Everyone’s life begins with crying, and then we walk up a long ridge. With the rising sun, we gradually stretch our arms. When the sun shines in the sky, we straighten our chests, and then follow As the sun sets, the road downhill becomes slower and slower. When I look back at the footprints where I came from, I find that my hair is already gray. Recalling the merits and demerits of my life, counting the joys and sorrows in detail, I wonder if I can face it calmly on the other side?
At the end of his life, Su Shi, a thousand years ago, re-examined the ups and downs of his life, and let’s see how he told it.
In 1101 AD, two months before Su Shi's death, when he visited Longyou Temple in Jinshan, he saw a portrait of himself. Looking back on the past, he couldn't help but be filled with emotion. I recall those days when I started from the land of Western Shu, traveled eastward along the Yangtze River, and went to Beijing to take the exam. I immediately became famous in the capital, and my ambitions were just around the corner. Unfortunately, the reality was not as imagined. After experiencing the death of my mother and father one after another, and returning to my hometown to observe mourning, I found that the court was no longer what it used to be. New laws prevailed, and I was unable to change it. I could only invite myself out of the capital and wait for a peaceful period. During the period of the Ming Dynasty, the "Wutai Poetry Case" came immediately after. After this disaster in which he almost lost his life, his journey of relegation truly began. He descended to Huangzhou, resettled in Huizhou, and lived in Danzhou. Lifetime is running out without realizing it.
Su Shi looked at his portrait in front of him and sighed secretly. Now his heart is like a piece of wood that has been burnt to ashes, and his body is like a boat without a mooring rope. If someone asks me where are the achievements I have made in my life? , that is Huangzhou, Huizhou and Danzhou.
Self-titled Portrait of Jinshan
Su Shi of the Song Dynasty
The heart is like a gray tree, and the body is like a boat without ties. Ask you about your life achievements, Huangzhou, Huizhou and Danzhou.
Su Shi's "Self-Inscribed Portrait of Jinshan" uses a self-deprecating tone to express his true inner feelings. Although he was already in his sixties at this time, his always bold and bold characteristics have not diminished at all. The poems are humorous, tragic, straightforward and melodious, revealing the hopeless romantic color.
On the whole, although Su Shi had a calm mind in his later years, his youthful ambition was revealed between the lines from time to time, so this calmness was mixed with more helplessness. For a rare talent in this generation, it may not be easy for him to truly accept ordinaryness, so Su Shi's life was mostly accompanied by melancholy. From the perspective of gaining happiness, the former is greater than the latter between ordinary people's small goals and extraordinary ambitions; but it is inversely proportional to what they have to endure.