Of immense importance in China, and perhaps lesser known in the West, Su Shi (1037-1101), literary name Su Dongpo, was more than your average Renaissance man. Hailed as one of the most revered, prodigious figures in Chinese culture, he was an artist, writer, philosopher, scientist and hugely influential politician. He executed vast civil engineering projects, championed economic reforms, withstood constant slander and persecution for his steadfast stance against the powerful New Policy Group, and was sentenced to two decades of exile in the lush Hubei province. There, undeterred by cruel fate, he composed some of the most scintillating verses in Chinese literary history, and adopted the name “Dongpo,” meaning “eastern slope.” He was also a famed gastronome, noted for penning the authoritative formula for (not sushi, sorry) a mean braised pork belly, Dongpo Pork (recipe here). Although Su Shi married at age 17, legend says he was quite the ladies’ man, an ideal subject for numerous semi-fictional, liberally peppered accounts of history.
