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How did Su Shi change the ci form of Chinese poetry?

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Scene from Romance of the Three Kingdoms — Chinese literature *Zhang Fei on the Long Sloped Bridge Turning Away One Million Wei Troops with a Powerful Stare*, woodblock colour print by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi, 1884. It depicts a scene from the novel *Romance of the Three Kingdoms*.

Su Shi, also known as Su Dongpo, was a transformative figure in Chinese literature who significantly expanded the scope of the ci song form.

Prior to his influence, the ci genre was primarily associated with themes of love and sentiment, often guided by the diction and style of the women singers who popularized the form. Su Shi broke away from these restrictive conventions by emphasizing spontaneity and personal expressiveness in his work.12

His primary contribution was the founding of the haofang ("heroic abandon") school of writing. By loosening the traditional rules governing both the form and content of ci poetry, he moved the genre beyond its origins in romantic lyricism. His poems often reflected his own life experiences, demonstrating an optimism and intellectual depth that allowed the ci to become a vehicle for broader, more profound subject matter. This shift paved the way for later masters like Xin Qiji to further innovate within the genre.21