I. The central question

This chapter is let us to know who is Su Tungpo. Firstly, Lin Yutang told us something about Su Tungpo in his mind. He understand Su Tungpo ?because he like him. However, maybe he knew that was a subjective view. Then he wrote about Su Tungpo's life and politic experiences, which we may called the Su Tungpo in history. The important thing which Lin Yuntang wanted us knew about Su Tungpo waa more than this. From page 26 to 29, Lin showed us Sun Tungpo as a great genuis in literature. Just like an old Chinese saying goes, "the article style is just like the author's personality". In Sung dynasty, Su Tungpo was faced the unfair treatment and ruthless publishment, but the history of literature gave his the appropriate evaluation. We can regard him as a great poet, a famous literary giant, a genuis reformer of article and poetic. These words are never too much for him.

II. The sentences

1. There is a current Chinese saying that final judgment upon a man is possible only when the cover is nailed on his coffin. A man's life is like a drama, and we can judge a drama only when the curtain drops.

這兩句中，前一句為“蓋棺論定”，后一句用戲劇落幕做對比，對西方讀者而言，更加通俗易懂

2. At the time of Su Tungpo's youth there was a brilliant galaxy of scholars gathered at the court of the Chinese emperor.

a brilliant galaxy of ? “如星辰匯聚”

3.When a cause becomes holy, the means used to achieve it inevitably becomes vile.

l林語堂筆下時而出現的說理也十分精彩，‘’神圣的目標背后，往往是無所不用其極的手段。”

III. Thought

無論是序言還是第一章的首段，林語堂絲毫不掩飾他對蘇東坡的喜愛，不禁讓人懷疑，僅憑一己之喜好為蘇軾作傳，是否太過流于主觀了呢？然而，這種想法卻是對林語堂先生的低估。林語堂先生以自己的熱忱，展現了心目中的蘇東坡，隨后引入細致的考證，蘇軾的文集的保存與流傳情況等等，讓我們客觀地了解到歷史上的蘇軾，而不至于受林語堂先生的影響而產生先入為主的觀念。但是，林語堂先生的考證也有不實之處，比如他指出蘇軾詩第一個將佛理入詩的人，這樣的錯誤簡直讓人咋舌，且不說謝靈運與齊梁詩人們，這樣的說法讓王維情何以堪？并且蘇軾寫給“李琪”的那首詩，原詩如下：

《贈黃州官妓》

東坡五載黃州住，何事無言及李宜。

卻似西川杜工部，海棠雖好不吟詩。