When I first read Su Dongpo's biography, I only lingered in the first chapter. What is Su Wenzhong's charm and how did he become a loyal minister? Perhaps, this is all because he has always been very firm in his opinions.
After reading the first chapter, I realized that Su Dongpo was not only famous before his death, but also more and more famous behind him. As a politician, he has been fighting for the people all his life. Because he was dissatisfied with the imperial court, he was demoted many times, but wherever he went, he could exert his extraordinary political talents and bring stability to the local people.
At the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, as a poet and philosopher, he had a fierce confrontation with the logic of economist Wang Anshi with his ordinary knowledge, which also decided Su Dongpo's lifelong career. Dongpo was constantly relegated to the south, but he was not depressed at all. Instead, he continued to cry for help for the people squeezed by traitors and despicable officials. While drinking and having fun with friends, his poems are full of his purest feelings, but they all reveal regrets about the political environment at that time.
But he is mainly a poet and writer. His works are still charming. According to legend, whenever Song Shenzong refuses to eat, he must be reading Su Dongpo's article. This is enough to show that Su Dongpo's literary talent can make readers feel happy. Moreover, his poems are always fresh, coupled with his vigorous calligraphy and exquisite paintings, people can't put it down.
In addition, the book mentions that he is also a person who speaks the spirit of democracy. He has contacts with people from all walks of life, from the royal family to illiterate peasant women. He also established orphanages and hospitals, created a prison doctor system, and banned infanticide. These systems may be necessary now, but in the social environment at that time, under the shadow of a strong concept that men are superior to women, he can have such a modern spirit and is really a superb person.
If Dongpo hadn't made such great achievements and strengthened his own opinions, I think he might not have become an immortal Wen Zhonggong in the long river of history.