一般认为作于唐玄宗天宝二年（743 年）或天宝三载（744 年），李白时年约 44 岁。
彼时他刚被赐金放还、离开长安，政治理想破灭，开始漫游江南。
诗题下李白自注："故人贾淳令予问之"。友人贾淳请他以"问月"为题作诗，李白借题发挥，把个人情绪与宇宙思考一并写进去。
- 失意 供奉翰林仅约两年，因傲岸得罪权贵，被玄宗"赐金放还"，政治生涯就此终结。从豪情万丈跌入理想幻灭的孤独。
- 哲思 月亮永恒，人生短暂。"今人不见古时月，今月曾经照古人"，从个人失意上升到对时间、宇宙、生命的追问。
- 旷达 结尾"唯愿当歌对酒时，月光长照金樽里"，是看透无常后的洒脱，珍惜当下。
某个秋夜，明月当空。李白举杯独酌，望月发问，一气呵成。把酒、月、人、宇宙融为一体。
This song is based on a classical Chinese poem written over 1,280 years ago by Li Bai (701–762 AD), one of the greatest poets in Chinese history — often called the "Immortal Poet."
The poem is titled Bǎ Jiǔ Wèn Yuè — roughly "Raising a Cup to Question the Moon." In it, Li Bai holds up his wine cup beneath a bright moon and asks: When did you first appear? Why can no one reach you, yet you follow us wherever we go?
The poem also draws on a beloved Chinese legend: the moon is home to a celestial palace where Chang'e (嫦娥), a beautiful goddess, lives in eternal solitude — accompanied only by a jade rabbit who endlessly pounds herbs with a mortar. This image of the moon as a place of lonely, timeless beauty has been woven into Chinese poetry and culture for thousands of years.
Written after he was dismissed from the imperial court, the poem carries both personal heartbreak and timeless wonder. Its most famous lines reflect on how generations of people have come and gone, yet the same moon shines on all of them:
"Those alive today never saw the moon of ancient times,
yet today's moon once shone upon the people of old."
The song ends not in sorrow, but in a quiet joy — a wish that moonlight will always fall upon the cup while the music plays.