{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,28]],"date-time":"2026-09-28T05:57:14Z","timestamp":1790575034797,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":34,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,28]],"date-time":"2026-09-28T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1790553600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100011176","name":"Peking Union Medical College","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100011176","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100011176","name":"Peking Union Medical College","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100011176","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Hum. Neurosci."],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>The Tang dynasty poet Li Bai (701\u2013762\u202fCE) is renowned for extraordinary literary creativity. Traditional historical perspectives frequently link his \u201cPoet Immortal\u201d reputation to alcohol-associated euphoria. We examined whether temporal fluctuations in his creative output co-occurred with biographical and textual features compatible with mood-spectrum psychopathology, while considering alcohol use and major life events as alternative explanations.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>This retrospective pathographical mixed-methods study analyzed Li Bai\u2019s literary corpus and biographical archives. Annual creative output was quantified for 836 securely dated poems across a 48-year career. Years exceeding 2 SDs above the career mean were used as data-derived anchors for episode-centered qualitative review. We additionally calculated the proportion of the corpus produced in peak years and a peak-to-nonpeak productivity ratio. Literary and historical evidence was then mapped to DSM-5 mood-episode symptom domains, with explicit attention to temporal fit and competing situational explanations.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>\n                      Annual productivity showed three extreme-output years: 743\u202fCE (\n                      <jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f=\u202f73, z\u202f=\u202f3.29), 753\u202fCE (\n                      <jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f=\u202f56, z\u202f=\u202f2.29), and 759\u202fCE (\n                      <jats:italic>n<\/jats:italic>\n                      \u202f=\u202f63, z\u202f=\u202f2.70). These 3\u202fyears (6.25% of career years) contained 192 poems (23.0% of the securely dated corpus); mean output was 64.0 poems\/year in peak years versus 14.3 poems\/year in the remaining years (ratio, 4.47). Episode-centered review found the strongest convergence of elevated or expansive affect, grandiose self-appraisal, and reckless behavior around 742\u2013743 and 752\u2013753\u202fCE. The 758\u2013759\u202fCE episode included marked elation after an imperial pardon, although this event provides a strong nonpathological explanation for the affective shift. Depressive and mixed-affect expressions were also present. The temporal convergence is compatible with, but does not establish, a bipolar-spectrum interpretation or a causal effect of mood symptoms on creativity.\n                    <\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Li Bai\u2019s creative output was highly episodic, and the identified productivity bursts temporally overlapped with certain literary and biographical characteristics consistent with mood elevation. Therefore, the combination of genius and bipolar disorder is more likely to explain Li Bai\u2019s literary achievements, rather than the combination of genius and alcohol. Li Bai\u2019s case should no longer be used as a positive example of drinking in the name of \u201ccreativity\u201d.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fnhum.2026.1893177","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,28]],"date-time":"2026-09-28T05:44:41Z","timestamp":1790574281000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Psychopathology and literary creativity: a pathographical mixed-methods analysis of the tang dynasty poet Li Bai"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"20","author":[{"given":"Chunfeng","family":"Xiao","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychological Medicine, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Science & Peking Union Medical College","place":["Beijing, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yufei","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Chinese Academy of Medical Science & Peking Union Medical College","place":["Beijing, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Junjie","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychological Medicine, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Science & Peking Union Medical College","place":["Beijing, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Wenqi","family":"Geng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychological Medicine, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Science & Peking Union Medical College","place":["Beijing, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jinya","family":"Cao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychological Medicine, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Science & Peking Union Medical College","place":["Beijing, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jing","family":"Wei","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Psychological Medicine, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Science & Peking Union Medical College","place":["Beijing, China"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,28]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref1","volume-title":"Li Bai\u2019s Complete Collection Chronological Notes","author":"An","year":"2015"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"128","DOI":"10.1016\/j.concog.2017.06.020","article-title":"Creativity on tap? 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