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Story 87: Li Taibai Jumps Over the Moon

Li Taibai Jumps Over the Moon

Author: Anonymous

In front of Nanjing Confucius Temple, there is a Wende Bridge. I heard from the elders that when the moon shines on the 15th day of the winter lunar month if you stand on the bridge and look towards the water, the shadow of the moon reflected in the water will be divided into two halves: half on this side of the bridge and half on the other side.

Why does the round moon’s shadow split into two halves? There is a story here.

Legend has it that Li Taibai, a great poet of the Tang Dynasty, once came to Jinling (now Nanjing) and rested at a restaurant next to Wende Bridge. That day happened to be the fifteenth day of the winter lunar month.

At night, he would sit alone in the restaurant and admire the moon, while drinking and reciting poems. Li Taibai loved the moon most in his life, saying that it was clean and beautiful. That night, he looked up and saw the white and round moon in the sky.

He was very happy and drank a few more glasses. At midnight, Li Taibai took advantage of the wine and went downstairs to Wende Bridge. As soon as he stepped onto the bridge, he lowered his head and suddenly saw the moon falling into the water. When the river moved, a few black lines were added to the white moon’s shadow. Li Taibai was so drunk at this time that he thought it was the moon that was stained by the river water.

He didn’t even bother to take off his boots, he opened his hands and jumped off the bridge to catch the moon. Unexpectedly, with this jump, the moon was not caught, but the moon in the water was shattered and immediately split into two halves. ——The story is passed down like this.

Later, people built a “de Platform” next to Wende Bridge. It is said that this is the place where the great poet Li Taibai admired the moon.