Su Shi: treating life as art

it's a great honor to be invited by the forum of light to tell you something about my cultural giant? Su Shi.

Su Shi lived in an era of giants and the most developed culture. In the middle of the 11th century, after a long period of war in the late Tang Dynasty, the Song Dynasty devoted itself to cultural revival. After nearly 1 years of accumulation, a large number of cultural giants gradually emerged. Mr. Wang Guowei has a passage in epigraphy of Song Dynasty. Tianshui once had many aspects of human intelligence activities and culture, such as the Han and Tang Dynasties before and the Yuan and Ming Dynasties after, all of which could not be caught. . Mr. Chen Yinque also said,? The culture of the Chinese nation has evolved for thousands of years, culminating in the Zhao and Song Dynasties? . It can be seen that these two famous masters of Chinese studies both regarded the Song Dynasty as the peak of culture.

As for Su Shi's cultural achievements, all we know is that Su Shi was a great master of the Song Dynasty in prose, poetry and ci. Wen is one of the eight masters in the Tang and Song Dynasties, and Su Huang is the representative of the Song Dynasty. Su Shi and Xin Qiji are the representatives of the bold school. In addition, Su Shi is one of the four great calligraphers in Song Dynasty, and his paintings are the representatives of literati paintings. Besides, Su Shi has made great achievements in ideology, politics, philosophy, social ethics and natural history.

ideological tolerance

ideological tolerance is inseparable from the education that Su Shi received from childhood. Su Shi was born in Meishan, Sichuan. There are many famous literati in Sichuan in history, and they all have the same characteristic? Reading books is not only about Confucianism, but also about other hundred schools of thought, novels and miscellaneous notes, so Sima Xiangru, Yang Xiong, Li Bai and others who appear here are very different from the literati in the Central Plains. ? Su Shi is a very curious scholar, and his knowledge of natural history is profound. He and Shen Kuo, a famous scientist in the Northern Song Dynasty, have high attainments in medicine and pharmacology. Ironically, they were hostile before their death, but after their death, their prescriptions were co-edited by later generations as Su Shen Liang Fang. This shows that the significance of culture can transcend political factions, and their contribution to human culture is recognized by future generations, so in the process of spreading, the power of culture transcends the power of politics.

Su Shi and Han Yu were called by later generations? Han Chao Su Hai? Han Yu is an orthodox Confucian scholar. He once wrote The Original Road, and regarded both Laozi and Zhuangzi and Buddhism as heresies. He thought that it would inevitably show his narrowness to unify all other thoughts under Confucian orthodoxy. Su Shi is very different. He believes that in the cultural accumulation of the Chinese nation, all factions have their own essence. He once wrote "A Tribute to the Argumentation of Longjing", which was a eulogy made by Su Shi for the eloquence of the monk Longjing. The master of eloquence belongs to Tiantai Sect of Buddhism, and Su Shi likes Tiantai Sect and Zen Sect. At that time, there were contradictions between the two sects, so Su Shi expressed his views when writing this eulogy. He said: Confucius and Laozi are different, Confucianism and Buddhism are divided into palaces, and in the meantime, Zen and law attack each other. I see the sea, north, south and east. Although rivers are different, they are the same. ? He opposed the struggle between Confucianism and Buddhism, and also opposed the attack between sects within Buddhism. Su Shi believes that all factions have their own wonderful points, and what they advocate is the universal principle of human spirit, just like every river flows to the sea, whether it is a vast river or a gurgling stream, it has its own significance and value.

Su Shi and Wang Anshi, two great writers in Song Dynasty, were politically hostile to each other, but more importantly, Su Shi didn't like Wang Anshi's cultural concept. Su Shi said in a letter to Zhang Lei. The decline of writing is not as bad as it is today. Its source is really from Wang, and Wang's writing is not necessarily bad, but the trouble lies in making people like themselves. ? Wang is Wang Anshi, saying that Wang Anshi's article is exquisite, but what is the biggest shortcoming? So that people can be with themselves? Let everyone be like him. Su Shi pointed out? Since Confucius can not make people the same? It is said that every disciple under Confucius has his own personality and strengths. Su Shi also made a wonderful metaphor, a fertile land where all kinds of plants can grow. The similarity is the land where they are rooted, but the difference is that these plants are different. But there is only one kind of land that can grow unified plants, and that is saline-alkali land, that is? In the barren land, Huang Mao white reeds are everywhere, which is the same as Wang's. ? In this way, culture becomes single and thoughts are imprisoned. This kind of imprisonment is very sad, so Wang Anshi's artistic achievements are very high, but there are not many real cultural giants among his students. The biggest inspiration for our society now is the tolerance of thought. Marx was angry at Prussia's censorship of books and newspapers. He said: You praise the pleasing variety and endless wealth of nature. You don't ask roses to emit the same fragrance as violets, but why do you ask for the richest things in the world? Spirit can only exist in one form. Later, Wang Anshi's political failure was also because he was too helpful to others and refused to listen to criticism. His new law has become a tool for corrupt officials to seek personal gain, and his successors are all disorderly ministers who bring disaster to the country and the people. This is it? The same as Wang? The resulting cultural and political desert. On the other hand, Su Shi's ideological inclusiveness is very enlightening to us.

the dignity of human nature

Su Shi likes to have fun, but he has his own principles and bottom line. When Su Shi was a child, he read the Book of Later Han with his mother. Biography of Fan Pang. Fan Pang was going to be killed because he opposed the strongmen. He said to his mother. I don't regret it, but I can't support the elderly, but my brother can serve your mother. ? But his mother said to Fan Pang? It is impossible to have a good reputation on the one hand and enjoy a long life on the other. Mother supports you. It is an honor for a mother that you can go to the disaster with today's celebrities. ? After reading this, Su Shi said to his mother. If I become Fan Pang, will my mother agree? Mother Cheng said to Su Shi:? If you become Fan Pang, can't I be Fan Pang's mother? This story can be found in Su Shi's younger brother Su Zhe's Epitaph of the Dead Brother's Son Zhanduanming and Su Shi's Biography. As a teenager, he was influenced by such Confucian political character and had a great influence on Su Shi. Su Shi's principle of helping the world at the same time is that he can't yield to the personal power of the king, but respects a moral principle. Su Shi has expressed such thoughts in several articles. For example, the last paragraph in Zhang Wending's Epitaph reads? A trip to the main road, you are precious to yourself. Uighurs beg me, bandits beg me. Since the Qin and Han dynasties, scholars have been humble and arrogant. A mere servant is happy to get it. The trend of utilitarianism, slander is escape. I look at him, thanks to his efforts. ? That is to say, a scholar-bureaucrat should follow the world road. The Confucian way is to cultivate one's morality, keep one's family in order, govern the country and level the world. This way must be for the people. A scholar-bureaucrat must value his actions and know that his personality is dignified. In the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the literati believed that we would serve any king who had a way. After Qin and Han Dynasties, this situation changed. From burning books to burying Confucianism, many writers became the emperor's captive. So Su Shi thinks that since Qin and Han Dynasties? A gentleman and a gentleman? The king's power was not well controlled because the scholar-officials lost their independent personality. Just a servant, happy to get it? The emperor felt very happy when he was awarded an official position. When his personality shrank and he lost his bottom line, he would become? The utilitarian trend, slander or escape? . Su Shi thinks that he is a scholar-bureaucrat, even if he is? Slander? We must also be brave enough to bear it.

Su Shi is often mentioned in history. Laughing and cursing are all articles? . He dares to express his views on everything he doesn't like. When Wang Anshi was popular in politics, Su Shi dared to write a thousand words and criticize his new law. Later, Wang Anshi asked him to be an official in Kaifeng, hoping that chores would fetter Su Shi, but Su Shi still insisted on criticizing Wang Anshi for his political misconduct. Su Shi's speech offended many people, but it was also loved by many people. He said in Sitang Ji: Words come from the heart and rush to the mouth, spitting is against people, and ru is against others. I thought that I would rather go against others, so I spit it out. ? It means that my language comes from my heart. If I spit it out, I will be offended, but if I swallow it, I will offend myself. Su Shi believes that I would rather offend others than myself, and I should get it off my chest. This is his very lovely place. It is reasonable to say that writing "Sitang Ji" means writing before you leap, but when he wrote "Sitang Ji", he said that it was necessary? Not thinking? That's right Why? He said? A gentleman is good to goodness, such as good lust; It is also bad, such as evil stench, how can it be considered after the incident, and its beauty and evil are considered, and it is best to avoid it? As a gentleman, the instinctive reaction is to like good things and hate evil things. What else should we think about? Once you think about it, you will figure out how to escape. Once people have repeated thoughts and hesitations, selfish thoughts will sprout. So Su Shi said? Therefore, if you think about righteousness and benefit, then righteousness will fail; If you think about life in the face of war, the war will be ineffective. If my husband is poor, he will lose his life, and death will bring good fortune, then I will have a life. I never think about whether this matter is good or bad. I will oppose it if it is wrong. Like instinct, I don't need to think at all. It is fate to encounter life and death, and I won't avoid it.

Such a spirit of Su Shi can be said to be very valuable. Because the wisdom of many people in China is how to become slick and sophisticated, how to tell people three things, or how to talk in front of people and talk nonsense afterwards, while Su Shi is an open-minded and aboveboard gentleman. He treats his life by his own intuitive disgust and preferences. Therefore, he is always so confident and natural and unrestrained, and has no interest in pursuing material things, but pursues the sublimation of his inner personality.

Although the following two poems are written for young friends, they are also self-portraits of Su Shi. They are called? I am full of life, and I am full of poetry and books. ? The so-called poetry book is synonymous with a culture. The higher the cultural taste, the natural temperament is extraordinary, and it is not obtained by external makeup and modification. When we evaluate a person, we can say that he is beautiful, but he is also very temperament. Beauty is external and temperament is internal. Therefore, in order to build China into a great cultural country, it is necessary to explore its inner temperament. For example, Chinese people travel abroad, dressed in rich clothes, but many indecent behaviors have exposed quality problems. This is to pursue the external too much and give up the internal sublimation. This inner spirit is the dignity of personality, and one's own dignity is not gained by trampling on others' personality. The dignity of personality must be mutual. Only people with personality know to respect others' personality, so Su Shi's personality is very enlightening to us.

transcendental aesthetics

Su Shi put it forward in Bao Hui Tang Ji? A gentleman can imply things, but not pay attention to things. Implied in things, although slightly enough for pleasure, although the stunner is not enough for illness. Pay attention to things, although small things are enough for illness, although beautiful things are not enough for pleasure? . As a gentleman, we can put our spirit on something, but we should not pay too much attention to it. This? Things? Is good for our lives? Things? . He said that if we put our spirit on things, we can all be happy, even though it is a trivial external thing; A stunner is a very beautiful thing, so it is not enough to be a disease of us. But on the other hand, if you pay attention to things, if you put all your mind on this thing, even though it is a very small thing, it is enough to cause you to be sick of playing with things. For example, it is enough for young people to indulge in games all day. ? Although the stunner is not enough for fun? You won't be happy with the best thing because you pay too much attention to it. When you want to possess it, there is a fear of losing it in your heart. Because after you get a stunner, you are afraid of losing it, becoming a heart disease, and you can't be happy. Su Shi said? However, the saints have never abolished these four things, and they also talked about the meaning. ? Saints also like five colors, five tones and five flavors, and galloping wild hunting. There is no problem with these four, mainly depending on the attitude of people who treat them. Then Su Shi cited several stories of famous people in history. Liu Bei likes to tie the knot, Ji Kang, a famous man in Wei and Jin Dynasties, likes to strike while the iron is hot, and Ruan Fu, another famous man, likes wax bricks. These hobbies are boring to ordinary people, but they all like them and get happiness from them. Su Shi said again? Everything that is pleasing enough to please people but not enough to move people is nothing more than books and paintings. ? He said that painting and calligraphy is the best art, which makes people feel happy, but painting and calligraphy can still make people sick. Why? We say that there are two attitudes towards painting and calligraphy, one is the attitude of the appreciator, and painting and calligraphy can make us feel a lot of aesthetic pleasure, but the other is the attitude of collectors and the attitude of collectors' auction houses. Usually, painting and calligraphy are rolled up and hidden as a kind of wealth, so painting and calligraphy become a burden for people, and it is not only a burden, but also a disaster. ? They all harm their country with children's play, and they are fierce. The disaster of this attention is the consequences of paying attention to things. In recent years, China has made great achievements in anti-corruption, as many corrupt officials have been investigated. Many things have not been appreciated, but have been buried or collected at home. What about the result? Yourself? Harm the country? , also? Fierce? , go to jail. A lot of possessions in a person's life are of no value to you. The most valuable thing is happiness. What can make you happy? It is still wealth, but this wealth is spiritual wealth, which is not much more valuable than material wealth. At present, some young people are more pursuing material wealth, but I still want to advise you to be self-satisfied with poetry and books. Sometimes if you pay too much attention to things, you don't know that life is short, and those things are actually worthless to life. Of course, this does not mean that you don't need any money, but you still need basic means of subsistence.

Let's talk about Su Shi's chic life. That is, how his detached aesthetic attitude makes his life very chic.

Su Shi's famous Red Cliff Fu says: However, the breeze on the river and the bright moon in the mountains, which are heard by the ears, are beautiful when they meet, and they are inexhaustible, which is the endless hiding of the creator, and the place for me and my son is suitable. ? What is aesthetics? It is an activity that transcends utility without any desire. As long as you have desire and utility, aesthetics will leave you. Where there is desire, there is trouble and bitterness. When Su Shi wrote "Red Cliff Fu", he wrote it with a guilty body. What did he say? The breeze on the river, the bright moon in the mountains? It is the object of our aesthetics, not the object of desire.

When we talk about his chic life, we must think that Su Shi's life is full of ups and downs. When Su Shi went to Jinshan Temple in his later years, he painted a portrait for others, and he wrote poems on it. The heart is like a gray wood, and the body is like a boat that is not tied. Ask you about your career, Huangzhou Huizhou Danzhou? . Huangzhou, Huizhou and Danzhou are the waterloo of Su Shi's life, and they are the three most unlucky and frustrated stages. How did it become a lifetime achievement? In fact, his political failure just made his cultural success. Huangzhou, Huizhou and Danzhou were the three richest times in his cultural creation, and they were also the three periods when he saw life most thoroughly. He left behind Red Cliff Fu and Nian Nu Jiao in Huangzhou. Some beautiful works, such as Nostalgia on Red Cliff and Dingfengbo, such as Dingfengbo, describe the changes of natural weather and imply life experiences. There are many storms in a person's life, but there are also sunny days. For a person with a strong heart, external storms are nothing. There is no rain, no rain, no sunshine. ? You are yourself, and you should stick to your moral and life standpoint optimistically in any difficult situation.

In Huizhou, Su Shi's political opponents are eager to hear Su Shi's painful and frustrated poems, but Su Shi's life in Huizhou is very happy.