The friendship story between Su Shi and Dong Chuan originated from their meeting in Fengxiang. At that time, Dong Chuansheng was living in poverty and dressed simply, but he was full of poetry and knowledge, showing an optimistic spirit. Su Shi appreciated Dong Chuan's talent and personality very much, and they became bosom friends.

When Dong Chuan was preparing for the imperial examination, Su Shi wrote a poem "Farewell with Dong Chuan" for him, which expressed his praise and encouragement for his talent. Among them, the phrase "self-effacing with poetic spirit" has become a famous aphorism that inspires future generations to study hard.

Su Shi (137-111), with the word Zi Zhan and the word He Zhong, was named Tieguan Taoist and Dongpo layman, and was known as Su Dongpo, Su Xian and Po Xian in the world. Meishan, Meizhou (now Meishan City, Sichuan Province) is a native of Luancheng, Hebei Province, a writer, calligrapher and painter in the Northern Song Dynasty, and a historical water control celebrity. The father is Su Xun, the younger brother is Su Zhe, and the father and son are called "Three Sus".

Su Shi's main influence

Su Shi is very clever and discerning, so he can find wonderful ideas everywhere. Deep life thinking makes Su Shi hold a calm and broad-minded attitude towards ups and downs, which is fully reflected in Su Shi's poems. Su Shi's poems in adversity certainly contain pain, resentment and depression, but Su Shi's more poems show his contempt for suffering and his transcendence of pain.

Su Shi is knowledgeable, and his mastery of the artistic skills of poetry has reached a skillful level. He treats the artistic norms with a surprising spirit of renovation. Moreover, the expressive power of Su Shi's poems is amazing, and there are almost no themes that can't be included in Su Shi's poems.

The late Northern Song Dynasty, represented by Yuan You's poetry circle, was the heyday of Song poetry, and the creation of Su Shi, Wang Anshi, Huang Tingjian and Chen Shidao pushed the art of Song poetry to the peak.

above content reference: Baidu Encyclopedia-Su Shi