Exile and Invention in the Prose Writings of Su Shi

In Exile and Invention in the Prose Writings of Su Shi, Ronald Egan pays special attention to a neglected aspect of Su Shi’s literary work, those prose forms that had traditionally been considered less prestigious: the informal letter; the short colophon on topics such as poetry, the visual arts, and day trips; and other miscellaneous notes. Su Shi’s exploration of these “lesser” prose genres was tied to his periods of political exile—he turned to these forms during his first exile as alternatives to the political poetry and more traditional prose for which he was imprisoned. Later, when returned to high office, he continued to write in this vein, and it came to play a major role in his literary expression during the exiles of the last decade of his life. As Egan shows, Su Shi’s increasing reliance upon these non-traditional prose forms—even as he kept writing classical poetry—was linked to his political persecution, which pushed his literary creativity in new directions. It also greatly influenced Chinese literary history, inspiring writers of later centuries to follow his lead.