Song Su Shi's poem "Cold Food Observance in Huangzhou"

Author: Qin Qianli (Compiler)
Publisher:
Publishing Date: April 1, 2004
Features: The Cold Food Observance in Huangzhou was composed and calligraphed by Su Shi. It is an ink rubbing on plain paper, measuring 34.2 cm in width and 18.9 cm in height, written in running script in seventeen lines with 129 characters. It is currently housed in the Palace Museum in Taipei, though some say it is in private hands in Taiwan. There is no signature or date, but it was actually written in the fifth year of Emperor Shenzong's Yuanfeng era (1082 AD). At that time, Su Shi was excluded by the New Party due to the Wutai Poetry Case, the largest literary inquisition in the Song Dynasty, and was banished as the Deputy Military Commissioner of Huangzhou. He felt lonely in spirit, frustrated and unsuccessful in life, and lived in poverty and hardship. On the Cold Food Festival of his third year in Huangzhou, he composed two five-character poems:
"I have passed three Cold Food Festivals since arriving in Huangzhou.
Every year I wish to cherish spring, but spring does not allow me to spare it.
This year, I suffer from relentless rain, and two months of autumn have turned bleak.
Lying in bed, I hear the peonies, their petals stained with mud, like cinnabar snow.
In the dark, I secretly carry them away—half past midnight, truly strong.
How different from a sick young man who, upon recovery, finds his hair already white.
The spring river seems to rush into my cottage, and the rain does not cease.
My small hut resembles a fishing boat, shrouded in misty water and clouds.
In an empty kitchen, I cook cold vegetables, and in a broken stove, I burn damp reeds.
Who knew it was the Cold Food Festival? I only saw crows carrying paper.
The imperial gate is deep and nine layers high, while my grave is far away.
I also wanted to weep in despair, but the cold ashes would not stir."
The Cold Food Observance in Huangzhou conveys a sense of movement and bursts with fluctuating emotions. The poems are written in a desolate and melancholic tone, and the calligraphy is equally inspired by this mood and circumstances. The entire piece rises and falls, swift yet steady, vigorous and unimpeded, executed in one breath. Su Shi infused the changes in the poet's emotions into the variations of his brushstrokes—alternating between vertical and oblique angles, shifting and transforming effortlessly, with natural and spontaneous breaks. His character formation is also extraordinary: varying in size and spacing, light and heavy, wide and narrow, irregular yet harmonious, unrestrained and bold, with endless changes. No wonder Huang Tingjian was moved to say, "This poem by Su Shi resembles Li Bai, though I fear Li Bai may not have reached this level. This calligraphy combines the styles of Yan Wugu, Yang Shaoshi, and Li Xitai. If Su Shi were to write it again, he might not achieve this." (Postscript to the Cold Food Observance in Huangzhou) Dong Qichang also wrote a postscript praising it: "In my lifetime, I have seen over thirty authentic works by Su Shi, and this is undoubtedly the best."
The Cold Food Observance in Huangzhou is one of Su Shi's finest calligraphic works and has had a profound influence on the history of calligraphy. In the Yuan Dynasty, Xuan Yu called it the "Third Great Running Script in the World," following Wang Xizhi's Preface to the Orchid Pavilion and Yan Zhenqing's Draft of a Eulogy for My Nephew.