In ancient times it was told that nine rivers converged near where Jiujiang sprang up to become Jiangxi's main water port today. During the Xia through the Shang Dynasties the capitals of several states were located in area of Jiujiang. In the Spring & Autumn Period (770-476 BCE) Jiujiang bordered between the states of Wu (downstream, to the east) and Chu (upstream, to the west). Tao Yuanming (365-429 CE) a famous Chinese philosopher lived at the base of Lushan. He was once appointed magistrate of nearby Pengze County and after 83 days resigned due to the politics involved in administering justice. He retired back to his village to pen an essay called "Peach Blossom Spring". In 757, Li Bai (701-762 CE) was implicated in An-Shi disturbances and imprisoned at Jiujiang. Bai Juyi (772-846 CE) wrote a poem called "Lute Song", which is about his sadness and isolation of forced exile as a middle rank official to reside in such a small town. In the 13th century Zhu Xi was a Confucian philosopher who practiced at the White Deer Grotto Academy, on Lushan's eastern flanks.