Su Shi
Su Shi | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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蘇軾 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Posthumous Yuan dynasty portrait of Su Shi by Zhao Mengfu | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minister of Rites | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 1092–1093 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Minister of War | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| In office 1092–1093 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 8 January 1037 Meizhou, Chengdu Fu Circuit, Song dynasty | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 24 August 1101 (aged 64) Changzhou, Liangzhe Circuit, Song dynasty | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Relations | Su Zhe (brother) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Parent | Su Xun (father) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Notable works | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 蘇軾 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 苏轼 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Su Shi (Chinese: 蘇軾; 8 January 1037 – 24 August 1101), courtesy name Zizhan (子瞻), art name Householder Dongpo (東坡居士), was a Chinese literatus, scholar-official, and artist of the Song dynasty. Born into a prominent literary family in Meizhou, he was the son of Su Xun and brother of Su Zhe. Despite ambitions for high office, he became a repeated target in factional struggles between reformers and conservatives at the court, and he spent much of his career in exile, periods during which his literary output flourished.
A towering figure in Chinese literature and arts, Su left a prolific body of work that exerted enduring influence across the Sinosphere. His prose, ranging from philosophical to technical to culinary, earned him a place among the Eight Masters of the Tang and Song. His poetry is marked by vitality and boldness. In calligraphy he is counted among the Four Masters of Song Calligraphy. As a painter he was known for bamboo and weathered rocks, championing the capture of spirit over outward likeness.