giles: Li Yang-ping), courtesy name Shaowen (少溫), was a Chinese calligrapher, poet, and politician of the Tang dynasty. A high-ranking government official (imperial magistrate), literary figure, noted calligrapher, and relative of the famous Tang Chinese poet Li Bai, Li Yangbing is notable for being the initial editor and compiler of the poetry of Li Bai; also for writing a preface to this which is important as one of the few primary historical sources on Li Bai.
Li Yangbing was from Zhao County, Hebei. His first government position was as an official in Jinyun County, Zhejiang Province. In 755, An Lushan declared himself Emperor, fielding military forces against the ruling Emperor, Xuanzong. In the ensuing eight years of the disorders, largely conducted under Generals An Lushan and Shi Siming, death and famine stalked the Central Plain of China, and the population decreased by the tens-of-millions. By 762, the imperial troops had retaken both sides of the Yellow River (most of Hebei and Henan), the rebels were mostly dead and the remnants beleaguered; and, on May 18, Daizong acceded to the throne as Emperor. In Daizong's first year, Li Yangbing, having succeeded in his career despite the sociopolitical turmoil, was still a powerful government officer, and accordingly was in Baoying County, Jiangsu Province.
In the meantime, things had not gone so well for Li Yangbing's close relative, the famous poet and former court favorite, Li Bai; who had recently fallen under political scrutiny, and had narrowly escaped a death sentence. Li Bai was condemned and en route to exile, but was then reprieved – all due to the intervention of leading Tang General Guo Ziyi.
The public source identifies “Li Yangbing” as 8th century Chinese calligrapher, poet, and politician. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Yangbing, century and Chinese.
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The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q6539211. VIAF identifies the subject as 21984728. The Library of Congress control number is nr88001367. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
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This entry incorporates text from “Li Yangbing” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.