The purpose of this artic1e is to give a critica1 analysis of the meaning and significance of the image of a ming-shih, or Bohemian, projected in Li Po’s (701- 762) own writings. A ming-shih is generally known as a nonconformist, very often a free-living eccentric, who favours natura1ness and despises authority and conventions. There has never been a lack of men labelled as ming-shih in Chinese history. They gained posterity mainly through anecdotes or hearsays about their acts and words recorded by others. However, Li Po’s posthumous fame as a free-spirited and unrestrained Bohemian was made chiefly through the self-image projected in his own writings. “Bohemian” was apparently a role that Li Po had consciously chosen and delightfully played throughout his life. The characteristics of Li Po’s Bohemianism which include his indulgence in wine drinking, letting his hair fall loose, going naked in the woods, roaming about with singsong girls, and seeking seclusion or immortality in the mountains, were in fact conventions that had long been established by the Bohemians of the Wei-Chin period (3rd to 4th centuries). Yet, whereas the Wei-Chin Bohemians’ manners were at the time manifestations of a fashionable “group culture”, Li Po’s continuous display of his Bohemian image was intended to stress his uniqueness. This, perhaps, was closely related to his undying worldly ambitions as well as his self-awareness of being an outsider to the prestigeous scholar-official c1ass. Behind the image of a Bohemian in Li Po’s own writings, there is a man outside the scholar-official traditions, contemptuous of the world, yet at the same time, looking eagerly for opportunities to play an important part in worldly affairs.