PART 1 Sentences

It was a period when Su Tungpo was feeling sad and despondent, and strange to say, it was when the poet was saddest that he wrote his best poems. That is, judged by Chinese standards, it was in this period that he reached complete maturity as a poet. 

He was later to be forced into a period of temporary retirement and political eclipse, after which emerged the full, round, mature, active, patriotic Su Tungpo that we know and people in China love, the Su Tungpo with a mellow humor, a friend and champion of the people and a great human spirit.

Su Tungpo's sufferings and his accomplishment made in poetry reminded me of Trevor Noah. Had I not read his autobiography, I would surmise that Trevor comes from a well-off family and lives a life that is full of fun. However, his real life is filled with sufferings and adversities.  Violence, discrimination, and death were the foundation on which he built his funny jokes and hilarious stories. Although it sounds like quite a cliché, but it's a verity that hardship is a true gift. Setbacks and failures teaches us things that we could learn no other way. Although we might never experience such adversities and sufferings Su Tongpo or Trevor Noach experienced, the humility to know that life is capricious and harsh can help us get inoculated by its vicissitudes. 

PART 2 Expressions

1. At a time when free criticism was most resented at the court, it was a style definitely calculated to land the poet in trouble.

be calculated to do sth: to be intended to have a particular effect

a question calculated to embarrass him

后文里又出现了一次这个表达：

In his private letter to the Empress, Su Tungpo pointed out that such neglect of the people was not calculated to win their good will toward the government.

2. Why does she, bearing us no grudge, shine upon our parting, reunion deny?

bear在这里的含义是 to have a particular feeling, especially a bad feeling

grudge: a feeling of dislike for sb because you cannot forget that they harmed you in the past 怨恨

It could be the work of someone with a grudge against the company.

bear (sb) a grudge: continue to feel annoyed after a long time

It was an accident. I don't' bear any grudges.

bear sb no malice/ ill will etc: not fell angry

He was just doing his job, and I bore him no malice.

3. Tseyu was not there, for great political changes were in the air.

be in the air: 1. to be going to happen very soon

Change is in the air.

2. if a feeling is in the air, a lot of people feel it at the same time

There was a sense of excitement in the air.

4. Waiting in vain for a reply, he modified his proposal and recommended the building of dams not with rock, but with strong timber reinforcements.

in vain: 1. without success in spite of your efforts 徒劳地

Police searched in vain for the missing gunman.

2. without purpose or without positive results

Altman swore that his son's death would not be in vain 白白地

take sb's name in vain： to talk about sb without showing respect for them

How dare you take the Lord's name in vain? 亵渎上帝之名

5. He saw, for example, that there were many soldiers who deserted the army and became bandits, because of a preposterous system practically compelling corporals to go into debt when they were sent out on a distant journey on official business without fees for travel.

preposterous: [prɪˈpɒstərəs] 荒谬可笑的；不合理的 completely unreasonable or silly SYN absurd

The whole idea sounds absolutely preposterous!

preposterousness: (n.)

6. After Su Tungpo died, Huang became the greatest poet of his time, and people always spoke of him in the same breath with Su Tungpo.

in the same breath: 1. mention two people in the same breath, you show that you think they are alike or are related (breath as/ with)

a young poet mentioned in the same breath as T.S. Eliot

2. = in the next breath, used to say that sb has said two things at once that are so different from each other they cannot both be true

He criticized the film, then predicted in the same breath that it would be a great success.

Huang Tingchien's calligraphy