Su Shi - WikiHQ

Su Shi (; 8 January 1037 – 24 August 1101), courtesy name Zizhan (), art name Dongpo (), was a Chinese poet, literatus, painter, calligrapher, and scholar-official of the Song dynasty. Born into a prominent literary family in Meishan, Sichuan, he was the son of Su Xun and brother of Su Zhe. Despite ambitions for high office, he became a repeated target in factional struggles between reformers and conservatives at the court, and he spent much of his career in exile, periods during which his literary output flourished.

A towering figure in Chinese literature and arts, Su left a prolific body of work that exerted enduring influence across the Sinosphere. His prose, ranging from philosophical to technical to culinary, earned him a place among the Eight Masters of the Tang and Song. His poetry is marked by vitality and boldness. In calligraphy he is counted among the Four Masters of Song Calligraphy. As a painter he was known for bamboo and weathered rocks, championing the capture of spirit over outward likeness.

Early life and education

Su Shi was born in Meishan, near Mount Emei in Sichuan province. His given name Shi () refers to the crossbar railing at the front of a chariot. His father Su Xun remarked that the railing, despite being an essential component in the carriage, appears low profile and unassuming. He hoped that the talented and outspoken Su Shi would learn self-restraint. Unfortunately, Su Shi did not fully heed his father’s counsel, and his conspicuous nature led him into a tumultuous career.

Su Shi's early education was conducted under a Daoist priest at a local village school. When he reached the age of 10, his education transitioned to homeschooling, initially guided by his mother, Lady Cheng, and subsequently by his father, Su Xun. Over the course of more than a decade, Su Xun dedicated himself to comprehensive studies of classical literature, philosophy, and historical texts, while providing coaching to his two adolescent sons as they prepared for the imperial examination.

Su Shi married at the age of 17. Su Shi and his younger brother Su Zhe maintained a close relationship since their childhood.

Official career

Initial success and fame

In 1057, at the age of 19, Su Shi and his younger brother Su Zhe both passed the highest-level civil service examinations and attained the degree of jinshi, a prerequisite for high government office. His accomplishments at such a young age attracted the attention of Emperor Renzong and leading literary figure Ouyang Xiu, who became Su's patron thereafter. Ouyang had already been known as an admirer of Su Shi's father Su Xun, endorsing his literary style at the imperial court and stating that no other pleased him more. When the 1057 jinshi examinations were given, Ouyang Xiu unexpectedly required candidates to write in the ancient prose style when answering questions on the Confucian classics. The Su brothers gained high honors for what were deemed impeccable answers and achieved celebrity status, particularly due to Su Shi's exceptional performance in the subsequent 1061 decree examinations.

Provincial posts

Beginning in 1060 and throughout the following twenty years, Su Shi held a variety of government positions throughout China; most notably in Hangzhou, where he was responsible for constructing a pedestrian causeway across the West Lake that still bears the name (, 'Su causeway'). He had served as a magistrate in the Mi Prefecture, which is located in modern-day Zhucheng County in Shandong. Later, when he was governor of Xuzhou, he wrote a memorial to the throne in 1078 complaining about the troubling economic conditions and potential for armed rebellion in Liguo Industrial Prefecture, where a large part of the Chinese iron industry was located.

Political exiles

Su Shi was often at odds with the political faction headed by Wang Anshi. Su Shi once wrote a poem criticizing Wang Anshi's reforms, especially the government monopoly imposed on the salt industry. The dominance of the reformist faction at court allowed the New Policy Group greater ability to have Su Shi exiled for political crimes. The claim was that Su Shi was criticizing the emperor, when in fact his poetry was aimed at criticizing Wang's reforms. Wang Anshi played no part in this action against Su, for he had retired from public life in 1076 and established a cordial relationship with Su Shi. Su Shi lived at a farm called Dongpo ('Eastern Slope'), from which he took his literary pseudonym. While banished to Hubei province, he grew fond of the area he lived in; many of the poems considered his best were written in this period. However, Su was banished a second time (1094–1100) to Huizhou and Danzhou, Hainan.--> Su Shi was aware that it was Shen Kuo who, as regional inspector of Zhejiang, presented Su Shi's poetry to the court sometime during 1073–1075 with concern that it expressed abusive and hateful sentiments against the Song court. It was these poetry pieces that Li Ding and Shu Dan later utilized in order to instigate a law case against Su Shi, although until that point Su Shi did not think much of Shen Kuo's actions in bringing the poetry to light.

In 1068, two years after Wang's death, Su Shi married her cousin Wang Runzhi (, 1048–1093), who was 11 years his junior. Wang Runzhi spent the next 25 years accompanying Su Shi through his ups and downs in officialdom and political exile. Su Shi praised Runzhi for being an understanding wife who treated his three sons equally (his eldest, Su Mai (), was born by Wang Fu). Once, Su Shi was angry with his young son for not understanding his unhappiness during his political exile. Wang Runzhi chided Su Shi for his silliness, prompting Su Shi to write the domestic poem "Young Son" ().

Wang Runzhi died in 1093, at forty-six, after bearing two sons, Su Dai () and Su Guo (). Overwhelmed by grief, Su Shi expressed his wish to be buried with her in her memorial ().

Su's third wife, Wang Zhaoyun (, 1062–1095) was a former Qiantang courtesan. Wang was about twelve when Su bought her at Hangzhou. Zhaoyun learned to read and write at Su's house. Of all the women in Su's life, Zhaoyun was probably the most famous, as she tried to "grow to her husband's spiritual level", and who seems to "understands him best". Su expressed his gratitude to Zhaoyun for her companionship to his exile in his old age, as well as her shared quest with the poet for immortal life via Buddhist and Taoist practice.

Su's friend, fellow poet Qin Guan wrote a poem, "A Gift for Dongpo's concubine Zhaoyun" (), praising her beauty and lovely voice. Su Shi himself dedicated a number of his poems to Zhaoyun, including "To the Tune of 'Song of the South'"(), "Verses for Zhaoyun" (), "To the Tune of 'The Beauty Who Asks One To Stay'" (), and "To the Tune of 'The Moon at Western Stream'" (). Zhaoyun remained a faithful companion to Su Shi after Runzhi's death, and died of illness on 13 August 1095 () at Huizhou. Zhaoyun bore Su Shi a son, Su Dun (), on 15 November 1083, who died in infancy. After Zhaoyun's death, Su Shi never married again.

Being a government official in a family of officials, Su Shi was often separated from his loved ones depending on his posting. In 1078, he was serving as prefect of Suzhou. His 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. It was written to be sung to the tune of "Yang Pass." the second, Su Dai (); and the third, Su Guo (). When Su Shi died in 1101, his younger brother Su Zhe () buried him alongside his second wife Wang Runzhi according to his wishes.

Work

Overview

thumb|[[Chinese calligraphy|Calligraphy by Su Shi: A detail of The Cold Food Observance ()]]

Approximately 2,700 poems and 800 letters penned by Su Shi have been preserved to date.

Su wrote multiple poems at Huangzhou amid political banishment; in fact, the Huangzhou exile was a most prolific period for the poet.

One of the examples is a playful and biting poem on the first bath of his new-born son by his third wife Zhaoyun.

On the Birth of a Son .

"Immortal by the River" Returning at Night to Linggao" () (written in 1082 CE):

Composed in 1082 CE, this song reflects the period when Su Shi faced demotion and relocation, now known as the Huangzhou district in Hubei Province. Despite enduring political adversity, Su Shi maintained an appreciation for the natural world. The lyrics convey his aspiration to abandon the chase for status, fame, and wealth, and instead embrace a life of seclusion.

<nowiki></nowiki>Settling Wind Waves (Ding feng-bo) ()':

His popular politically charged poetry was often the reason for the wrath of Wang Anshi's supporters towards him, culminating with the Crow Terrace Poetry Trial of 1079. He also wrote poems on Buddhist topics, including a poem later extensively commented on by Eihei Dōgen, founder of the Japanese Sōtō school of Zen, in a chapter of his work Shōbōgenzō entitled The Sounds of Valley Streams, the Forms of Mountains.

The English translations of his poems include those by Stephen Owen, Burton Watson, and Arthur Waley.

Travel literature

thumb|The Su Dongpo Memorial of [[Huizhou.]]

Su Shi also wrote of his travel experiences in 'daytrip essays', which belonged in part to the popular Song era literary category of 'travel record literature' (youji wenxue) that employed the use of narrative, diary, and prose styles of writing. Although other works in Chinese travel literature contained a wealth of cultural, geographical, topographical, and technical information, the central purpose of the daytrip essay was to use a setting and event in order to convey a philosophical or moral argument, which often employed persuasive writing.

Iron industry

thumb|An illustration of a [[blast furnace smelting cast iron, with bellows operated by a waterwheel and mechanical device, from the Nong Shu, by Wang Zhen, 1313]]

While acting as Governor of Xuzhou in 1078, Su wrote a memorial to the imperial court about issues faced in the Liguo Industrial Prefecture was under his administration. In an interesting and revealing passage about the Chinese iron industry during the latter half of the 11th century, Su Shi wrote about the enormous size of the workforce employed in the iron industry, competing provinces that had rival iron manufacturers seeking favor from the central government, as well as the danger of rising local strongmen who had the capability of raiding the industry and threatening the government with effectively armed rebellion. It also becomes clear in reading the text that prefectural government officials in Su's time often had to negotiate with the central government in order to meet the demands of local conditions.

Technical issues of hydraulic engineering

During the ancient Han dynasty (202 BCE220 CE) of China, the sluice gate and canal lock of the flash lock had been known. By the 10th century the latter design was improved upon in China with the invention of the canal pound lock, allowing different adjusted levels of water along separated and gated segments of a canal. This innovation allowed for larger transport barges to pass safely without danger of wrecking upon the embankments, and was an innovation praised by those such as Shen Kuo (1031–1095). Shen also wrote in his Dream Pool Essays of the year 1088 that, if properly used, sluice gates positioned along irrigation canals were most effective in depositing silt for fertilization. Writing earlier in his Dongpo Zhilin of 1060, Su Shi came to a different conclusion, writing that the Chinese of a few centuries past had perfected this method and noted that it was ineffective in use by his own time.

Although Su Shi made no note of it in his writing, the root of this problem was merely the needs of agriculture and transportation conflicting with one another. There is a legend, for which there is no evidence, that by accident he invented Dongpo pork, a famous dish in later centuries. Lin Hsiang Ju and Lin Tsuifeng in their scholarly Chinese Gastronomy give a recipe, "The Fragrance of Pork: Tungpo Pork", and remark that the "square of fat is named after Su Dongpo, the poet, for unknown reasons. Perhaps it is just because he would have liked it." A story runs that once Su Shi had decided to make stewed pork. Then an old friend visited him in the middle of the cooking and challenged him to a game of Chinese chess. 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.  Some legends point to the contrary, however, where other villagers simply named the pork dish after him to honour his death, although no concrete evidence points to any conclusion.

Su, to explain his vegetarian inclinations, said that he never had been comfortable with killing animals for his dinner table, but had a craving for certain foods, such as clams, so he could not desist. When he was imprisoned his views changed: "Since my imprisonment I have not killed a single thing... having experienced such worry and danger myself, when I felt just like a fowl waiting in the kitchen, I can no longer bear to cause any living creature to suffer immeasurable fright and pain simply to please my palate."

Translations

Watson, Burton (translator). Selected Poems of Su Tung-p'o. (English only). Copper Canyon Press, 1994.