Su Shi, whose name is Zi Zhan, is Dongpo Jushi. Meishan, Sichuan, was born in Song Renzong for three years, namely 1036.
Seeing the beautiful scenery of the West Lake is a feast for the eyes, and eating "Dongpo Meat" is also a feast for the eyes. According to legend, the people of Hangzhou sent "carrying pigs and picking wine" to Su Shi's door in order to thank the governor Su Shi for building a dike in the lake and benefiting one party. Su Shi asked his family to cook the meat according to his method to entertain everyone. People appreciate Su Shi's affection, so they call the meat cooked in this way "Dongpo meat". News spread like wildfire, and restaurants in the city followed suit. So far, "Dongpo Meat" has a history of more than 900 years. In today's Hangzhou City, there are many scenes related to the word "Dongpo". In memory of this great man, people even associate him with this city.
Su Shi, his father, Su Xun, and his younger brother, Su Zhe, are quite famous in the literary world of China, and were later called "Three Sus". Among the eight masters in Tang and Song Dynasties, Su and his son ranked third. China ancient enlightenment textbook "Three" has: "Su 27th, began to study hard", this is Su Shi's father Su Xun. In Su Shi's hometown, Meishan, Sichuan, there is a ballad saying: "Meishan gave birth to three Su's, and all the plants and trees withered", which means that the plants and trees in Meishan withered before the three Su's and had no color at all. This is because all the colors flow to Susan.
When Su Shi was 2 1 year old, he went to Beijing for imperial examinations with his father and brother. At that time, Ouyang Xiu was the author and great writer of the prose Zuiweng Pavilion, which was told through the ages. Su Shi's test paper "On Criminal Loyalty" made Ouyang Xiu shine at the moment and couldn't help but marvel. He obviously felt that this young man was unusual and sighed, "Thirty years later, no one will mention me again. Everyone is talking about this Su Shi." Ouyang Xiu was shocked by Su Shi's talent. He called it "congratulations" and a talent stone appeared for the Great Song Dynasty. Ouyang Xiu was delighted and said with emotion, "I should avoid the road and let him out."
Today, we should sigh for Ouyang Xiu's insight in marking papers more than 900 years ago, feel lucky for Su Shi to meet such a talented Bole as Ouyang Xiu, and applaud for Ouyang Xiu's "avoiding the road and giving way".
Calligraphy has completely completed the mature process of regular script, and the creation of regular script has also developed to a perfect stage, at the same time, it has entered a stage of strict statutes, forming a calligraphy style of "respecting the law" in the Tang Dynasty.
From the late Tang Dynasty to the early Song Dynasty, the calligraphy style of "respecting the law" has been inherited. There are laws to follow, and of course calligraphy has rules and standards. However, calligraphy is, after all, the product of human spirit and the creation of art. Too strict statutes will inevitably limit people's creativity. In the early Song Dynasty, there were very few calligraphers who led the times. Ouyang Xiu believes that "the prosperity of books is not in the Tang Dynasty, and the waste books are not today", lamenting that no calligrapher in the current dynasty can compete with the calligraphers in the previous dynasty. Ouyang Xiu lamented that the situation of "not wasting this life" soon changed. The fundamental reason for this change is the appearance of Su Shi.
Zhang Chuanxu, a postdoctoral fellow in classical philology at Zhejiang University, said: "After the Jin and Tang Dynasties, literature and art flourished and great masters came forth in large numbers. If you want to be a family of your own and make a breakthrough in art, you must find another way. Therefore, Su Shi first put forward the slogan of Shangyi. "
The great calligraphers of the Song Dynasty have a characteristic that is obviously different from other dynasties. Their literary accomplishment is unmatched by calligraphers of past dynasties, and Su Shi is the most outstanding representative. Starting from Su Shi in the Song Dynasty, those famous calligraphers, no matter what officials they were, first identified themselves as literati, and their mentality should naturally be that of literati. The calligraphy of Song people, represented by Su Dongpo, pursues the natural expression of individual hearts based on literary talent, which fundamentally breaks through the atmosphere of taking writing statutes as the essence since the Tang Dynasty and pushes the artistry as the essence of calligraphy to the supreme position. Scholars in the Song Dynasty are more willing to write their own share of leisure, and their frank temperament is also revealed in the book. This is also the ideological basis of the "Shang Yi" calligraphy style.
When commenting on his father's calligraphy, Su Guo, Su Shi's son, said that he "has no intention of taking books as his name, but books are his supreme spirit, which comes from his heart and echoes with it", meaning that Su Shi's calligraphy is just a natural expression of his spirit of being detached from things and wanting to "go home by the wind". Su Shu's majestic, chic and trance-like style features are also in line with Su Shi's heroic demeanor.
Du Fu, a great poet in the Tang Dynasty, said: "Books are expensive but hard, but they can make people understand the spirit", which shows that people respected thin and hard calligraphy at that time. When I arrived in Zhao Ji, Song Huizong, I took my thin and hard style to the extreme. Su Shi put forward his own artistic views in a tit-for-tat manner. He said: "Ling Du's storytelling is expensive, thin and hard, which is unfair. Short, long, fat and thin have their own states. Who dares to hate Yuhuan Yan Fei? " Clearly put forward the viewpoint of "short, long, fat and thin", thinking that Zhao Youpang is thin, but it does not prevent them from being beautiful, but their beautiful styles are different.
The establishment of the Northern Song Dynasty ended the great division of China in the Five Dynasties and Ten Countries after the Tang Dynasty. However, the Northern Song Dynasty was under the military threat of the northern minority regime in China. Internally, different political forces, large and small, formed cronies, and the struggle between the old and new parties never stopped. Zong Shen also intended to change this situation, so the heavy responsibility of reform and innovation fell on the shoulders of Prime Minister Wang Anshi.
27-year-old Su Shi has the passion to serve the country, and put forward his own ideas from political, economic and military aspects. However, Su Shi's plan is very different from Wang Anshi's idea. For example, Wang Anshi proposed to change the legal system, but Su Shi's newborn calf was not afraid of tigers, and openly wrote to the emperor: "I think that today's chaos, although the law is uneasy, and the world is incurable, the law of losing people is also." Wang Anshi wanted to reform the imperial examination, and Su Shi went to the School Tribute and once again opposed Wang Anshi's idea.
Su Shi's articles and poems are deeply loved by people in the society, not only by ordinary people, but also by literati. The emperor didn't like him, but he also loved Su Shi's poems and articles. Therefore, Su Shi's articles and poems spread rapidly and widely. He completely forgot that there were so many pairs of hateful eyes staring at him. He didn't expect that danger was around, and people who wanted to get rid of him quickly were everywhere.
In the second year of Yuanfeng, that is, A.D. 1079, some people who had long been dissatisfied with Su Shi picked out and analyzed the sentences in Su Shi's words, and then played them to the emperor, saying that Su Shi was "angry" and "ill-intentioned". Such a big crime, damn it. On July 28th, the second year of Yuanfeng, Su Shi was arrested and taken to Beijing. The history book records the scene at that time: "In an instant, pulling the satrap is like driving a dog and chicken." This is the famous Wutai poetry case in history. Fortunately, there were many people who spoke for Su Shi in Beijing, and Queen Injong interceded in person, so that Su Shi was released from prison and sent to Huangzhou.
Ye Peigui, a professor at the Institute of Calligraphy Culture of Capital Normal University, said: "Huangzhou is a special place where Su Shi spent his life. Because of Wutai's poetry, Huangzhou was demoted as assistant minister of Yong Lian. This position is actually empty, and the main task is to reflect on your mistakes. Because of this background, he is actually quite unhappy in it. Then when he arrived in Huangzhou, he remembered a poem by Bai Juyi, called Dongpo's poem of planting flowers. At that time, Bai Juyi was also demoted for sin and wrote this poem. The situation of the two people is very similar. So he took Dongpo as his own name and called Dongpo Jushi. "
The Wutai Poetry Case dealt a great blow to Su Shi. Because of his words, he got into trouble. After closing the case, he was banished to the secluded Huangzhou and had to struggle for food and clothing. He sighed to himself: "Laughter has been busy all his life." Exile changed his thinking and writing style. "Drink Dongpo at night, sober up and come back like midnight. The children's breathing has been thundering, so they shouldn't knock at the door, relying on the sound of the river. I wish I couldn't have this body, but in the middle of the camp, the night is quiet and the pattern is flat, and the boat has passed away, and Jianghai will stay for the rest of his life. "
Cold Food Post is two poems written by Su Shi on the seventh day of March in the third year of his relegation to Huangzhou. Because its first sentence is "I have been eating cold food in Huangzhou for three years", it is later called Huangzhou Cold Food Poetry Post, which is the most wonderful masterpiece of Su Shi's surviving works and is praised as "the third running script in the world" by later generations.
Sushi's emotional fluctuation in Huangzhou's cold food poems. The mood of the first seven calligraphers is still relatively peaceful, and their writing style is quite satisfactory, and their words are mainly plain. With the gradual transition from emotion to agitation, the pen is gradually calm and pleasant, the font changes alternately, and the pen is unrestrained and unrestrained. At the back of the book, it became more and more wanton, especially the words "Cry and paint the poor", which suddenly enlarged the font and suddenly appeared in front of the readers, resulting in a frightening visual impact. With the full text of "ashes can't be blown" coming to an abrupt end.
The calligraphy art language of Huangzhou Cold Food Post is perfectly and appropriately used. Dignity and mobility, boldness and peace are organically integrated. If we look at the author's mood and calligraphy together, a picture of "there are many fish in the sea" will be clearly displayed in front of the world. Reading such words, a sense of sadness filled my heart. At the end of the manuscript, the author didn't write his own name, only "Two Cold Foods in Right Huangzhou" ended hastily. This is unique in Su Shi's handed down works. We can guess Su Shi's mood. In this late spring season, in the face of continuous rain, the outside is muddy and bleak, and calligraphers are recovering from illness. Facing the empty stove and wet firewood, he was cold and lonely, looking at his hometown and cutting off the cloud road. There is no way out, no hope, and this situation is unbearable.
Su Shi, as the pioneer of the Song Dynasty's style of valuing calligraphy, praised Wang Xizhi and Wang Xianzhi and his son all his life. He praised Wang Xizhi's calligraphy as "gorgeous to the extreme, returning to plain". Wang Xizhi's plain, simple and profound calligraphy style is the highest model in Su Shi's mind. On the other hand, Su Shi's overall evaluation of calligraphy in the Tang Dynasty is not high, and he thinks that people in the Tang Dynasty blindly pursue form and lack new ideas. "Shang Yi" calligraphy is a betrayal or challenge to the calligraphy style of "Shang Fa" in Tang Dynasty, both in theory and in practice. But when he needed to point out clearly one of the best calligraphers in his mind, Su Shi did not mention the calligrapher Wang Xizhi or Wang Xianzhi. But unexpectedly dedicated this unique choice to Yan Zhenqing in the Tang Dynasty. Among the calligraphers in the Tang Dynasty, Su Shi only had a soft spot for Yan Zhenqing. In the overall evaluation of China's traditional culture, he said: "As for poetry, as for Han Tui, as for Yan, as for painting Wu Daozi, the changes of ancient and modern times, what the world can do, never put off till tomorrow what you can." He thinks that Du Fu's poems, Han Yu's writings, Yan Zhenqing's calligraphy and Wu Daozi's paintings are all perfect and can all reach their level, and everything in the world can stop here.
Then, why didn't Wang Xizhi, a book saint, enter Su Shi's eyes at such a moment?
Zhu Peier, editorial director of China Calligraphy magazine, said: "It is because he values Yan Zhenqing's personality charm more than the standard of calligraphy. In Su Shi's eyes, Yan Zhenqing is actually the gentleman who most conforms to the Confucian moral tradition, and he accounts for a very large proportion in this respect. Song people often associate books with character, and Su Shi also agrees with the views that "books are like people" and "books are paintings for the heart". "
In the first year of Yuan You (1086), the philosopher Zhao Xu ascended the throne. The little emperor was nine years old and was regent by his grandmother, Empress Dowager Gao. Empress Dowager Gao opposes political reform. She admired Su Shi's talent so much that she recalled Su Dongpo to Beijing. Su Shi, ups and downs in the political whirlpool, ushered in the brightest scene in his career this time.
The high queen mother listened to politics, which provided conditions for the conservatives to make a comeback. They demanded the abolition of Wang Anshi's political reform and the complete restoration of the old system. But at this time, Su Shi is no longer young. He thinks we should keep the advantages and eliminate the disadvantages. This naturally caused a stir, so some people compared him to the second Wang Anshi. This time, not only the reformists opposed him, but also the conservatives began to oppose him. Perhaps it was to see his situation in trouble again that Su Shi was disheartened. In March of the fourth year of Yuan You (1089), he became a native of Hangzhou from Longtuge.
In the eighth year of Yuan You (1093), Empress Dowager Gao died and Su Shi was demoted to Huizhou. Four years less, another derogatory book flew in. Su Shi was once again demoted to Danzhou, Hainan, and really went to the ends of the earth.
In the first month of Fu Yuan's third year (1 100), Zhezong died and Song Huizong acceded to the throne. Many ministers exiled to the frontier were ordered to move in, and Su Shi was among them. Su Shi, who stayed at the ends of the earth for four years and was over 60 years old, never thought that he could go back alive in this life. Looking back on many years' experience, Su Shi can't help chanting: "My heart is like gray wood, but my body is like a boat. Ask about your life achievements, Huangzhou Huizhou Danzhou. "
Su Shi wrote the last book in his life "Post on the River" when he passed through Qiongzhou Strait on his way back to the north. "Post on the River" is vigorous, beautiful and natural, showing his arrogance and the realm of "people and books are old". Later generations can see from the handwriting that Su Shi's pen trembled when he wrote this post, which was a morbid expression of lethargy. Su Shi died three months after he wrote "Post on the River". On July 28th, A.D.11,Su Shi died in Changzhou at the age of 66. According to Mr. Dongpo's epitaph, the news of Su Shi's death came out: "wuyue people are crying in the city;" Its monarch hangs at home; Obituaries are everywhere, and no wise man or fool asks for help (Jie). "
One year after Su Shi's death, the court's attitude towards Su Shi suddenly changed, and the emperor issued a edict prohibiting Su Shi from writing poems, destroying stone tablets engraved with Su characters and destroying Su Shi's calligraphy works.
Su Shi wrote in his poem: "It's not enough to retreat like a mountain. Reading thousands of books can only make you understand the spirit." He believes that only with thousands of books in mind can we understand the spirit. Su Shi was the first person who advocated improving calligraphers' knowledge literacy in ancient China. He said that "the method of writing characters is shallow in knowledge, narrow in vision and lacking in knowledge, and cannot be perfect." He advocates liberating calligraphers from their attachment to calligraphy, and his knowledge and cultivation directly determine his calligraphy realm. Huang Tingjian commented on Su Shi: "Dongpo is elegant, the font is gentle and not tacky. There is thousands of books in the chest, so the book is not ill. This explains why Su Shi's calligraphy is "not tacky at all". The articles and knowledge in Su Shi's calligraphy are vividly distributed from pen and ink. Since the Song Dynasty, this rich literati atmosphere has influenced China's calligraphy art for more than 900 years, until today.