Su Shi was a statesman of the Song Dynasty, but perhaps best known one of the major poets of the era. He published his work under the pseudonym Dongpo Jushi (東坡居士 "Resident of Dongpo") and is therefore best known as Su Dong Po (蘇東坡).
The focus of the story is the time of his first exile to the region of Huangzhou, Hubei, just prior to writing the first and second part of "The Red Cliffs" (Chibi Fu).