With ancestral roots in Bozhou, Anhui, Li originated from Wuxi, Runzhou Prefecture in the Middle Tang. Labelled Short Li, the stout and shrewd scholar, styled Gongchui, proved a trailblazing poet under the New Yuefu Movement school. A jinshi at age 27, the examinee filled the gap as an Imperial College assistant for princes, later appointed to prefecture governorship in Jiangzhou, Chuzhou, and Shouzhou. During his tenure, Li contacted closely with Yuan Zhen and Bai Juyi, who gathered on informative tours to Wuzhen. The buddies forged a tight relationship with Tang Baoyu, the abbot of Pujing Temple in Wuzhen. Literally, it was poetry that brought Li to the spotlight, credited with New Yuefu Pieces (20 poems), missing now, though. His heritage to this day is Nostalgic Travel Poems (3 volumes), Miscellaneous Poems (1 volume), both as entries in Complete Poetry of the Tang. Also, his Yingying Ballad was hoarded in Tanci or Storytelling on Romance of West Chamber. The show-stopping poem Sigh with Toiling Farmers is a heirloom to all ages of all time, according him a prestigious title, Compassion Poet.