Ascetic Yuan Hong secluded himself in a courtyard chamber, keeping plain clothes and wooden clogs. He honored his mother indoors yet skipped formal mourning rites after her death. Twice summoned by the court, he declined, earning high praise from Fan Pang for balancing filial piety and integrity.
Upright scholar Xia Fu was falsely framed as a partisan by corrupt eunuchs. To spare others from disaster, he cut his beard, disguised himself and labored as a metalworker in mountains. Even after amnesty, he stayed in exile until the governor fetched him after three attempts.
Su Shi (1037–1101) was a preeminent literatus, poet, calligrapher, and painter of the Northern Song dynasty. His courtesy name was Zizhan, and he adopted the literary sobriquet “Dongpo Jushi” (Householder of the Eastern Slope). Born in Meishan, Meizhou (in present-day Sichuan Province), he is collectively known with his father Su Xun and younger brother…