Introduction
“Mist and rain on Mount Lu, tides on the Zhejiang River: before arriving, a thousand longings remain.”
With talent and favorable times, even a difficult ascent can bring confidence. In Emperor Renzong’s relatively open reign, the young Su Dongpo must have felt like a wild goose: leaving a fleeting trace in the mud, yet unconcerned with whether its flight went east or west.
But what if someone full of life reaches their prime just as the times change, and must follow a downward path, wandering and beginning again?
What endures in Su Dongpo is not only public service or learning. Even when rulers, the times, or his own weariness disappointed him, he could acknowledge his distress and still find a way to love particular lives, people, landscapes, rain, and dew.
He was an official with convictions, a moral thinker with compassion, a walker under the moon, and a poet.
Life can vanish in a moment, or be met with generosity and a measure of independence from the world.
Perhaps philosophy’s use includes the ability to laugh at oneself. Humor may be a gift, but ease can also follow experience. Where others lament life’s brevity against the endless river, Su Dongpo finds the river breeze and mountain moon available without exhaustion. And when he thinks he has no one to share them with, he has Zhang Huaiming.
A broad moral spirit does not depend on bodily form, strength, life, or death. Having sought and found benevolence, what remains to resent?
With Mid-Autumn just past, I have set aside this meeting for a discussion of Su Dongpo.
Life feels like a vessel into which I put experience, little by little. While alive, I want to taste its bitterness and sweetness and make the journey.
Even if, on returning, there is nothing more than “mist and rain on Mount Lu, tides on the Zhejiang River.”
Literature & Reading
Read the original article (Chinese) Original Event Information
Date and time: Oct 10, 2025 (Fri) 7:30PM
Location: 958 111th Ave NE, Bellevue, WA 98004 (Elements Apartments)
This session is a discussion.
Discussion: Where the Wild Goose Flies—Talking About Su Dongpo
Capacity: 30 people
— Schedule —
Arrival and seating
Opening and introductions for new participants: briefly share a recent book, film, program, or piece of music you enjoyed (3 minutes each).
Where the Wild Goose Flies: Talking about Su Dongpo
Registered speakers have 5–10 minutes each.
Group photo
— Registration —
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Please use the registration link above.
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About Elsewhere Book Club
Elsewhere Book Club
The name Elsewhere comes from Milan Kundera’s Life Is Elsewhere.
Life Is Elsewhere.
We seem more inclined to imagine a golden age when looking backward or forward. Yet, in my own life, this moment and elsewhere have become inseparable, each giving meaning to the other.
Live fully in this moment. The search for elsewhere also takes place here and now.
I had just arrived in Seattle. In an unfamiliar place, my first impulse was to start a small book club, perhaps to meet others who find steadiness in books and enjoy sustained conversation.
Mount Sumeru within a mustard seed; a mustard seed holding Mount Sumeru.
I hope this small space can give us somewhere to exchange ideas each week.
The name Elsewhere comes from Milan Kundera’s Life Is Elsewhere.
Life Is Elsewhere.
We seem more inclined to imagine a golden age when looking backward or forward. Yet, in my own life, this moment and elsewhere have become inseparable, each giving meaning to the other.
Live fully in this moment. The search for elsewhere also takes place here and now.
I had just arrived in Seattle. In an unfamiliar place, my first impulse was to start a small book club, perhaps to meet others who find steadiness in books and enjoy sustained conversation.
Mount Sumeru within a mustard seed; a mustard seed holding Mount Sumeru.
I hope this small space can give us somewhere to exchange ideas each week.
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