Youâve probably seen that post floating around Tumblr a while ago:
my favorite thing iâve learned in college is that way back in ancient china there was this poet/philosopher guy who wrote this whole pretentious poem about how enlightened he was that was like âthe eight winds cannot move meâ blahblahblah and he was really proud of it so he sent it to his friend who lived across the lake and then his friend sends it back and just writes âFARTâ (or the ancient Chinese equivalent) on it and he was SO MAD he travels across the lake to chew his friend out and when he gets there his friend says âwow. the eight winds cannot move you, but one fart sends you across the lakeâ
So I got curious, and I did some research, and apparently, the poet was Su Dongpo, also known as Su Shi (8 January 1037 â 24 August 1101), and he wasnât just a poet - he was a writer, poet, painter, calligrapher, pharmacologist, gastronome, and a statesman of the Song dynasty.
That particular event happened while he was assigned to an official post at Guazhuo, and the âfriend who lived across the lakeâ was actually Chan master Foyin, who was the master of a temple on the mountain on the opposite shore.
A translation of the poem Su Dongpo sent to master Foyin:
âBowing with my highest respect
To the deva of devas
Whose fine light illuminates the whole universe,
The eight winds cannot move me,
For I am sitting upright on the golden purple lotus blossom.â
Foyin wrote âPiâ on the poem (âfartâ, but also ânonsenseâ), and sent it back, and the rest is history.
