1. Childhood and youth
1036 at the end of the twelfth month of winter, Meishan, western Sichuan, the local Su family, finally welcomed the eldest son with a cry. Later named Su Shi, the word Zi Zhan, Dongpo lay man, who lived in Huangzhou and started his own business.
Sujiaguang has fertile land and a small garden with all kinds of flowers and fruit trees.
When he was born, his grandfather was still alive. He was an alcoholic. Although he can't read, he is generous. During the famine, he would open the warehouse and distribute food. It is said that once my grandfather got drunk and smashed an idol in a nearby temple because he was always extorting money from believers in the village. Although his grandfather did not have a high literary accomplishment, his broad mind and upright conduct deeply influenced Su Dongpo.
Father Su Xun was taciturn. His grandfather knew that his son was stubborn and eccentric, but he didn't use it, but he didn't discipline him. He firmly believes that his son will return to the prodigal son and repent. Sure enough, as my grandfather expected, Su Dongpo was born. When his father was 27 years old, he finally began to study hard.
After school as a child, he often went to the market with his younger brother, or dug stones in the vegetable garden, or climbed a tree to dig out the bird's nest. When he was ten years old, his father went to Beijing to catch the exam, and his mother disciplined the children at home. It is recorded in the Book of the Later Han Dynasty that the later Han Dynasty was ruled by villains and the people were in dire straits. Justice scholars risked their lives to impeach traitors and were later persecuted. He looked up and asked his mother, "Mom, can I be a just person in the future?" Mother asked, "You can be an upright person, but I can't be the mother of an upright person?"
1056, he and his younger brother got married. His father, who failed in Sun Shan last time, gave up without saying anything and took his two sons to Beijing to take the exam. During the exam, he quoted allusions and made up several sentences. When the judge looked at the paper, he was worried that he would be laughed at by his colleagues for not reading enough, so he didn't ask questions, which eventually made Su Dongpo muddle through. In April of the following year, Zhongjinshi was among the best.
Just when he was about to start his career, his mother died and he had to return to his hometown for two years and three months. The seclusion after that was a rare happy day in his youth. He often goes to temples with his cousins and sits on the riverbank for picnics. On summer nights, he and his family sat outside the hut, watching the stars and the sea in the sky, listening to frogs in the fields, eating melon seeds and broad beans and talking about poetic life.
After the expiration, the father and son left with their two daughters-in-law and set off for Beijing. After settling down, they waited for the appointment of the court.
In the prime of life
106 1 year, the court appointed him as a judge in Fengxiang, Shaanxi Province, so he left his father and brother and took office with his wife and young son. This position is relatively leisure, so he can't be quiet, so whenever he is free, he often spends a few days in the mountains here, or goes to Zhong Nanshan to see the rare manuscripts and portraits of Wu Daozi collected by his friends.
Some people are unhappy if they don't toss about. He is this type. That year, Shaanxi was dry and there was no rain for a long time. The crops are about to fail. He felt that the gods must be angry, so he wrote a complaint and presented it to the gods in the temple in Taibai Mountain. It only rained a little, which didn't help the drought.
He went back to check the ancient books and found that Taibai Mountain God had been demoted, so he drafted a play book for the emperor, demanding to restore the title of Mountain God. Then I prayed for rain with the satrap, and finally it rained heavily, so that the withered crops could stand upright.
1064, when his term of office expired, his family moved back to Beijing and was soon sent to the north. His wife died of illness that year, and his father died of illness the next year. After the mourning period, he continued to marry his ex-wife's cousin, and soon after arriving in Kyoto, he was involved in the political whirlpool.
When the court implemented the new law, there were riots at home and abroad, and the people were in dire straits. He wrote three memorials, directly attacking the harm of the new law, warning the emperor that the whole country was against him and telling him never to use power to suppress the people, but it was obviously useless. At that time, he was an official, published a paper on arbitrariness, angered those in power, was deposed, and was sent to Hangzhou to be a satrap.
107 1 year, he took office in Hangzhou, and in the following ten years, he served as an official in Hangzhou, Mizhou, Shandong, Sushou, Jiangsu and other places, and made great achievements. During this time, he wrote many wild and unruly poems, and his anger broke out. It is these poems that have brought him disaster, and they are really "inviting disaster with a pen".
Grandparents went to the west, and both parents left. Grandpa has cut off contact with them because of personal grudges at home, and the only blood relative is only his younger brother. He seems to have released more of his nature and completely let himself go.
The two brothers have very different personalities. This brother is as naive and argumentative as a volcano, regardless of the consequences. My brother is as calm and practical as a heaped-up mountain, maintaining his own reason. Ziyou has advised him many times: "These days are not good, don't talk to anyone casually."
He replied: "I also know that I can't control my mouth and hands, but I see something wrong, like a fly flying into my mouth and can't spit it out."
In Hangzhou, at that time, he was already famous all over the world. He wrote the poem "Tyranny is fiercer than a tiger": "People are like ducks and pigs, splashing mud at each other", describing the sufferings of the people under the new system. But he can also have fun and visit famous temples in Hangzhou. It was not until nightfall that he came home drunk. In summer, he often climbs barefoot, borrows a reclining chair from a monk, takes off his clothes and lies down to sleep.
1077, he took office in Xuzhou, and soon the flood came, with a water depth of several tens of feet, which flooded Wan Li. Rich people have fled abroad. Afraid of causing panic, he dissuaded them: "I'm not leaving, so you'd better not go either." He struggled to rescue, stayed home for dozens of days, asked the guards for help, and personally supervised the work. After unremitting efforts, the flood finally began to recede, and the people were very grateful. In addition, he was very concerned about the health of prisoners and appointed doctors to see them, which was unique at that time.
3. Wutai Poetry Case
At the age of forty-four, the Wutai poetry case happened, and he was imprisoned for more than four months before he was released from prison. On the day he was released from prison, he wrote two poems, one of which said, "I am as confused as a dream about wine glasses, and I try my hand like a god." After writing, I smiled and said, "I'm really hopeless."
1080, he and his family set off for Huangzhou, where life was difficult. He started farming, with an area of about 10 mu. He is located on the hillside, and the mountains are full of wild interest. He wrote: "Last year, Dongpo picked up rubble and planted 300 feet of Huang Sang. This year, mowing the grass to build a snow hall, the sun blows like ink. "
Together with his neighbors, he planted trees and vegetables, drilled wells to grow wheat and built fish ponds. He will be as happy as a child when he sees that the crops are growing well and water is flowing out of the newly drilled well. He is also good at cooking, inventing new methods of stewing pork and cooking fish, and vegetable soup, also called Dongpo soup.
His recent narrow escape made him start thinking about how to get inner peace, so he studied Buddhism and Taoism. That winter, he began to meditate, practice yoga and Taoist qigong, hunger strike and alchemy, and was fascinated by the art of immortality.
1084, the court ordered him to be near the capital. In fact, he is very resistant in his heart. In his own words, it is "children are postponed from school", but the emperor's life is hard to violate and he has to go to Beijing. Soon, the queen mother was transferred to the capital to be an official, and her official position was promoted to three levels.
The high-rise building is too cold, and the place where he lives is high, which makes people jealous. Coupled with his honest and fearless remarks, he offended a large number of people in North Korea. At this time, he also had plans to resign and retire, and pleaded with him many times. 1089, the court agreed to transfer from Beijing to Hangzhou satrap. At the time of departure, an 80-year-old veteran advised him not to write any more poems. He smiled and said, "If I write a poem, many people will be ready to take notes in the future."
When he came to Hangzhou for the second time, he finally had real power. He established the earliest public hospital in China here, dredging rivers and building reservoirs for Hangzhou. In the second year, heavy rains in Zhejiang and other places caused disasters, and the famine year was approaching. He asked the court for funds to buy rice. Strangely, when he read the official newspaper of the imperial court, other local officials said that there was hope for a bumper harvest, but he didn't feel angry. Finally, the money was given, but he had been deprived layer by layer, and there was little left.
4. Exile
1094, his wife died, and he always believed that his empress dowager also left this year. The traitor took Su Dongpo's rank first and was demoted four times. In that year 10 month, he was demoted to Huizhou.
Not long after he came, he went with the flow and recovered his true colors. Light incense when you are free, sit quietly and sleep soundly in the afternoon. When the birds outside woke him up, he suddenly realized that he was not in the office. However, his life is not lonely, and nearby officials want to make friends with him and give him food and drink. Friends from other places keep sending gifts, medicines and letters.
Soon, he began to make wine by himself and wrote a poem about it. Outsiders thought he made good wine, but the fact is that his friends drank his wine and the metropolis had diarrhea.
He thought he would retire here in the future, so he spent almost all his savings to build a house. Just after the new house was completed, he wrote two lines of poems describing the leisurely life at this time. As a result, he was raped and said, "Oh, your boy is quite comfortable." The new order was issued and Su Dongpo was banished to Hainan Island.
1096, he was exiled to Hainan, where he wanted nothing. He wrote: "No meat, no medicine, no house, no friends, no charcoal in winter and no cold spring in summer, but nothing is easy to get and there is no high ratio." Only one thing is lucky, there is nothing wrong. "
But his philosophical attitude towards life kept him happy, which made his enemies helpless. He led a big dog named "Wuzui", wandering around, sitting on the floor with the villagers, talking casually, very free.
Later, he was expelled from the official residence, and the local people helped him build a house in the coconut grove. Early in the morning, a hunter brought him venison. Although poor, it is rare to relax. In summer, he carries a big watermelon on his back and sings while walking in the field. On rainy days, he was wearing hemp fiber and clogs, splashing water on the road and having a good time.
There was no good ink on the island, so he made it himself and almost burned down the house. If you have nothing to do, go to the countryside to collect medicines and test the types of medicines. In addition, with the help of his son, he began to sort out the manuscript of miscellaneous notes, and finally compiled it into Dongpo Zhi Lin, completing the annotation of Shangshu. He had finished reading the Book of Changes and The Analects of Confucius before.
In his letter to Ziyou, he said: "However, Yuan Ming's poems and mine are not alone! If he is human, he really feels embarrassed. " Yes, just like he said.
1 100, Zhezong died, the new queen mother was regent, and Su Dongpo and other old ministers were all pardoned. He started to set out for the north, and in June of the following year, he got dysentery, weakness and bleeding gums on the way.
In mid-July, he said to his three sons, "I have tasted evil all my life, and I am confident that I will not go to hell." Half a month later, he went. At the age of 66.
As Su Dongpo said: "The lofty spirit does not stand idly by, does not rely on strength, does not linger, and does not die with death. Therefore, the sky is a star, the earth is a river prison, the secluded is a ghost, and the bright is a person. This is normal and there is nothing to blame. "
His lofty spirit is immortal for thousands of years.