I have no other reason to write Su Dongpo's biography, just want to write it.The idea of ​​writing his biography has been in my mind for many years.In 1936, I went to the United States with my family. Apart from a well-selected series of basic Chinese studies, I also brought a few ancient and rare books written by Su Dongpo or related to him, regardless of space considerations.At that time, I hoped to write a book to introduce him, or to translate some of his poems and articles into English. Even if I couldn’t, I hoped that he would be by my side when I went abroad.It is a great tonic for the soul to have a bookcase lined with the work of a man of charisma, originality, justice, willfulness, and originality.Now that I can write this book, I feel happy, and that alone is reason enough.

A distinct personality is always a mystery.There is one Su Dongpo in the world, but there can be no second one.The definition of personality can only satisfy the expert who defines it.It is not difficult to pick out from the life and character of a versatile and varied character a set of traits that the reader likes.I can say that Su Dongpo is a hopeless optimist, a great humanitarian, a friend of the people, a great writer, a great calligrapher, an innovative painter, an experimenter in brewing, an engineer, and a person who hates Puritanism , a yogi, a Buddhist, a great Confucian politician, an emperor's secretary, a wine lord, a kind judge, a political naysayer, a moonlit night prowler, a poet, and a clown.But this is not enough to tell the whole of Su Dongpo.Whenever Su Dongpo is mentioned, Chinese people always smile kindly and warmly. This conclusion may best express his characteristics.More than any other Chinese poet, Su Tungpo has the richness, variety, and humor of a multifaceted genius, brilliant in intellect but innocent in heart—a mix equal to what Jesus called the wisdom of a serpent plus the gentleness of a dove.It is undeniable that this combination is very rare, and only a few people in the world have both.There is one here!All his life he was completely natural to himself, completely true.He is not good at political sophistry and calculation by nature; his impromptu poems or works criticizing a certain unsatisfactory thing are the natural expression of the soul, completely instinctive, reckless and impulsive, just like what he called "the sound of birds in spring and insects in autumn". ", can also be compared to "the ape chanting and the crane jittering had no intention of doing so, and I didn't know that there were pedestrians walking below."He has always been involved in the political vortex, but he has always been above politics.Without scheming or goals, he sang, composed, and commented all the way, just wanting to express his feelings, regardless of all his own consequences.Because of this, readers today appreciate his works, admire him for using his mind in the course of events, and first and last reserve the right to speak for himself.His work exudes a lively personality, sometimes mischievous, sometimes dignified, depending on the occasion, but always sincere, sincere and undeceitful.He writes for no other reason than to love to write.There is no other reason for us to appreciate his works today, just because his writing is so beautiful and rich, and it comes from his innocent heart.

I have analyzed why every generation in China has sincerely worshiped Su Dongpo for the past thousand years. Now I come to the second reason, which is similar to the first point, but with a different terminology.Su Dongpo is charming.Just like the amorous feelings of women, the beauty and fragrance of flowers are easy to feel, but it is difficult to tell the ingredients.Su Dongpo has the great charm of an outstanding talent, and he will always worry his wife or the person who loves him the most—whether to admire his fearless courage, or to stop him so that he will not be hurt.Apparently there was a force of character in him that no one could stop, a force that had existed from the moment he was born, and let things take their course until death forced him to shut his mouth and stop laughing.He flicked the nib like a toy.He can be eccentric or solemn, mischievous or serious--very serious, and we hear from the tip of his pen a set of harpsichords that reflect all human states of joy, joy, disillusionment, and frustration.He is always happy to feast and have fun with a group of people.He said that he is impatient by nature, and when encountering things that are not pleasing to the eye, he "feeds like a fly and spits it out".He didn't like the works of a certain poet, so he said that "it's exactly what Jingdong's pedants got drunk after drinking bootleg wine and eating miasma and dead beef."

He joked about friends and enemies alike.Once, in a grand court ceremony, he mocked a Neo Confucianist in front of all the ministers, and his words hurt the other party, and he suffered a lot of bitter fruit for this in the future.But what other people don't understand is that he can be angry at things, but he can't hate others.He hates evil, and he is not interested in evildoers, he just doesn't like them.Resentment is a sign of incompetence.He never knew what incompetence was, so he never had a personal grudge.Generally speaking, we get the impression that he played and sang all his life, enjoying himself; when sorrow and misfortune came, he always accepted it with a smile.What I want to describe in my book is this kind of style, which is why he has become the favorite writer of many Chinese literati.

This is a story of a poet, painter, and friend of the people.He felt strongly, thought clearly, wrote beautifully, acted courageously, never being diverted by his own interests or the tide of public opinion.He does not know how to look after his own interest, but is very interested in the welfare of his fellow men.He is kind and generous, always unable to save a penny, but feels as rich as an emperor.He is stubborn, talkative, witty, open-minded, aboveboard; versatile, curious, in-depth, playful, romantic, and elegant in his works; he is quite Confucian as a father, brother, and husband, but he is a Taoist at heart, and hates all hypocrisy and deceit .His talent and knowledge are much higher than others, so there is no need to be jealous; he is too great to be gentle and kind to others.He is simple and sincere, and has never liked to put on airs.Whenever he puts on the shackles of an official position, he compares himself to a saddled deer.He lives in an era of turmoil, and it is inevitable that he will become a petrel in the political storm, an enemy of fatuous and selfish bureaucrats, and a fighter in the eyes of the anti-oppressive people.Every emperor worshiped him in private, and every empress dowager became his friend, but Su Dongpo was demoted and arrested, and lived in humiliation.

Su Tungpo's best quote, and his best description of himself, is what he said to his younger brother Ziyou: No wonder he was happy, carefree and fearless, and lived his life like a whirlwind. Su Dongpo's story is basically a story of the heart.He was a Buddhist in metaphysics, knew that life was a temporary manifestation of something else, an eternal soul in a transitory body, but he could not accept the theory that life was a burden and a misfortune—not necessarily.At least he himself appreciates every moment of life.His thoughts are Indian, but his temper is completely Chinese.From the Buddhist belief in the annihilation of life, the Confucian philosophy of life and the Taoist belief in simplifying life, a new alloy was melted from the crucible of his mind and senses.The largest category of life is only "100 years and 30,000 days", but this is long enough; if he fails to find the elixir, every moment of life on earth is still beautiful.His physical body will inevitably die, but in his next life he will become the stars in the sky and the rain on the ground, illuminating, nourishing and supporting all life.In this big life, he is just a small molecule that temporarily manifests the immortal vitality, and it doesn't matter which molecule he is.After all, life is eternal and beautiful, and he lived happily.This is the mystery of Su Dongpo, the happy genius.

There are not too many long notes attached to this book, but the sources of the dialogues in the book can be checked, and the original sentences are quoted as much as possible, but it is not easy to see.All sources are from Chinese books, and the footnotes are not of much use to most American readers.Summary sources can be found in the bibliographical appendix.In order to prevent readers from being confused about Chinese names, I have omitted less important names and sometimes only mentioned surnames.Chinese scholars have four or five names, and it is necessary to use only one from beginning to end.When translating Chinese names from English to English, I remove the nasty "hs" and use "sh" instead, which is more reasonable.I translated some poems into English poems, and some involved too many anecdotes, which made the translation seem weird and unpoetic. I didn't add long notes because I was afraid that the meaning would be unclear, so I had to rewrite them into English prose.