Su Dongpo

Author: Li Shiying
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-01-01
Features: What kind of extraordinary friendship did Wang Anshi, Ouyang Xiu, Sima Guang, Huang Tingjian, Mi Fu, and other literary giants share with him? How admirable was the sibling bond he had with his younger brother Su Zhe? How did dishes like Dongpo Pork, Dongpo Ink, Zizhan Hat, and Su Bridge become famous as food, stationery, clothing, and architecture named after him? Is the story of "Su Xiaomei Testing the Groom Three Times" true or false? This over 600,000-word novel will unravel these mysteries for you. It is a long historical fiction novel depicting the life journey of Su Dongpo, the renowned Song Dynasty poet, writer, prose master, calligrapher, and painter. It narrates the fate of this literary giant from his imperial examination success in the second year of the Jiayou era of Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty to his death in the first year of the Jianzhong-Jingguo era of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, a span of forty-four years. During this time, his official career was fraught with ups and downs, yet his literary achievements were abundant.
About Su Dongpo—"He is the great literary master who shared the millennium with the Chinese people. His works are the universal code of Chinese writers, sparking emotions instantly, whether it's late at night on the Half Mountain or across the Taiwan Strait, even with strangers." (Yu Qiyu) "Whenever Su Dongpo is mentioned in China, it always evokes a warm and respectful smile." (Lin Yutang) This Chinese man, renowned as a poet, writer, prose master, calligrapher, painter, gourmet, landscape engineer, brewer, Buddhist scholar, and honest official, won the love of the world with what kind of charm? At the age of twenty, he dominated the literary scene, served in several prefectures with outstanding achievements, earning the admiration of emperors from Renzong to Shenzong and the respect of empresses across generations. "He could accompany the Jade Emperor in heaven or beggars in the poorhouse," and "he believed he saw no one in the world who was not good," yet his career was fraught with setbacks, frequent, and even a false accusation that nearly cost him his life. How were the famous lines like "The East River flows eastward, waves washing away the great figures of ages," "How often can the bright moon appear? Wine in hand, I ask the blue sky," "Ten years of life and death, unthought of, yet never forgotten," and "Not knowing the true face of Lu Mountain, only because I am in it" created under what circumstances and with what mindset? The three women in his life—his first wife Wang Fu, the capable second wife Wang Runzhi, and his beloved concubine Chao Yun—each with distinct characteristics—held what positions in his emotional life? What kind of extraordinary friendship did Wang Anshi, Ouyang Xiu, Sima Guang, Huang Tingjian, Mi Fu, and other literary giants share with him? How admirable was the sibling bond he had with his younger brother Su Zhe? How did dishes like Dongpo Pork, Dongpo Ink, Zizhan Hat, and Su Bridge become famous as food, stationery, clothing, and architecture named after him? Is the story of "Su Xiaomei Testing the Groom Three Times" true or false? This over 600,000-word novel will unravel these mysteries for you. The book narrates the life journey of Su Dongpo, this literary giant, from his imperial examination success in the second year of the Jiayou era of Emperor Renzong of the Song Dynasty to his death in the first year of the Jianzhong-Jingguo era of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty, a span of forty-four years.