Su Shunqin (1008-1048), a poet and calligrapher of the Northern Song Dynasty, had a courtesy name Zimei. His ancestral home was Tongshan, Zizhou (now Zhongjiang, Sichuan). He moved to Kaifeng (now part of Henan) during his great-grandfather's time. In the first year of Jingyou's reign in the Northern Song Dynasty, he was promoted to Jinshi, and he served as county magistrate, Dali judge, school manager of Jixian Hall, and supervisor of Jinzou Academy. Because he supported Fan Zhongyan's Qingli reforms, he was hated by the conservative faction. The imperial censor Zhongcheng Wang Gongchen asked his subordinates to impeach Su Shunqin for using money from selling waste paper to entertain guests when he went to the memorial hall to worship the gods. He quit his job and lived in Suzhou. Later he became the governor of Huzhou, but he died of illness soon after. Together with Mei Yaochen, the "founder of Song poetry", it is collectively known as "Su Mei". There are "Collected Works of Su Xueshi", a collection of poems and essays, "Collected Works of Su Shunqin" in 16 volumes, and "Sibu Congkan", which was published in the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty. In 1981, Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House published "Su Shunqin Collection".
Life experience
Su Shunqin was born in Kaifeng (now Kaifeng, Henan) in the first year of Dazhong Xiangfu in the Northern Song Dynasty (1008), and his ancestral home was Tongshan, Zizhou (now Zhongjiang, Sichuan). Grandfather Su Yijian was involved in political affairs during the reign of Emperor Taizong of the Song Dynasty. His father, Su Qi, was a doctor in the Ministry of Industry and a transshipment envoy to Hedong. When he was young, Su Shunqin ignored the popular ridicule and advocated ancient prose together with Mu Xiu, which was earlier than the ancient prose movement advocated by Yin Zhu, Ouyang Xiu and others. At the age of 22, because of his father's official position, he was able to supplement his post as Taimiao Zhailang, county captain of Xingyang (now Henan), and Jinshi in the first year of Jingyou (1034). He successively served as the county magistrate of Mengcheng (now part of Anhui) and Changyuan (now part of Henan).
Su Shunqin was politically inclined towards the reformists headed by Fan Zhongyan. In the fourth year of Qingli (1044), Fan Zhongyan, Du Yan, Fu Bi and others recruited talents to prepare for the implementation of the new law. Su Shunqin was Du Yan's son-in-law. He was recommended by Fan Zhongyan as the school manager of Jixian Hall and supervised the memorial hall. Censor Zhongcheng Wang Gongchen and others opposed political reform. It was time to go to the memorial hall to worship the gods. As usual, Su Shunqin used the waste paper he opened to exchange the memorial envelopes for money to buy wine and banquet. Wang Gongchen falsely accused Su Shunqin of stealing the prison, in order to attack Fan and Du. Su Shunqin was demoted to civilian status, and more than ten celebrities who attended the meeting were demoted at the same time. After being deposed, he left Kaifeng and built Canglang Pavilion in Suzhou. He lived in seclusion and did not serve as an official. In the eighth year of Qingli Dynasty (1048), he was reinstated as the governor of Huzhou. He died of illness before taking up his post. He was only forty-one when he died.
Literary achievements
Su Shunqin was famous for his articles in his youth. He was not bound by the flashy style of writing at that time, and devoted himself to the writing of ancient prose and poetry with Mu Xiu and others. He had a positive influence on many writers at the same time in terms of poetry innovation. Ouyang Xiu's "Preface to the Collected Works of Su Xueshi" said that "Zimei's teeth are less than those of Yu, but Yu's learning of ancient prose comes later", and he highly praised his position in the poetry innovation movement. The basic point of Su Shunqin's literary thought is "original from antiquity and adapted for use" ("Shi Manqing's Collection of Poems"), which emphasizes the inheritance of the realistic spirit in Confucian literary and artistic thought, and literature must reflect reality. His opinions on prose creation can be found in "Duan Gongshu, Deputy Envoy of Shangsansi": "The reason why people are human is words; words must be attributed to morality; morality and justice are beneficial to things. So, This is immortal. Therefore, every article should not be carved to harm the truth. "This is in the same vein as Han Yu's literary theory. His opinions on poetry creation are mainly found in "Shi Manqing's Collection of Poems": "Poetry is something that goes hand in hand with life. People's emotions of joy, sorrow and depression must be relieved by words", "In ancient times, there was a world. If you want to know In response to the changes in customs and customs, officials were set up to monitor and relax their duties to satisfy their thoughts." Therefore, "afterwards, officials were abolished and poems were not passed down. The superior no longer knows the direction of the people's will, so the government becomes troubled and the governance is ruined. "This is consistent with the spirit of Bai Juyi's poetic theory.
Su Shunqin's literary creation can be divided into two periods, the Jinzouyuan incident.
In the early days, his literary activities were closely related to his political activities. Many letters from the emperor and ministers in power broke the shackles of parallel four and Liliu. They were written sharply and discussed fiercely. They criticized bad government and called for reform. Most of them were political essays with a militant nature. The outstanding characteristics of poetry are also political commentary and combative nature. They often express their own opinions directly on the political events and practical issues at that time. For example, the third poem of "Gan Xing" exposes and criticizes the ruler's brutal means of blocking speech in relation to the incident in which the scholar surnamed Lin wrote a letter and was convicted.
"The Defeat of Gyeongju" is a battle in which the army was lost and the country was humiliated, and it sharply criticized the general's cowardice and incompetence and the ruler's misappointment. Five-character novels such as "Feelings of the Severe Cold in Ji Mao Winter", "Feeling for Uncle Yong in the South of the City", and "Drought in Wu" profoundly reflect the social phenomenon of natural and man-made disasters, class contradictions and ethnic contradictions, and are devoted to the suffering of the broad masses of the people. Sympathy. Poems such as "Send Li to Jizhou", "Send to Fu Yanguo", "Send Du Mi Xue to Bingzhou", "Send An Su to Gao Wenyue", try their best to describe the serious foreign invasion and encourage friends to serve on the battlefield. "Wu Wen" expresses his ambition to defend the frontier in his dreams. The poem writes: "Although I am a Confucian, I want to swallow Nijie. When I don't see it, I lament the heat in my stomach and intestines. I lie in a book during the day and dream of passing the Jade Pass." Que. "This kind of theme describing heroic aspirations was first seen in Su Shunqin's works in Song poetry.
In his later period, his life in seclusion limited his vision, and the number of works reflecting major political events and social issues decreased, while the number of works focusing on landscapes increased. The prose "Canglang Pavilion" describes the beautiful scenery of Canglang Pavilion and expresses the taste of life of escaping reality and enjoying the openness. Small poems such as "Visiting the Canglang Pavilion on a clear day", "Moving in Dutou at night in Huaizhong" and "Summer Meaning" are also written in a fresh and calm way. But he did not really forget about worldly affairs. For example, the prose "Reply to Han Chi's Letter of Credence" and the poems "Relieving Mourning", "A Wave in Huaihe River", "A Praise for Sleeping in the Heat of Summer", etc., all exposed the harshness of the world and the darkness of politics, expressing The grief and anger of being wronged and being unfulfilled.
Su Shunqin is a generous, heroic poet who actively demands to change reality. His poems are also passionate and unrestrained, which is different from Mei Yaochen's poems that are subtle, ancient, subtle and profound. Ouyang Xiu commented that his poems were "powerful and powerful" and "super-stepping" ("Poetry Talk"), and "History of the Song Dynasty: Biography of Su Shunqin" also said that he "always wrote poems with anger and displeasure, and his style was bold and often astonishing." . For example, "The old pines are as proud as the world, and the flying springs are as thin as if they are hiding from people" ("Yunmen Temple in Yuezhou"); "The wind has not yet subsided, and I am afraid that the Jingwei River will be blown over" ("Strong Wind"). The imagination is strange, and with the help of The images of natural scenery express cynical and gloomy feelings, which best embody the characteristics of his poetic style. However, most of his poems lack connotation and charm, and the language is often rough and stiff.
The collection of poems and essays includes 16 volumes of "Su Shunqin Collection" and "Sibu Congkan", which was published in the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty. In 1981, Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House published "Su Shunqin Collection".