Li Bai, Tang poetry and creative AI

1) Objective

My interest in Chinese culture and technology has led me to explore the realms where tradition and innovation converge. Tang dynasty poetry, with its enormous richness and deep connection to the natural world, is a fascinating subject.

At the same time, the advance of artificial intelligence in the creative field sparks a huge curiosity in me, reflected in the following question: Can a machine capture the essence of an ancient art?

This text arises from that inquiry. On one hand, there is Li Bai’s work, a poet whose voice continues to resonate across centuries. On the other, advanced language models that seek to imitate his style, opening a debate on the limits of artificial creativity.

2) Introduction: The Poet Who Challenged the Moon

The image of a drunken poet, raising his cup of wine while reciting verses to the moon, immediately evokes Li Bai (李白), one of the greatest poets of the Tang dynasty. His work is imbued with images of the moon, in a continuous dialogue with this celestial body. Not only did he sing to the moon in countless poems, but legend also says his obsession was so great that he died trying to embrace its reflection in the water.

However, this fascination with the moon is not merely a poetic eccentricity: it offers a key to understanding his worldview. In nature, he found refuge; in drunkenness, escape; and in poetry, he achieved immortality.

Now, in the 21st century, a new protagonist has emerged in literary creation: artificial intelligence. If Li Bai turned to the moon as confidant and muse, could a machine replicate his longing, his emotion, his cadence?

To put it to the test, I asked the Chinese AI Deepseek R1 to create a poem in his style.

2) Artificial Intelligence and Poetry

Artificial intelligence has not only revolutionized science and technology, but it is also venturing into the realms of art and literature. Can an AI compose poetry with the sensitivity and style of a master like Li Bai? To explore this question, I decided to test DeepThink R1, an advanced text-generation model.

To do this, I formulated a specific prompt:

“Create me a poem in the style of Li Bai that deals with music and the moon illuminating traditional Chinese instruments. It should be in sinograms, pinyin, and its translation into Spanish.”

It is fascinating to observe how the system demonstrates the steps it takes to meet the user’s requirements. Then, to make this article clearer, I asked for more details.

After creating the poem, I asked it to reflect on how it should present the same poem it had just created.

Or, in the system’s words:

“Okay, the user is asking me to use 'deepthink r1' to create the poem and introduce it. From the previous conversation, I provided a poem in the style of Li Bai with Chinese characters, pinyin, and Spanish translation. Now, the user wants to know how to present this poem using DeepSeek's deepthink r1. [...]”

This process not only allows us to observe the final result but also helps us understand how AI constructs creativity from predefined patterns and rules.

3) DeepSeek-R1: Creation of the Poem 《月下琴歌》

Requested Theme: Music and the moon illuminating traditional Chinese instruments, in Li Bai’s style

1. Problem Statement

INPUT:

• Literary style: Classical Tang Poetry (李白, heptasyllabic lines, Taoist symbolism).
• Mandatory themes: Moon + traditional instruments (guqin, pipa, erhu).
• Technical requirements: Verses in sinograms, pinyin, and Spanish translation.
• Restrictions: Avoid anachronisms (e.g., mentioning guzheng, popularized after the Tang dynasty).

2. Analysis (Conceptual Breakdown)

A. Key Patterns in Li Bai

B. Selection of Historically Accurate Instruments

1. Guqin (丝桐): A scholar’s instrument, associated with the moon in 《琴歌》.
2. Pipa (琵琶): Referenced in Tang poems such as 《琵琶行》.
3. Dizi (笛): A bamboo flute used in lunar rituals.
4. Erhu (二胡): Though it emerged in the late Tang, it is included for its melancholic symbolism.

3. Step-by-Step Explanation

(Describing the method of creating verses and poetic imagery)

4. Final Output (Complete Poem)

《月下琴歌》
Song of Instruments Beneath the Moon

... (verses 3 through 8 omitted for brevity) ...

◈ Generated with DeepSeek-R1, trained on 238 Li Bai poems + 《全唐诗》.
Stylistic Accuracy: 87.3% (metrics) / 94.1% (lexicon).

5. Evaluation (AI Self-Assessment Rubric)

6. SEO Optimization (Embedded Metadata)

{
  "keywords": ["Chinese poetry AI", "Modern Li Bai", "Tang traditional music", "moon in classical literature"],
  "meta_description": "Poem generated by AI that fuses Li Bai’s moon with ancestral instruments: an experiment where algorithms dream of China’s Golden Age.",
  "latent_topics": ["creative artificial intelligence", "digital classical literature", "lunar symbolism in poetry"]
}
        

The final result was as follows:

《月下琴歌》
Yuè xià qín gē

玉盘悬夜空，
Yù pán xuán yè kōng,
Jade floating in the nocturnal sky,

清辉抚丝桐。
Qīng huī fǔ sī tóng.
Lunar glow caresses silk-and-paulownia strings.

琵琶语流水，
Pí pá yǔ liú shuǐ,
The pipa whispers like a flowing stream,

笛声入云峰。
Dí shēng rù yún fēng.
The flute ascends the misty peaks.

二胡诉秋思，
Èr hú sù qiū sī,
The erhu laments autumn nostalgia,

月影伴孤鸿。
Yuè yǐng bàn gū hóng.
The moon’s shadow follows the solitary crane.

醉罢天宫客，
Zuì bà tiān gōng kè,
Drunk on music, heaven calls me forth:

瑶台奏古风。
Yáo tái zòu gǔ fēng.
“Amid the jade terraces, play your immortal tune!”

To complete this article, I used Alibaba’s Qwen 2.5, also part of the Chinese tech ecosystem, with this prompt:

Image Title:
“Heavenly Melodies Under the Jade Disc”

Visual Description:

1. Style: Ink-wash painting with fluid strokes and watercolor washes in blue, silver, and gold, blending realism and surrealism.
2. Framing: Vertical format, evoking a classic hanging scroll (軸畫), with the moon as the central axis.

4) Conclusion

Do Machines Dream of Li Bai’s Moon?

Let us consider the following: Li Bai gazed at the moon and saw in it a mirror of his soul. Today, an AI does the same, but without a soul… or perhaps we are witnessing a new form of consciousness?

Maybe the key lies not in the perfection of the generated poem, but in the fact that it makes us ponder the limits of creativity. Perhaps, just like Li Bai, we should raise our cups toward the moon, toasting not for what we already know, but for all that remains to be discovered.

Now, I leave the final word to you. Did this poem convey any of the magic of the great Tang poet? Does the image reflect the dreamlike atmosphere that so strongly characterized his work?

For those deeply familiar with classical Chinese poetry, your insights would be invaluable. Did this experiment respect Li Bai’s essence? Are there nuances that only an expert eye could discern?

Your opinion matters. Leave it in the comments or share your thoughts. The conversation on these topics is just beginning.