-thoughts on reading the biography of su Dongpo
In China's 4,000-year history, there were four political reforms, all of which ended in fiasco. The first time was Shang Yang's political reform, which made Qin an unprecedented power, but this huge empire unexpectedly collapsed within a few years. The other two were the periods of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and Wang Mang, both of which were radical reforms, which almost led to rebellion and were forced to be abolished. The fourth time was the 15-year-long innovation initiated by Wang Anshi, which ended in abolishing the new law and following the old one. But Wang Anshi left a deep impression on the whole Song Dynasty and even the whole history.
Unique personality
Wang Anshi is a person with great personality.
First of all, it is reflected in his clothes. His clothes are dirty, his hair is messy and his appearance is sloppy. He never changes his robe. One day, some friends went to the temple to take a bath with him. Before he came out from the shower, his friends deliberately left a clean robe outside to test whether he knew his clothes had been changed. Wang Anshi put on that new robe after washing. His friend is so active that he doesn't know. Anyway, he always wears a skirt.
Secondly, it is reflected in the usual way of eating vegetables. Another day, a friend told Wang Anshi's fat wife that her husband likes to eat shredded deer. His fat wife said, "I don't believe it. He never pays attention to what he eats. Why did he suddenly like shredded deer? " Did you put a deer in front of him? "Friends say yes, the fat wife said, you can put other dishes in front of him and see what he likes to eat. So the friends changed the position of the dish the next day and put the deer silk far away from him. Sure enough, Wang Anshi began to eat the latest dishes, and the deer silk was placed on the table as usual, but he had no clue.
Thirdly, it is also reflected in his popularity. He is a person who can't get along with others. Whether he was a student or later became a prime minister, he advocated political reform. It is no exaggeration to say that he devoted all his energy to his inner thoughts and career. So he seems to think that interpersonal relationship is not very important. Because of this defect, I think his new law is doomed to failure without the support of others.
Finally, it is reflected in his unique way of being an official. About twenty years before he took office, he was talked about because he repeatedly refused the promotion of the court. Some people think that he is a man who seeks fame, but you should know that he was admitted to the Jinshi examination at the age of 2/kloc-0, and gained power at the age of 46. For 25 years, he refused to be appointed and preferred to be a small official in a remote province. During his tenure as satrap, he made outstanding achievements and was deeply loved by the people. He didn't come to Beijing until the fifth year of Injong Jiayou (1064), when the court appointed him as the judge of the Third Division. But then I thought my mother was in mourning. Refused to be an official in Beijing, preferring to stay in Jinling. At this point, I think Wang Anshi is an admirable person. In the Song Dynasty, when literature was valued over martial arts, he had the courage to refuse promotion again and again. What great tolerance and courage.
Deep attainments
Wang Anshi is a genius who became famous as a teenager. He is very smart since he was a child, loves reading, never forgets anything, and can write. When I was young, I followed my father all over the country to get in touch with reality and experience the sufferings of the people. The article has made profound and wonderful arguments and used them for reference, so that we can change our customs. In the fourth year of Song Renzong Jingyou (1037), Wang Anshi went to Beijing with his father and made friends with Ceng Gong. Ceng Gong recommended his article to Ouyang Xiu, who was very grateful. In the second year of Song Renzong Li Qing (1042), he ranked fourth in Yang Jian Jinshi list and was awarded the title of Judge of Huainan Festival. After taking office, Wang Anshi gave up the opportunity to try the cabinet in Beijing and was transferred to the magistrate of Yinxian County. Wang Anshi was in office for four years, building water conservancy and expanding schools, and his political achievements began to show. In the third year (105 1), Wang Anshi was appointed as a judge, diligent and loving the people, with remarkable achievements. Wen Yanbo, the prime minister, recommended Song Renzong for Wang Anshi's indifference to fame and fortune and law-abiding, and asked the court to praise him to encourage customs. Wang Anshi refused because he didn't want to stir up the wind of leapfrog promotion. Ouyang Xiu was recommended as an admonition officer, but Wang Anshi declined because her grandmother was old. Ouyang Xiu appointed Wang Anshi as the animal husbandry judge on the grounds of bringing home the bacon. Soon Wang Anshi became well-known in Changzhou. He met Zhou Dunyi and became famous.
But when I became prime minister, I think one thing was his failure in the literary world, which was strongly opposed by Su Dongpo, a great writer. Rainbow Mang, who also tampered with ancient books, wrote a book called "Three Classics and New Meanings", which became the official ideological standard to replace all famous scholars in the past. This behavior is not only an abuse of official power, but also an insult to academics. Like his linguistics, The New Meaning of Three Classics often contains Buddhist thoughts, with many new ideas and shallow academic foundation. The most annoying thing is that this book was hastily compiled in two years. So this book was unanimously opposed by Su Dongpo and others as soon as it came out. This may be one aspect that Wang Anshi is slightly inferior to Su Dongpo.
Continuous innovation
Wang Anshi's persistence in political reform can be described as rock-solid, and no one can shake his determination. His dream of becoming a powerful country was strongly supported by the ambitious Song Shenzong. He told Song Shenzong that in order to reform, all obstacles must be removed, and the four murderers as evil as those in the Yao and Shun era must be removed. Wang Anshi said to Zongshen, "If these four treacherous officials can't go to the imperial court, they will still be jealous of the sages, harm the energy with conspiracy, and the sages will also abandon their officials." Zong Shen was very moved and immediately became the biggest backer and backing of his political reform. Under such persistent innovation, the "four murderers" of the imperial court fell one after another. In less than two years, * * * cleaned up fourteen people, eleven of whom were from Yushitai and three were remonstrators in the palace, including the famous Su Dongpo. Although there are many difficulties, Wang Anshi's determination has never wavered.
The disillusionment of dreams
? Wang Anshi's innovation is doomed to failure. I think its failure mainly includes the following points:
1. His reform is too idealistic. His innovation covers a wide range, which fundamentally shakes the economic foundation of Dasong. He directly traded the court with the people, depriving the businessmen of the right to operate, which first caused a public opinion that could shake the foundation of the Song Dynasty: the court knew how to squeeze from the people, which made the court and the people form an opposition to some extent. One of the most despised reforms is his Young Crop Law, in which the court spent huge sums of money to lend money to the people during spring ploughing, and recovered the principal and interest a few months later, which really made the court profit from it and enriched the state treasury. But the reality is that the rich don't need loans, and the poor need loans, but they can't repay them. They need to find a mortgagor. But in the end, only the mortgagor can repay the loan, which has caused a terrible phenomenon. Many people are afraid of going to jail because they can't afford the loan, so they can only leave their homes and wander around. Therefore, such an idealized reform can only be a flower in the water and a moon in the mirror, which is doomed to failure.
His reform is too utilitarian. In this political reform, Wang Anshi not only touched the interests of all the people, but also touched the vital interests of wealthy businessmen and literati, so he naturally faced great opposition. The number of deposed people is rare in history. In order to better carry out the New Deal, Wang Anshi was obviously a little aggressive and utilitarian. Most of the inspectors sent are their own confidants. These people turned a blind eye to the grievances and pains of the people, and went directly back to the court to praise the implementation of the New Deal, saying that the people cried with joy when they got the loan. The emperor was very happy, but Han Qi, a veteran of the Three Dynasties, told the truth. The emperor was surprised and decided to send two confidants to investigate the situation, but when they came back, they all praised the New Deal. This result made Wang Anshi swell up and strengthened his determination to carry out new development, but it was also the beginning of evil.
His political reform is short of talents. As we all know, Wang Anshi is a loyal and honest person who is not good at making friends. When he became prime minister, he kicked down the ladder, suppressed and even deposed his good friends and colleagues who had supported him. These include senior ministers such as Ouyang Xiu and Sima Guang, as well as his two brothers. He can't get to know people well, which is also reflected in his special appointment of some young people, such as Li Ding, Xu Shu and Deng Wan. Among them, Li Ding concealed his mother's funeral to avoid resigning and going home to mourn. You know, this is a big violation of Confucian society. Known to later generations, Li famously said, "He laughed and scolded, and a good official is myself." In addition, there are two people behind these heinous crimes, namely Ceng Bu and Lv Huiqing, especially Lv Huiqing. Finally, he tried to take Wang Anshi's place and betrayed him. Lv Huiqing betrayed Wang Anshi, Wang Anshi betrayed the emperor, and the emperor betrayed the people. Therefore, Wang Anshi's political reform did not really get the help and understanding of just people, but was a treacherous man. Therefore, it is not difficult to explain the failure of political reform. At the moment when his son Wang Kan died, he seemed to wake up. He felt that he was on the road of no return. He took the lead in suicide, but what he got was betrayal and family changes. So he became frustrated. He realized that he was tired and resolutely gave up his official position and returned to his hometown. Although the emperor still holds some of the highest titles, these are not important to him. Ten years later, he died of loneliness and disappointment.
Wang Anshi's political reform did improve the current situation of the weak and poor in the Northern Song Dynasty to a certain extent, which made the fiscal revenue at that time increase obviously and the national treasury was abundant. During the Song Shenzong period, the national treasury savings could be used for the government's fiscal expenditure for 20 years. But any reform must take the people as the starting point and the interests of the people as the consideration, otherwise it will not last long. There are many controversies about Wang Anshi's personality and his reform in history. Because Su Dongpo is the prominent protagonist in Su Dongpo's Biography, there are still many voices criticizing Wang Anshi. But I think, whether positive or negative, he has played a very important role in the long river of history. His literary accomplishment and determination to forge ahead are worth learning.