Category: Humanities gt; gt; Chinese Literature
Analysis:
Su Shi was born in a scholarly family and was influenced by his father Su Xun since he was a child. He liked it very much read. He is very talented and has a very strong memory. Every time he reads an article, he can recite it word for word.
After several years of hard study, young Su Shi has become a well-educated man. He can understand books that others cannot understand; he can recognize words that others do not understand; he can understand articles that others do not understand. He can make comments and comments. As a result, many people admired him, and some even wanted to worship him as their teacher.
Su Shi was famous for a while and was very proud of himself. The enlightenment teacher was very worried when he saw it. I specially gave him a banner saying "There is no end to learning". But Su Shi didn't take it seriously after reading it. He thought that the teacher was jealous of him, so he threw the banner in the corner of the study room.
One day, Su Shi took advantage of his drunkenness and wrote a couplet, which he ordered his family to post on the door:
Read all the books in the world;
Know everything Human characters.
After the couplet in which Su Shi regarded himself as a contemporary genius was posted, some people nodded in praise, while others shook their heads. The enlightenment teacher was so angry that he could not eat and could not sleep well.
Somehow, this incident alarmed the fairy world. One day, Master Guanyin dressed up as an old woman and came down to earth to find Su Shi.
On this day, Su Shi was reading at home. Suddenly he heard a servant announcing that someone outside the door asked to see him. When he came out, he saw an old woman with gray hair, and asked, "What's wrong, old man?" Guanyin pointed to the couplet on the door and asked, "Sir, has he really read all the books in the world and knows all the characters in the world? "
When Su Shi heard this, he was very unhappy and said arrogantly: "Can I lie to others?"
Guanyin took out a book from his pocket, handed it to him and said : "I have a book here. Please help me read it, sir. What is written on it?"
Su Shi thought: What's so difficult about this! He took the book without even looking at it, and said, "Listen, I'll read it to you!" But when he looked carefully, he turned it from beginning to end, and then from end to beginning, and there was not a single word in the book. Don't recognize it. Guanyin kept urging from the side: "Sir, read it quickly, read it quickly!"
Su Shi was so anxious that he was sweating profusely and said hesitantly: "This... this..." In this book He has never seen the word ", how can he pronounce it?" He had to ask: "Where did your book come from?"
Guanyin smiled and said: "Sir, don't ask where it came from! Haven't you finished reading all the books in the world? Read it quickly. Ah!"
Su Shi blushed and had to reply: "I haven't read this book."
"You haven't read this book, so why are you posting it. Where is this couplet?" Guanyin asked.
After hearing this, Su Shi was so ashamed that he reached out and wanted to tear off the couplets on the door. Guanyin hurriedly stepped forward to stop him and said: "Wait! Let me change this couplet." As he spoke, he changed the couplet to:
Read all the books in the world with determination;
Be determined and knowledgeable. All human characters.
"Young people, stop being arrogant! There is no end to learning, there is no end to learning!" Guanyin warned earnestly.
Su Shi was enlightened after hearing this. He turned around and was about to thank the old woman, but she had already disappeared. Only then did he suddenly realize that it was the gods who were enlightening him!
Su Shi returned to the study, immediately found the banner given by the enlightenment teacher, and put it up. From then on, he studied hard and humbly, and finally became a famous scholar.
Su Dongpo, also known as Su Shi, was a writer, calligrapher and painter in the Northern Song Dynasty. He was one of the Eight Great Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties. Together with his father Su Xun and his younger brother Su Che, he was known as the "Three Sus". Su Dongpo abided by traditional etiquette in politics, but also had the ambition to reform bad governance, so he experienced many ups and downs in his official career. He has a heroic character, his poetry is unbridled, fresh and bold, and he creates a bold and unrestrained school. He is open-minded. Although his calligraphy is based on the ancients, he is also able to create his own ideas and is full of innocent fun. At the same time, he is good at painting and likes to create dead trees and strange rocks.
Su Dongpo claimed that there were three things in his life that were inferior to others, namely drinking, playing chess and singing. However, his poems, calligraphy and paintings were famous for future generations.
1. A scholarly family
Su Shi, also known as Zizhan and Yu Hezhong, called himself Dongpo Jushi. A native of Meishan, Meizhou (now Meishan County, Sichuan), he was born in the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty, on December 19, the third year of Renzong Jingyou's reign. His mother, Cheng, was the daughter of Cheng Wenying, the president of the Supreme Court, who was born in a scholarly family. She had good moral character and knowledge because of her childhood exposure. Su Shi was lucky to have such a mother, so he could Receive a good tutor. Grandfather Su Xun and others were overjoyed at his birth. Three years later his younger brother Su Che was also born. According to the records of the "Su Genealogy" compiled by Su Xun, the Su family's ancestors can be traced back as far as Su Weiwei, a famous scholar in the Tang Dynasty. However, the truth is difficult to determine, but it can be confirmed that Su Shi's ancestors can be traced back to Su Zhan five generations ago.
Su Shi's father, Su Xun, aspired to take the imperial examination. However, he started studying too late, around the time after Su Shi was born. He lamented that his talents were not met, so he had great expectations for the two brothers Su Shi and Su Che. Soon after Su Shi was born, Su Xun went to Kyoto to study. Therefore, Su Shi did not receive any guidance from his father until he was eight years old. He was first initiated by his mother. Later, because Cheng believed deeply in Taoism, he was ordered to become his teacher by Zhang Yijian, a Taoist priest from Tianqingguan, and he studied with more than a hundred young children in the town. Su Shi and Chen Taichu, who later became a local official, were often praised by private teachers. At that time, the children of Chinese officials usually hired tutors to teach their studies at home. The private mat in the Taoist temple where Su Shi and the children in the town sat and read together was a very ordinary place for education for the common people. The children who studied in private mats were all children of businessmen and farmers. Su Shi spent his childhood in private mats, which cultivated his common people character and was of great benefit to his future career as an official and a person.
Su Shi studied in Tianqingguan's private home for three years. When he was ten years old, his mother taught him to read "Book of the Later Han Dynasty". When he read "The Story of Fan Pang", he was deeply moved. Unconsciously, she sighed and said to her mother, "If your son could be like Fan Yan, would your mother be happy?" Cheng said, "If you can really be like Fan Yan, can't I be like Fan Yan's mother?" Do you feel honored? Because Su Shi was talented since he was a child, he made rapid progress under his mother's guidance.
2. He became famous in the capital.
Su Shi stayed in his hometown until he was twenty years old. Meishan concentrated on studying. In the first year of Renzong's reign (AD 1056), he and his younger brother Su Zhe left Meishan for the first time, accompanied by their father, and rushed to the capital to take the imperial examination. This year, the two brothers successfully passed the preparatory examination. They also participated in the imperial examination in the spring of the next year, and Su Shi passed the imperial examination in one fell swoop. The invigilators for this imperial examination were Ouyang Xiu and Mei Yaochen, the famous literary leaders at the time. Ouyang Xiu devoted himself to promoting ancient prose to save the glitz of the literary world at that time. When he read Su Shi's article "On the Perfection of Honesty in Punishments and Rewards", he was very surprised. He thought it was the work of his student Zeng Gong. He originally wanted to take the first place, but after thinking about it for a long time, in order to avoid favoritism. Because of his suspicion, he finally took second place (later, Zeng Gong, who was originally supposed to be second, became first instead.), and Su Shi took first place in the imperial examination (the emperor personally took the oral examination). The fifteen articles were highly appreciated by Emperor Renzong, so he rated Su Shi as a Hanlin scholar. Ouyang Xiu said to people at that time: "I should avoid this person and stand out." "It means "I want to avoid him so that he can get ahead", which shows Ouyang Xiu's love for the underachievers at that time. Later, Su Shi and Su Che both worshiped Ouyang Xiu as their teacher.
Dongpo went to Beijing to take the exam Previously, he had been married in his hometown. Su Shi's mother, Cheng, fell ill and died in April of the second year of Jiayou's reign. The mourning period of the Su family's fourth year of Jiayou's reign had expired, and the father and son once again sailed to Kyoto along the Minjiang and Yangtze rivers. In the sixth year of Jiayou's reign, Su Shi and Su Che took the system examination on the recommendation of their mentor Ouyang Xiu. The examination was held this year. Su Shi got the third class and Su Zhe got the fourth class respectively. Candidates who passed the examination were divided into five grades. In the Song Dynasty, there was no example of passing the exam with first or second grade. The third grade was usually the highest score.
It is said that at that time, Renzong once said to Queen Cao with great joy: "I will have two prime ministers for my descendants." The two people Renzong mentioned were Su Shi and Su Che. What the two brothers of the Su family wholeheartedly look forward to is to ascend to the position of prime minister one day, and their relative Su Xun is also very happy about this.
On November 19th, the sixth year of Jiayou's reign, Su Shi took up the post of signing the Fengxiang Prefecture's official position, that is, the assistant to the prefect, equivalent to the deputy prefect. When he went to take office, Su Che walked all the way to the Zhengxin Gate in the outer city of Kyoto to the west before reluctantly saying goodbye to his brother. Later, Su Shi collected a "Farewell Poem" he wrote at that time in the first volume of the forty volumes of his self-edited "Dongpo Collection", indicating that this poem was his first work.
In the spring of the second year of his tenure as magistrate of Fengxiang Prefecture, a severe drought made life difficult for the people because it did not rain for a long time. Later, under the order of his superiors, he went to Taibai Mountain to pray for rain. As expected, it rained later, so he built a pavilion to the north of the Fufeng official residence, named "Xiyu Pavilion". He was inspired to write "Xiyu Pavilion" about this event, and wrote it in a brisk style. Expressing the joy of getting rain after a long drought.
3. Opposing the Reform
After Yingzong succeeded to the throne, Han Qi became the envoy of Shanling. On the surface, he loved Su Shi, but in fact he was a little jealous of him. Because of his talent, Su Shi was extra careful in handling things. In order to meet the needs of the mountains, he built a lot of rafts and bamboo rafts and wanted to go east along the Weishui River. However, the water was too shallow and the rafts stopped. He was very anxious and spent five days. It took several months to manage to transport it out. Later, when the Western Xia people invaded, the people on the border were very panicked. He rushed around day and night to supply food for the army and the people, which was very hard.
In addition to being exhausted from work, Su Shi was also exhausted. He had to deal with various relationships in the officialdom. Because the teachings of sages he had learned before were far from the political reality, as a passionate young man who had just taken up an official position, he felt extremely worried. After his term of office expired, Su Shi couldn't wait to return to Kaifeng, the capital where his father and younger brother lived. Unexpectedly, his beloved wife died the next year. She married Dongpo at the age of sixteen, and later gave birth to her son Su Mai. Unfortunately, she died at the age of twenty-seven. In less than a year, her father also died. With a heavy heart, Su Shi took a boat to transport his father and his wife. His wife's soul returned to her hometown, Meishan.
In the first year of Xining, Shenzong ascended the throne, and Su Shi, who had completed his mourning period, left his hometown. The following year, he became the supervisor of Haoyuan (the official in charge of official speeches). At this time, there was a new political situation. In order to save the country's financial difficulties, Shenzong appointed Wang Anshi as prime minister and implemented the new laws he advocated. Su Shi's political thoughts were relatively conservative. Although he was dissatisfied with the current social situation at the time, he He did not fully support Wang Anshi's reform ideas. He believed that the key to the problem lay not in the legal system, but in the administration of officials. He hoped that reforms could be carried out in a gentler manner. If reforms were to be carried out, they should be carried out gradually, rather than in a hurry like Wang Anshi's reforms. Seeking profit. So he kept writing to Shenzong, submitting "Yi School and Gong Ju Zha Zi", "Remonstrance to Buy Zhejiang Lanterns", and later "Shang Huang Emperor's Letter" and "Wan Yan Shu", but none of them were accepted by Shenzong. As a result, Su Shi became a member of the old legal school who opposed Wang Anshi and other new legal schools at that time, and was politically marginalized. Some people even falsely accused Su Shi of selling illegal salt.
In the fourth year of Xining (1071 AD), Su Shi, who was thirty-six years old, saw that the overall situation of the reform was settled and that it was useless to oppose it. Moreover, he did not want to get involved in the vortex of sectarian struggle, so he asked to be transferred to Hangzhou (today's Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province), but he couldn't help but feel sad and frustrated.
Hangzhou is a place with beautiful scenery. After Su Shi finished his official duties, he went around to relieve his worries. He not only made many close friends here, but also wrote many poems, such as the famous poem. His political setbacks prompted Dongpo to experience a richer life as a poet and open up a new world. A broader literary field.
In the seventh year of Xining (1074 AD), Su Shi volunteered to be transferred to Mizhou (now Zhucheng County, Shandong Province), which was very close to Jinan where Su Che worked.
He also wrote many popular literary masterpieces in Mizhou, such as "Transcendent Taiwan Chronicles", "Shui Diao Ge Tou: The Mid-Autumn Festival with a Child", "Jiang Chengzi: Hunting in Mizhou", etc.
4. Wandering and wandering
Su Shi was later transferred to Xuzhou (now Tongshan County, Jiangsu Province) and Huzhou (now Wuxing County, Zhejiang Province). In the second year of Shenzong Yuanfeng (1079 AD), in the third month after he moved to Huzhou, one day, an imperial envoy suddenly broke in and took him to Beijing without any explanation. It turned out that it was a group of people who had some suspicion with Su Shi. In order to please Wang Anshi, the censor of Wang Anshi accused him of distorting facts and slandering the court in his poems, and asked the emperor to order judicial officials to convict him. Soon, Su Shi was sent to prison. This became the famous "Wutai Poetry Case".
Su Shi did write a lot of poems to satirize the new law when he was in Hangzhou. For example, the fourth poem of "Five Wonders of Mountain Village": "The stick is wrapped in rice and left in a hurry, and the money is empty in a blink of an eye." Won Children's Voice "Okay, more than a year and a half in the city." This poem satirizes the poor implementation of the Green Crop Law and the ugly behavior of officials who forced farmers to borrow money and then opened local casinos and brothels to get the money back. But this is poetry after all, and it should not constitute a crime. However, the serious political struggle surrounding the new law has evolved into a sectarian struggle for power. Su Shi's poems offended those upstarts who had risen to the top, so he would inevitably be charged.
Su Shi’s interrogation lasted for more than a hundred days. Su Shi’s political opponents, Li Ding and others, tried every possible means to fabricate accusations in an attempt to put Su Shi to death. Their despicable behavior aroused the dissatisfaction of many people.
In addition to people in Huzhou, Hangzhou and other places asking monks to chant sutras and pray for Su Shi, the former Prince's Young Master (the Prince's teacher) Zhang Fangping and the former Minister of Civil Affairs Fan Zhen interceded on his behalf, and the situation eased. . In addition, Shenzong originally loved his literature, and the sick Empress Dowager Cao (Shenzong's grandmother) interceded for him. In the end, Su Shi was only convicted of "ridiculing political affairs." On December 28 of that year, Emperor Shenzong sentenced him to exile in Huangzhou (now Huanggang County, Hubei Province), and Su Shi finally escaped death.
In the third year of Yuanfeng (1080 AD), Su Shi was demoted to the deputy envoy of the Tuanlian League in Huangzhou. When he first arrived in Huangzhou, life was difficult, he had no salary, and even a place to live was a problem. Later, he had no choice but to live temporarily in Dinghuiyuan, eating with the monks every day, and living frugally on the remaining money. His old friend Ma Zhengqing couldn't stand it anymore, so he bought dozens of acres of anti-waste land in the east of Kecheng for him to farm and build houses. He worked hard on the east slope with sweat on his back, while his wife Wang helped on the side. The couple shared the joys and sorrows.
Because Su Shi personally opened up wasteland and cultivated land on the east slope, he developed a deep affection for this place that was once covered with grass. He praised the east slope for its rugged and hard roads like rocks, and he must do the same for himself. Don’t shy away from dangers and move forward optimistically on the bumpy road of life. He regards Dongpo as a symbol of his own personality. After a year of hard work, Su Shi built a study next to Dongpo and named it "Dongpo Snow Hall". From then on, he called himself "Dongpo layman".
After Su Shi experienced the impact of this literary inquisition, he had countless things to say in his mind. Although he had been suppressing his passion and did not want to cause trouble by writing poems, the passion for creation was not What can be suppressed? While he confided his grievances and injustices in poems, he also sought indifferent and contented joy in his daily life to maintain his psychological balance. Whenever he had free time, he would visit places and spend his days leisurely. For Su Shi, this period was a peak in his literary creation.
There are two reasons: First, during these years, he studied hard and thus expanded his knowledge. 2. Because the "Wutai Poetry Case" hit him hard, he deeply realized that he was somewhat lacking in life, so he wrote many articles related to self-cultivation, such as "Qian Chibi Ode", which discussed life. The principle of change and immutability. In addition to the above-mentioned "Pre-Chibi Ode", he also wrote works such as "Niannujiao·Chibi Nostalgic", "Post-Chibi Ode" and other works to illustrate his broad-minded attitude towards life. At this time, Su Shi not only reached the peak of his literary and artistic attainments, but also reached an extremely high level in his principles of life.
Su Shi's articles were unbridled, clear and fluent, his poems were fresh and bold, he was good at using exaggerated metaphors, and he had a unique style in artistic expression. Ci Kai is bold and unrestrained, which has a great influence on future generations. He is good at running script and regular script. He draws on the styles of Li Yi, Xu Hao, Yan Zhenqing and Yang Ning and is able to create his own ideas. He has an innocent and lively style.
In the seventh year of Yuanfeng, Shenzong ordered Su Shi to leave Huangzhou and be appointed deputy envoy of Tuanlian in Ruzhou (now Runan County, Henan Province). When passing by Jinling (today's Nanjing City), he met Wang Anshi, his political enemy at that time, and the two had a very good talk. At this time, Dongpo was still rude to Wang Anshi, and kindly reproached Wang Anshi for not using troops in the west for many years and causing great punishment in the southeast. Prison, and violated the benevolent style of our ancestors. At this time, Wang Anshi had experienced many vicissitudes and was much more open-minded. Instead of being offended, he said to others: "I don't know if it will take another hundred years for a figure like Dongpo to appear!"
Five , political difficulties
In the seventh year of Yuanfeng, when Su Shi was forty-nine, Song Shenzong restored his reputation and was appointed governor of Dengzhou (today's Penglai County, Shandong Province). After only ten days, he was accepted by the imperial court again. He was called to serve as a doctor in the Ministry of Rites. In the twelfth lunar month of this year, he was transferred back to Kaifeng, Kyoto, and served as a living room keeper. In March of the eighth year of Yuanfeng (AD 1085), Shenzong, who vigorously promoted the new law, died after nineteen years in power. Zhezong, who was only ten years old, came to the throne. Empress Dowager Gao hung up the curtain and vigorously promoted the old school figures. Dongpo was summoned to return to the court. , the Queen Mother ordered him to sit down and give him tea, and scattered the golden lotus candlestick in front of the emperor to send him back to the hospital. As the Queen Mother abolished the new law, the political situation began to reverse, and the new law ministers who were the center of the regime were excluded. Sima Guang and other former important ministers were able to return to power. Later historians called it "the transformation of the Yuan Dynasty", and the old legal school continued to be in power.
In the second year, Su Shi was promoted to Zhongshu Sheren, Hanlin bachelor, Zhizhiyu, and concurrently served as an attendant. In less than a year after Su Shi came to Beijing, he was promoted three times, but at this time Su Shi had no interest in being an official. After coming to Beijing, Su Shi found that some of the New Deal that had been implemented for more than ten years had achieved considerable results. After Sima Guang came to power, it was completely abolished indiscriminately. He was a little dissatisfied. Dongpo was originally one of the strong opponents of the New Deal, but his words, deeds, and opinions were not specific to the situation. Now that he has further friendship with Wang Anshi and has a certain understanding of the New Deal, his attitude has naturally changed. Change. He believed that the "Exemption from Service Law" in the New Deal was particularly outstanding, with contemporary benefits and future benefits. He urged Sima Guang to adopt it, but Sima Guang firmly refused. In this way, conservative people say that he is Wang Anshi's new legal sect. However, the New Legalists did not regard him as one of their own, so Dongpo became a figure in the cracks, and neither side could please him.
In September of this year, Sima Guang, the leader of the Old Law Sect, passed away, causing the Old Law Sect to fall into pieces and fall into ugly factional disputes. The Shu Party led by Cheng Yi, who was the master of Neo-Confucianism in the Song Dynasty, and the Luo Party Prime Minister Su Shi and others were incompatible with each other. The Shuo Party was mixed in and entangled with each other. The factional disputes intensified and even involved slander of private affairs.
In the fourth year of Yuan Dynasty, Su Shi wanted to leave this place of right and wrong, so he asked to be transferred to the post of Governor Ye of Hangzhou. When he took office, the people of Hangzhou burned incense and lined up to welcome him. Unexpectedly, Su Shi encountered serious natural disasters and diseases as soon as he took office. . Later, he built my country's first public hospital here. During his tenure as governor, Su Shi built the West Lake Su Causeway, which is as famous as Bai Juyi's Bai Causeway. In the sixth year of Yuanyou's reign, he was summoned to serve as a scholar of the Hanlin Academy and concurrently served as an attendant. However, he was rejected by the radical Shuo Party. Within a few months, he was transferred to the governor of Yingzhou (now Fuyang City, Anhui Province) and left the court. , the following year he was transferred to the governor of Yangzhou (Yangzhou City, Jiangsu Province). In September of the seventh year of Yuanyou (AD 1092), Su Shi was recalled to the court and served as Minister of War. In November, he was promoted to Minister of Rites, which was Su Shi's highest position since he entered politics.
6. The Death of a Poet
Su Shi's position rose higher and higher, and the attacks on him from opposing parties became more and more intense. Some even criticized his former literary prison (i.e. Wutai Poetry). case) write a great article. The depressed Su Shi asked to be transferred to the south of the Yangtze River, but was not approved. In September of the eighth year of Yuan Dynasty, Su Shi was appointed as the governor of Dingzhou (now Dingxian County, Hebei Province). In the same month, Empress Dowager Gao passed away, and "Yuanyou Genghua" came to an end.
In September of the eighth year of Yuanyou, the 18-year-old Zhezong began to take charge personally and re-implemented the new law advocated by his father Shenzong. The political power was transferred to the hands of Lu Huiqing and other new legalists, so they launched a harsh impeachment against the old legalists. In April of the first year of Shaosheng (AD 1094), the fifty-nine-year-old Su Shi was accused of slandering the imperial court and was demoted to the governor of Yingzhou (Yingde County, Guangdong Province). In June, on the way to Yingzhou, he was ordered to be exiled to Huizhou ( Today's Huizhou City, Guangdong Province). During his two years in Huizhou, Su Shi lived in poverty. Sometimes he didn't even have rice to make wine, and he had to grow vegetables by himself. But Su Shi had long been accustomed to suffering in his life, and he took it all at ease. Two lines of his poems wrote: "To repay Mr. Spring for his full sleep, the Taoist struck the fifth watch." Even though he was in a despised place outside the mountains, he did not lose heart because of it, and still lived a leisurely and poor life. . Unexpectedly, the traitors in the capital court still refused to give up and tried to harm him again on unfounded charges. This time Su Shi was actually exiled to Danzhou, which is known as the end of the world. Danzhou is located on Hainan Island, an inaccessible place with numerous plagues. At that time, Su Che was demoted to Leizhou, separated by the strait. When the two were about to break up, Su Shi also joked: "Don't think that Qiong Lei is separated by the sea of ??clouds, and the Holy Grace still looks at each other from afar."
Here we are. In Danzhou, Su Shi was so poor that he even sold his drinking vessels to make ends meet. But he did not forget to read. During this period, he loved reading the poems of Liu Zongyuan and Tao Yuanming the most. He often brought a big wine ladle, sang and walked in the fields, and composed poems to amuse himself. He also made many civilian friends. When he had free time, he would visit the house, drink and chat with Ye Lao, and often provide medical treatment and prescriptions to his neighbors. Su Shi's later years in exile overseas were very difficult, but he was still detached and free and happy.
In the first month of the third year of Yuanfu (AD 1100), Zhezong died, Huizong ascended the throne, and granted amnesty to the world. The Empress Dowager Xiang served as regent in an attempt to promote reconciliation between the old and new factions. In May, Su Shi was pardoned from exile overseas and promoted to Chengdu Jade Bureau. During the seven years of exile in Huizhou, nine members of Su Shi's family died. Although life was so cruel to him, he was still optimistic, cheerful and energetic in his later years. Su Shi crossed the Qiongzhou Strait and returned to the north in June. When the moon was by the Han River, he recited: "My heart is like this. The moon is full and the river is not turbulent."
The people have not forgotten this great poet. . When Su Shi returned to the north and passed through Runzhou and headed for Changzhou, thousands of people crowded on both sides of the canal. They moved along with the boat, vying to see the style of this great poet who had endured many hardships. However, at this time, Su Shi had already fallen ill due to fatigue from the journey. In June of the first year of Jingguo's reign (AD 1101), Su Shi fell ill in Changzhou. On July 28, Su Shi passed away, marking the end of a generation of talented people. He died at the age of sixty-six.
Su Shi (1037-1101), whose courtesy name was Zizhan and also known as Dongpo Jushi, was a native of Meishan, Meizhou (now part of Sichuan). His family is rich in literary tradition. His grandfather Su Xu was good at reading and writing poetry. His father, Su Xun, was a famous writer of ancient Chinese literature. He once carefully guided Su Shi and his younger brother Su Zhe. His mother, Cheng, was knowledgeable and well-informed about righteousness. She once narrated the "Book of the Later Han Dynasty: The Biography of Fan Pang" to the young Su Shi, and encouraged her son to hone his reputation through the deeds of ancient patriots. When Su Shi left Shu and entered Beijing at the age of 21, his knowledge and accomplishments were already quite mature.
Su Shi was knowledgeable and thoughtful, and he was at home in the ideological atmosphere of the unity of the three religions in the Northern Song Dynasty. Su Zhe described Su Shi's reading process as follows: "I first read the books of Jia Yi and Lu Zhi, and discussed the ancient and modern methods of governing chaos, which is not just empty talk. After reading "Zhuangzi", he sighed and said: "I have seen it in the past, but I can't express it. Now I read "Zhuangzi". "Zhuangzi", it won my heart! '... After reading Shi's book, I deeply understood the truth, consulted Confucius and Lao, and my eloquence was unimpeded. 》) Su Shi not only readily accepted Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism, but also believed that they were inherently connected. He once said that "Zhuangzi helped Confucius", and Zhuangzi's attitude towards Confucius was "Yang squeezes and Yin helps it" ("Zhuangzi Ancestral Hall"). He also believed that "Confucianism and Buddhism coincide with each other" and "are opposite but serve each other" ("Inscriptions of the Elders of Nanhua"). This kind of thought based on the Confucian system and imbued with Buddhism and Taoism is the philosophical foundation of Su Shi's outlook on life.
Su Shi adhered to the Confucian political ideal of managing the world and benefiting the people. He was a Jinshi at the age of 22, and passed the third-class examination at the age of 26 (the highest level in the Song Dynasty). After becoming an official, he worked hard and had the ambition to be useful to the world. . He is an upright man, pays attention to integrity, is determined to reform government affairs and has the courage to speak out. Because he focused on the actual effects of policies, he opposed Wang Anshi when he implemented the new law, and held different opinions when Sima Guang repealed the new law. As a result, he was ostracized many times. When he was in office, he was diligent in political affairs and tried his best to do more practical things for the local area. He successively served as a local official in Hangzhou, Mizhou, Xuzhou, and Huzhou, where he exterminated locusts, provided disaster relief, and fought floods and built embankments, with outstanding political achievements. Even after he was demoted to Huizhou, he donated money to build two bridges. As long as the environment allowed, Su Shi always tried his best to make a difference. However, Su Shi's official career was bumpy throughout his life, and he was repeatedly demoted and failed to fully display his political talents. When he was 44 years old, he encountered the "Wutai Poetry Case" and narrowly escaped an unexpected incident. In his later years, he was demoted again and again, until he lived in the remote Hainan, eating taro and drinking water, living a hard life with the Li people. Su Shi was not indifferent to suffering, nor did he accept the persecution imposed on him. Instead, he treated the ensuing misfortunes with a new attitude towards life, combining the Confucian perseverance of poverty and Lao Zhuang's contempt for limited time, space and material environment. The transcendent attitude and the Zen concept of treating all changes with a normal heart are organically combined, thus despising ugliness and dispelling pain. This paradigm of life that is obsessed with life but detached from external things contains a firm, calm, optimistic and broad-minded spirit. Therefore, Su Shi can still maintain a strong interest in life and strong creative vitality in adversity.
Su Shi suffered two severe political persecutions in his life. The first time was when he was 45 years old and was demoted to Huangzhou for four years because of the "Wutai Poetry Case". The second time was when he was demoted to Huizhou at the age of 59, and to Danzhou at the age of 62. He was pardoned and returned to the north at the age of 65, spending six years in the demoted office. Before his death, Su Shi inscribed his own portrait and said: "Ask you about your life achievements in Huangzhou, Huizhou and Danzhou." ("Self-Inscribed Portrait of Jinshan") As far as his political career is concerned, these words are of course self-deprecating. But for Su Shi, a writer, his unparalleled achievements were indeed established in the adversity of being repeatedly demoted. Although Su Shi had long been famous in the literary world, and after being demoted to Huangzhou, he did not dare to write more poems for fear of disaster, but the Huangzhou period was still a peak in his creation. Prose such as "Chibi Ode" before and after, poems such as "Two Poems of Cold Food and Rain", lyrics such as "Nian Nujiao·Chibi Nostalgic" and other famous works were all written at this time. When Su Shi was demoted to Huizhou and Danzhou, he was already an aging man who had suffered a lot of sorrows, but his creative ability had not declined, and he had entered a new realm of profoundness and splendor in art. His relegation career enabled Su Shi to understand society and life more deeply, and also enabled his creations to express his inner emotional waves more deeply. In the Song Dynasty, some people believed that being demoted to Hainan was not Su Shi's misfortune, but that adversity was the result of the times for this literary genius.