現代　林語堂　行書東坡詞　冊頁|Ci Poem by Su Shi

Lin Yutang

dated 1968 · Album leaf; ink on paper · Asian Art

In this piece written for his daughter Taiyi, Lin Yutang transcribes a poem by the renowned literatus Su Shi (1037–1101). This poem describes, in a humorous tone, an awkward situation Su Shi encountered when he was banished to Huangzhou (present-day Huanggang, Hubei) from 1080 to 1084. Being locked out of his own house late one night, he transformed his predicament into an aesthetic experience: After a drink at night at Dongpo [in Huangzhou], I wake up and get drunk again; By the time I come home it seems to be midnight. The boy servant is asleep, snoring like thunder, And does not answer the door. Resting on a cane I listen to the murmur of the river. I always regret that I am not master of my own life. When can I stop this hustling about? The night is late, the air is calm, and the water has a sheen of unruffled light. Let me take a small boat down the river hence, To spend beyond the seas the remainder of my days. (trans. after Lin Yutang) Su Shi's self-mockery certainly appealed to Lin Yutang, the Chinese master of humor. In his biography of Su, The Gay Genius: The Life and Times of Su Tungpo (1947), Lin describes him as "an incorrigible optimist, a great humanitarian, a friend of the people, a prose master, an original painter, a great calligraphist, an experimenter in wine making, an engineer, a hater of Puritanism, a yogi, a Buddhist believer, a Confucian statesman, a secretary to the emperor, a confirmed winebibber, a humane judge, a dissenter in politics, a prowler in the moonlight, a poet, and a wag."

Artist

Lin Yutang

Date

dated 1968

Medium

Album leaf; ink on paper

Culture

China

Department

Asian Art

Credit line

The Lin Yutang Family Collection, Gift of Richard M. Lai, Jill Lai Miller, and Larry C. Lai, in memory of Taiyi Lin Lai, 2005