"Su Shi is independent, standing sideways but not drifting" means: being independent from the world, staying awake; standing sideways in the water, not drifting with the tide. Staying away from the world and being alone, daring to cross without following the crowd, is a metaphor for noble moral integrity. It comes from "Nine Chapters. Ode to Orange" by Qu Yuan of the pre-Qin Dynasty.
Original poem (excerpt):
"Nine Chapters. Ode to Orange" (excerpt) Pre-Qin Dynasty: Qu Yuan
You have young ambitions, but they are different. Isn't it joyful to be independent without moving?
It is so deep that it is difficult to move, and there is no hope for it. Su Shi is independent, horizontal but not flowing.
Interpretation:
I admire your orange trees in the south. You have set your mind to be different from others since you were young. Isn't it gratifying that you are independent from the world and refuse to move?
You are deeply rooted and difficult to move, and your broad mind has no desires. You are alienated from the troubled world, detached and self-reliant, standing tall and never succumbing to the vulgar trend.
Extended information:
"Ode to Orange", every sentence is inseparable from the description of the orange tree, and every sentence is inseparable from the praise of the orange tree - from the "not ordered to do" when planting the orange tree. "Migrate", "deep and solid and difficult to move", to "the green leaves are lush and colorful when the flowers are in bloom", to the "green and yellow mixed, fine color and white inside" when the fruit matures - Qu Yuan's love for oranges. Overflowing in this "literary and scientific" and unfolding poems.
This poem, coming to us across more than two thousand years, can still call out a piety in our hearts. We still seem to hear the poet standing under the orange tree and chanting softly.
According to common sense, the second half of the text should still be about the orange tree, but it gives the orange tree more human color. While writing about tangerines, the poet also incorporated the character he admired and his life aspirations into it. As Lin Yunming said in the Qing Dynasty: "It seems that in the two paragraphs, every sentence is an ode to tangerine, and every sentence is not an ode to tangerine.
But seeing that the original and the orange are not one or the other, they reflect each other, like a mirror, a flower in the water, a moon in the water." - This is the beauty of poetry! Poetry is to use "symbols" of images one after another to explain the world and give meaning to the real world.
Baidu Encyclopedia - Su Shi is independent, horizontal but not flowing?
Baidu Encyclopedia - Ode to Orange (Ode to Orange)