SU TUNG-P'O

born Dec. 19, 1036, Mei-shan [now in Szechwan Province], China died July 28, 1101, Ch'ang-chou, Che-hsia [now Kiangsu Province] Pinyin Su Dongpo, pen name of (WadeGiles romanization) Su Shih, or Su Shi one of China's greatest poets and essayists, who was also an accomplished painter and calligrapher and a public official. A member of a literary family, the young Su Tung-p'o performed brilliantly in his official examinations and was rewarded with the first of the many official positions he occupied during his long and distinguished career. While Su was popular with the people of the various provinces in which he industriously served, he sometimes encountered criticism from the frequently changing heads of state. Wang An-shih, prime minister under the Sung emperor Shen Tsung and an accomplished poet himself, banished Su to Huang-chou, Hupeh, in 1079, because of Su's opposition to some of Wang's radical reform measures. Yet, despite his five-year banishment, Su remained friendly to Wang, later exchanging poems with him. He demonstrated this same optimism and lack of bitterness when he was banished by other forces in 1094 to southern Kwang-tung. He was allowed to return to the mainland and was restored to favour and office shortly before his death. Su Tung-p'o was a leader of Sung-dynasty poets in trying to loosen poetic conventions on form and content, especially in the song form known as tz'u. The optimism he demonstrated in his private and political life can be seen also in his verse.