SOURCE: "Late Period of the Northern Sung—1050-1100," in An Introduction to Sung Poetry, translated by Burton Watson, Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1967, pp. 85-133.

In the following excerpt, Yoshikawa presents a detailed discussion about the manner in which Su was able to "transcend sorrow by means of a philosophy that viewed the infinite variety of human life with a largeness of vision that was equally varied.

Su Tung-p'o's poetic works, in which he gives free and unrestrained expression to his rich and varied talent, are unmatched in stature by anything else in Sung poetry. First of all, he took over the interest in description that was already evident in the work of Ou-yang Hsiu and developed it to the fullest extent. As descriptions of objects we may note the series of poems written early in his career which he called "Eight Sights of Feng-hsiang," particularly that entitled...