Read widely and use it simply and prudently, and slowly release it after deep accumulation.
Source: "Jia Shuo Zhang Hu" by Su Shi of the Song Dynasty
Original text:
Extreme knowledge and appointment, thick accumulation but thin hair, I tell the child That's all. When Zi returned to the capital, he asked about it. Someone said, "Zhe, Zi Yu, my younger brother." He also said the same thing.
Vernacular translation:
Read extensively and absorb briefly, accumulate richly and express accurately. That's all I can tell you. You go back and pass by the capital and ask. There is a man named Su Zhe, also named Ziyou. He is my younger brother. Tell him these words that I have spoken to you. Extended information
Writing background:
"Jia Shuo Sends Zhang Hu" is a miscellany written by Su Shi, a writer in the Northern Song Dynasty. This article is written by the author to a friend and is also a gift preface. The full article begins with planting crops, and compares the farming environment, farming methods and harvest results of the rich and poor, paving the way for the scholarship below; the following section focuses on explaining the connection between scholarship and growing crops, and then reveals the purpose of the article. Theme: Planting crops must wait until they are mature before harvesting; learning must be broad-minded and appreciative, and accumulation must be intensive but not fruitful.
This miscellany was written at the end or beginning of the tenth year of Xining in the Northern Song Dynasty (1076). The author Su Che was working in Kyoto. When the Jinshi Zhang Hu came to visit Su Shi before returning home, the author felt that he had grown up among the scholar-bureaucrats at that time. Anxious for quick success and superficial and frivolous attitude, I wrote this short article to Zhang Hu, and I am willing to encourage him.
About the author:
Su Shi (January 8, 1037 - August 24, 1101), also known as Zizhan and Hezhong, also known as Tieguan Taoist and Dongpo layman. Su Dongpo, known as Su Xian in the world, is a Han nationality and a native of Meishan, Meizhou (Meishan City, Sichuan Province). His ancestral home is Luancheng, Hebei Province. He is a famous writer, calligrapher and painter in the Northern Song Dynasty.
In the second year of Jiayou's reign (1057), Su Shi became a Jinshi. During the reign of Emperor Shenzong of the Song Dynasty, he served in Fengxiang, Hangzhou, Mizhou, Xuzhou, Huzhou and other places. In the third year of Yuanfeng (1080), he was demoted to the deputy envoy of Huangzhou Tuanlian due to the "Wutai Poetry Case". After Zhezong of the Song Dynasty came to the throne, he served as a Hanlin bachelor, a bachelor of attendance, and a minister of the Ministry of Rites. He also went to Hangzhou, Yingzhou, Yangzhou, Dingzhou and other places. In his later years, he was demoted to Huizhou and Danzhou because of the new party's rule. Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty was pardoned and returned to the north, but died of illness in Changzhou on the way. During the reign of Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty, he was posthumously given the title of Grand Master, with the posthumous title "Wenzhong".
In the first year of Jiayou's reign (1056), Su Shi left Sichuan for the first time and went to Beijing to take part in the imperial examination. Su Xun took 21-year-old Su Shi and 19-year-old Su Che from the remote Xishu area eastward along the Yangtze River, and went to Beijing to take the exam in the second year of Jiayou (1057).
The chief examiner at that time was Ouyang Xiu, a leader in the literary world, and the junior examiner was Mei Yaochen, a veteran in poetry. The two were determined to innovate poetry and prose, and Su Shi's fresh and free style of writing suddenly shocked them.
In the fourth year of Xining (1071), Su Shi wrote a letter discussing the shortcomings of the new law. Wang Anshi was very angry, so he asked Xie Jing, the censor, to state Su Shi's faults in front of Shenzong. Su Shi then requested to serve in Beijing and was awarded the title of Tongpan of Hangzhou.
In the autumn of the seventh year of Xining (1074), Su Shi was transferred to Mizhou (Zhucheng in Shandong) as magistrate. From April of the tenth year of Xining (1077) to March of the second year of Yuanfeng (1079), he served as magistrate of Xuzhou. In April of the second year of Yuanfeng (1079), he was transferred to the magistrate of Huzhou. When he was in office at the local level, he innovated and eliminated abuses, made laws and regulations more convenient for the people, and had considerable political achievements.