1. Su Shi, courtesy name Zizhan, art name Dongpo, was a Chinese poet, essayist, calligrapher, painter, and scholar-official who lived during the Song dynasty.
34 Facts About Su Shi
1. 2.
Su Shi endured a series of political exiles during which his creative career flourished.
3.
Su Shi's poetry had enduring popularity and influence in China and other areas in the near vicinity such as Japan, and is well known in some English-speaking countries through translations by Arthur Waley and Stephen Owen, among others.
4.
Su Shi's writing frequently touched upon the topic of cuisine, where he is considered to have had a profound influence.
5.
Su Shi was born in Meishan, near Mount Emei in Sichuan province.
6.
Su Shi's given name Shi refers to the crossbar railing at the front of a chariot.
7.
Su Shi had served as a magistrate in the Mi Prefecture, which is located in modern-day Zhucheng County in Shandong.
8.
Su Shi was often at odds with the political faction headed by Wang Anshi.
9.
Su Shi once wrote a poem criticizing Wang Anshi's reforms, especially the government monopoly imposed on the salt industry.
10.
The dominance of the reformist faction at court allowed the New Policy Group greater ability to have Su Shi exiled for political crimes.
11.
The claim was that Su Shi was criticizing the emperor, when in fact his poetry was aimed at criticizing Wang's reforms.
12.
Su Shi lived at a farm called Dongpo, from which he took his literary pseudonym.
13.
Su Shi was aware that it was Shen Kuo who, as regional inspector of Zhejiang, presented Su Shi's poetry to the court sometime between 1073 and 1075 with concern that it expressed abusive and hateful sentiments against the Song court.
14.
Su Shi was depicted in artwork made posthumously, such as in Li Song's painting of Su traveling in a boat, known as Su Dongpo at Red Cliff, after Su Song's poem written about the 3rd-century battle.
15.
Su Shi died on the second day of the fifth month 13 years later, after bearing him a son, Su Mai.
16.
Heartbroken, Su Shi wrote a memorial, stating that Wang had not just been a virtuous wife, but had frequently advised him regarding the integrity of his acquaintances during his time as an official.
17.
Ten years after the death of his first wife, Su Shi composed a ci poem after dreaming of her while in Mi Prefecture.
18.
In 1068, two years after Wang's death, Su Shi married her cousin Wang Runzhi, who was 11 years his junior.
19.
Su Shi praised Runzhi for being an understanding wife who treated his three sons equally.
20.
Once, Su Shi was angry with his young son for not understanding his unhappiness during his political exile.
21.
Overwhelmed by grief, Su Shi expressed his wish to be buried with her in her memorial.
22.
Su Shi's beloved younger brother was able to join him for the mid-autumn festival, which inspired the poem "Mid-Autumn Moon" reflecting on the preciousness of time with family.
23.
Su Shi had three sons who survived to adulthood: the eldest, Su Mai, who would become a government official by 1084; the second, Su Dai ; and the third, Su Guo.
24.
When Su Shi died in 1101, his younger brother Su Zhe buried him alongside his second wife Wang Runzhi according to his wishes.
25.
Approximately 2,700 poems and 800 letters penned by Su Shi have been preserved to date.
26.
Su Shi's mastery spanned across various forms, including the shi, ci and fu styles of poetry, as well as prose, calligraphy, and painting.
27.
Su Shi's repertoire includes a substantial body of essays, with many focusing on politics and governance.
28.
Su Shi is recognized as one of the most esteemed essayists of the Tang and Song dynasties, earning him a place among the Eight Great Prose Masters of the Tang and Song.
29.
In both his literary creations and visual artistry, Su Shi seamlessly blended elements of spontaneity, objectivity with detailed and vivid depictions of the natural world.
30.
Su Shi is renowned as a founding figure of the haofang school in ci poetry, characterized by a spirit of boldness and a broader theme.
31.
Su Shi expanded the ci genre's thematic range, infusing it with a variety of non-traditional topics, many of which were drawn from his own life experiences.
32.
Su Shi's lyrics delved into deeper, more contemplative subjects like aging, mortality, and the intricacies of public service, resonating more profoundly with contemporary audiences.
33.
Su Shi wrote poems on Buddhist topics, including a poem later extensively commented on by Eihei Dogen, founder of the Japanese Soto school of Zen, in a chapter of his work Shobogenzo entitled The Sounds of Valley Streams, the Forms of Mountains.
34.
Su Shi had totally forgotten the stew, which in the meantime had now become extremely thick-cooked, until its very fragrant smell reminded him of it.