为甚酥诗 Flaky Delight

A Note for Flaky Delight

Chinese original: Su Shi(11th Centuary)

English version: Julia Min (Feb, 2025)

With a gourd bottle on my thigh,

without a care in my mind,

I sat down for a sip of wine,

a toast to flowers in the wild.

Pan’s watered wine kills my time.

I now desire your Flaky Delight.

from wapbaike.baidu.com (“舌尖上的苏东坡”）

Analysis: 

There's an interesting story behind this little poem. One day, Su Shi was invited to dinner by Scholar Ho in Huangzhou. A local pastry was served with tea. Dongpo loved its flaky texture and asked, "What is this called? How is it so flaky and delightful?" Ho replied, "It doesn't have a name — but now it does. You've just named it. How about 'Flaky Delight'?" Ho then served a local rice wine from Pan's brewery. Su Shi tasted it and laughed: "Pan must have mixed it with water by mistake." The guests shared his humour, and henceforth Pan's wine was known as "Watered Wine."

This poem was likely written during a carefree moment before his favourite crabapple tree in Huangzhou, a very poor period when he could barely feed his family. He loved his modest wine and grew accustomed to Pan's Water Wine. The flaky pastry has since become a famous local specialty called "Dongpo's Flaky Delight," still sold in local supermarkets today. The poem reads almost like a note sent with his servant on an errand: fetch some Flaky Delight to go with the wine.

At first glance, the poem seems plain — like much Song Dynasty art. But the hidden message depends on the reader's knowledge of the poet. Su Shi became famous at twenty-one. His works were widely sought after. Even his political rival Wang Anshi would constantly ask for Su Shi's latest compositions. Now imagine how his opponents would read this poem from exile: He's cast aside, doing nothing at all in Huangzhou. Let him stay just like that. We can carry out the New Law without interference.

Su Shi knew this. The poem quietly satirises his own ambition to serve the people of the Song. Wandering without a care in the world is surely not what he wanted then. But here he is — toasting to flowers, drinking watered wine, begging for pastry. That's the dark humour beneath the lightness. Do you agree?

为甚酥诗

原作: 苏轼（字子瞻, 号东坡居士; 11世纪北宋）

野饮花前百事无，腰间唯系一葫芦。

已倾潘子错注水，更觅君家为甚酥。