Su Dongpo

Su Shi, better known by his literary name Su Dongpo, was a poet, essayist, calligrapher and painter of the Song dynasty and one of the best-loved figures in Chinese literature. Born in Meishan in Sichuan, he passed the highest imperial examination young and spent his life as an official, moving from post to post and several times into exile, in the end as far as Hainan Island. He took the name Dongpo, “Eastern Slope”, from a plot of land he farmed during his banishment to Huangzhou. As prefect of Hangzhou he had West Lake dredged, and the mud was piled into the Su Causeway, still the lake’s best-known walk. Dongpo pork, the slow-braised pork belly on Hangzhou menus, carries his name: he really did write a joking verse about cooking pork, though the stories of how the dish was named are popular tradition.