No wonder the Sung poet Su Tung-p'o took up the popular habit of chewing betel nut when he was banished to Hainan Island. The Sung neo-Confucian philosopher Chu Hsi and the poet Huang T'ing-chien also chewed betel nut to ward off the effects of southern climes.
難怪宋朝大文學家蘇東坡被貶到海南島時，入境隨俗地開始吃檳榔；理學家朱熹、詩人黃庭堅等也吃檳榔，以驅除南方的瘴癘之氣。