Su Dongpo: Food and love are the only things you can’t live up to. From a first-line foodie Su Dongpo is an optimist, and he is an incurable optimist.

When Lin Yutang wrote Su Dongpo's biography, he gave his idol a long list of novel identities and labels, one of which was "the hopeless optimist".

After reading "The Biography of Su Dongpo" and reading Su Dongpo's poems and prose, it is not difficult for you to know that no matter where he is or what the situation is, this world-famous writer always takes things as he comes.

Face daily life with an peaceful mind, and treat every meal, every vegetable, every drink carefully.

"In this world, you can only live up to love and delicious food." Such a sentence, or such a philosophy of life, also applies to the Dongpo layman nearly a thousand years ago.

In the third year of Yuanfeng, Emperor Shenzong of the Song Dynasty, the 44-year-old Su Dongpo lost in the struggle between the old and new parties and was demoted to Huangzhou.

Here, he and his wife and children lived a peasant life, where men farmed and women weaved, and returned to their gardens and fields.

Huangzhou's rainy and dim natural environment, including its tight economic situation, could not stop Su Dongpo's enthusiasm for life itself.

He led his family to reclaim the eastern slope, plant barley, build snow halls, build dams, dig fish ponds... He did all the things by himself and became self-sufficient. He became an out-and-out farmer here.

As Lin Yutang said in "The Biography of Su Dongpo": The most lovely time for Su Dongpo is when he is making a living by his own efforts.

After busy farming, Su Dongpo likes to delve into food.

Dongpo Pork is a specialty dish, and he even wrote a special poem "Ode to Pork": Wash the pan cleanly, use less water, and the firewood will not smoke.

Don't rush him until he matures. When the fire is sufficient, he will be beautiful.

Huangzhou's good pork is as cheap as dirt.

The rich don't want to eat, the poor don't know how to cook. They get up in the morning and take two bowls, so that they are so full that they don't care about it.

He said that Huangzhou pork is really good and the price is very low. Rich people don’t want to eat it, and people without money don’t know how to cook it. As for me, I eat two bowls of it when I get up in the morning, which is both satisfying and delicious.

The specific method is as follows: clean the pot, put in a little water, light the firewood, and simmer slowly over low heat. Don't rush, don't rush for time, the heat will be enough, and the taste will naturally be delicious.

Being demoted to Huangzhou and frustrated in his official career actually inspired Su Dongpo to reach a peak in his literary creation.

Here he wrote "Red Cliff Ode", "Night Tour of Chengtian Temple" and other beautiful articles that have been passed down through the ages.

Regarding the rural life here, he felt that he was living like Tao Yuanming, and he had this belief in life: "I am now planting rice on Dongpo, and I have fun even while working hard. I have five houses, dozens of fields of fruits and vegetables, and mulberry trees."

More than a hundred books. I am working on cultivating silkworms for my wife, but I am not able to live up to my wish. I stayed in Xuetang for three years and left here after being ordered by the court.

Last spring I went to Hangzhou and tasted a cup of Dongpo Pork in a restaurant by the West Lake.

In fact, the meat still has the same taste. Probably many people are like me. What they really taste is not the pork, but a feeling, a taste related to Su Dongpo and Tang poetry and Song lyrics.

In the first year of Shaosheng reign of Emperor Zhezong of the Song Dynasty, Su Dongpo, who was nearly sixty years old, was demoted to Lingnan.

At that time, Lingnan was not what it used to be. Traffic was congested, the area was remote, and it was far away from relatives and friends.

These realistic situations did not discourage Su Dongpo. He faced the different journeys and encounters in life with a happy-go-lucky attitude as always.

Here, Su Dongpo wrote odes and poems about wine and tried brewing cinnamon wine, although the results were unsatisfactory.

No matter what, it at least shows that he is living a steamy life.

Although Huizhou in Lingnan is geographically remote, the spring-like climate all year round brings a benefit to the people here, which is the ability to taste a variety of delicious fruits.

Su Dongpo once wrote in a poem: It is spring at the foot of Luofu Mountain, and the oranges and yellow plums are new one after another.

He eats three hundred lychees a day and grows up to be a Lingnan native.

Just to be able to eat fresh lychees, Su Dongpo said that he was willing to live here forever.

Don't complain, don't be picky, no matter how difficult things are, always have an optimistic and free heart, and you can always live a happy life in spite of hardships.

During his exile in Huizhou, Su Dongpo wrote a letter to his younger brother Su Che. He did not tell about the hardships of life, nor did he vent his anger at being demoted. Instead, he shared a newly invented delicacy: roasted lamb spine.

In Huizhou, due to his status as a relegated official, Su Shi could not compete with other officials to buy mutton, so he always asked the butcher to leave some mutton spines.

In the letter, he taught Su Che how to make this delicacy: boil the lamb spine, soak it in water, sprinkle it with wine, sprinkle it with salt, and roast it until it is slightly charred.

After cooking for a day, there is often only one and a half taels of meat, but it is extremely delicious and tastes like crab!

He takes it every three to five days and feels very nourished.