amazing biography of the great poet/politician/philosopher of song dynasty, Su Dongpo
the author Li Yibing is not a renowned professor. he begin writing this book when he was serving an unjust sentence in prison. he resort to writing about sudongpos story as a method of connecting with someone who also faced great unfairness.
at one point of reading I felt a little depressed, I mean what can Su do? he is stuck in this time of history, with this emperor who trust Wang Anshi more than him. his ambition in changing the ordinary peoples life is not achievable, what a heart breaking moment.
Su is a prolific poet and has written thousands of poem throughout his life. one thing I appreciate about this book is that it structures the story of Su life around his poems, which allows me to enjoy the poem at the same time understanding the context in which they were written.
also ancient chinese text is in itself an entirely different language, it is much easier for me to understand, and more fun to read when it is intertwined with story plot written in more modern Chinese.