Full text of Su Dongpo’s Breakout:
(1)
Living in this mountainside residence far away from the bustling city, there is peace and quiet, but loneliness also comes, sometimes It comes very violently, especially in the middle of the night. I could only walk around the room alone, drawing down the curtains to isolate myself from the cliffs and rolling waves outside the window, my eyes occasionally glancing at the milky white phone next to the bed. It rang unexpectedly, and I rushed over. It was a call from the "China Times" in Taipei. An unknown female reporter said that my book "Cultural Journey" was selling well in Taiwan, so I wanted to make an overseas trip. Telephone interview. He asked me many questions about my background, experience, and hobbies.
The last question is: "In the history of Chinese culture, which writer is your favorite?" I answered: Su Dongpo. She asked again: "Which of his works do you like best?" I replied: The ones about Red Cliff written in Huangzhou. The reporter asked without a pause: "Are you talking about "Nian Nujiao·Chibi Nostalgia" and the "Red Cliff Ode" before and after it?" I said yes, and I was immediately happy for Su Dongpo. His works are the universal code of Chinese literati. Just stay there, even if it's late at night in the middle of the mountain, blocked by the strait, or a complete stranger.
When I put down the phone, Huangzhou Chibi immediately appeared in my mind. I just visited last summer and was very impressed. I remember that before going there, some friends from Wuhan came to dissuade them. The reason was that the famous Battle of Chibi was not fought there. Su Dongpo was nostalgic for the past in the wrong place. Now we go to pay homage to him seriously. To put it nicely, we are making mistakes. To sound bad is to add insult to injury. The weather is so hot and the road is so long, so why bother?
I know that most historians do not believe that the Battle of Chibi was actually fought there. Most of them say that it was fought in Jiayu County. However, in recent years, several young and middle-aged historians in Hubei Province have held the opposite opinion, believing that Su Dongpo's nostalgia for the past was not wrong, and that Chibi in Huangzhou was the main battlefield of the war at that time. I have always been interested in this debate. Regardless of the prospects of the debate, I still want to visit Huangzhou, not to see the ruins of the ancient battlefield from a historical perspective, but to see Su Dongpo's feelings from an artistic perspective. Even if a great artist is wrong, he will still be wrong about charm. It seems Oscar Wilde said that in art there is only beauty and ugliness, not right or wrong.
So I went anyway.
This is Huangzhou Chibi. The ocher-red steep stone slope faces the mighty eastward river. There are dangerous paths on the slope that you can climb and overlook. There are small boats on the river for rowing and looking up. The place is not big, but it becomes imposing as you lean down and up. With the contrast between greatness and smallness, and the variation and perversion of visual space, there is also the value of sightseeing and meditation. Objective scenery only provides one aesthetic possibility, and different tourists realize this possibility to varying degrees.
Su Dongpo used his spiritual power to inject meaning into the natural scenery of Huangzhou, and it is this meaning that turns inanimate natural forms into beauty. Therefore, it can be said that Su Dongpo is not only the discoverer of Huangzhou's natural beauty, but also the determiner and constructor of Huangzhou's natural beauty.
However, the complexity of the matter is that natural beauty can also determine and construct people in reverse. Su Dongpo fulfilled Huangzhou, and Huangzhou fulfilled Su Dongpo. This is really an interesting relationship that complements each other. The masterpieces written by Su Dongpo in Huangzhou not only announced that Huangzhou had entered a new aesthetic level, but also announced that Su Dongpo had entered a new stage of life. Both aspects improved together, and neither could do without the other.
Su Dongpo traveled to many places, many of which were far more beautiful than Huangzhou. Why could a remote Huangzhou give him such a huge surprise and shock? Why could he invest such profound historical and life significance in Huangzhou? Why can Huangzhou become the most important life stop in his life? All this depends on the reason and mentality of coming to Huangzhou.
He came from prison with a very small official position, actually came as an exiled criminal, he came with the dirty water thrown at him by the officialdom and the literary world, He came full of luck and full of despair. He was being escorted away from his family and was not qualified to choose any place other than Huangzhou, walking towards this small town that was still desolate at the time.
He was very tired and embarrassed. He left Bianliang, crossed Henan, crossed the Huaihe River, entered Hubei, and arrived in Huangzhou. The depressed Huangzhou did not prepare any residence for him, so he had to stay in a temple. Stay. He wiped his face and took a breath. There was silence all around, not even a friend. He closed his eyes and shook his head. He didn't know that at this moment, he had completed a cultural breakthrough that would go down in history. Huangzhou is destined to have a magnificent dialogue with this scarred breakout that will continue the past and open up the future.
(2)
People may sometimes foolishly think that a great literary giant like Su Dongpo who has allowed Chinese people to enjoy thousands of years should be the supreme pride of his era. The people around him will definitely cherish him carefully, look up to him devoutly, and are not willing to cause trouble for him, right? In fact, on the contrary, the more transcendent a cultural celebrity is, the less compatible he is with the specific era in which he lives.
The mechanism of China's secular society is very peculiar. On the one hand, it is willing to spread and broadcast the reputation of a cultural celebrity, use him, extract him, and seduce him, but on the other hand, it essentially treats him as a cultural celebrity. As an alien, sooner or later he will be rejected, abused and destroyed. The heckling-style propaganda is transformed into the heckling-style derogation. Both kinds of heckling originate from the mentality of inferiority and cunning coveting. Both kinds of heckling are completely opposite to the healthy cultural atmosphere.
Before coming to Huangzhou, Su Dongpo was caught in a case called "Wutai Poetry Prison" by literary historians. The specific content of this case is special, but it reflects the role of cultural celebrities in Chinese society. It’s a common encounter, and it’s worth talking about. Only by understanding the faces of various people in this case can we understand what kind of encirclement Su Dongpo broke through when he came to Huangzhou.
In order to prevent readers from focusing on the specific content of the case, we might as well explain the background of the case first. Even from the court's point of view, this is completely a ridiculous incident. A group of cultural bureaucrats, large and small, insisted that Su Dongpo showed dissatisfaction and disrespect for the government in many of his poems by inferring and interpreting the words and images in his poems. Even Emperor Shenzong was not convinced for a long time. I believed so much that I almost had no choice but to convict Su Dongpo.
Among the emperors in ancient China, Song Shenzong was definitely not a bad person. He had no intention of persecuting Su Dongpo in his heart. He was well aware of Su Dongpo’s talent. His grandmother, the Empress Dowager Guangxian, even He tried his best to protect Su Dongpo, and he respected his grandmother's opinion very much. In this case, wasn't Su Dongpo very safe? However, regardless of the will of Emperor Shenzong and the Empress Dowager, Su Dongpo, who was well-known in Kyushu and served as a prefect, was still imprisoned. This powerful and evil force is worth studying.
It’s a long story. Rulers under autocratic systems often assume a posture of attaching importance to public opinion, and sometimes even set up so-called admonishers who specialize in finding faults and faults among officials at all levels to act as the eyes, ears and mouthpiece of the court. At first glance this seems like a good thing, but it actually has many disadvantages. What these admonishers with a public opinion image say cannot be heard by others, and there is no investigation mechanism or arbitration mechanism. Everything depends on their private qualities, but there is also no inspection mechanism for private qualities, so the so-called Such public opinion often becomes a social disaster that distorts facts and confuses right and wrong.
This is like a modern newspaper that lacks sufficient professional ethics and does not have corresponding legal restrictions. It can praise and criticize at will. The injured have nowhere to speak, and the uninformed people mistakenly believe that the black and white words are where public opinion lies. What confusion this would cause to the people! Su Dongpo had long seen the seriousness of this problem and believed that this kind of so-called public opinion and criticism without any restrictions was enough to change the mentality of the court's decision-makers and had great political lethality, so he must be vigilant. However, Emperor Shenzong, because of his own Differences in status cannot realize this.
Unexpectedly, it was Su Dongpo himself who tasted the bitter fruit he had predicted. In order to maintain his image of respecting public opinion, Emperor Shenzong could not do anything when criticisms of Su Dongpo gathered almost unanimously. What did Su Dongpo say?
So why do comments criticizing Su Dongpo gather together in unison? I think the simplest answer is what his brother Su Che said: "What's Dongpo's crime? His reputation alone is too high." He was so outstanding and so loud that he could compare the pen and ink around him to nothing, and he could compare the words of his fellow students. The competition among literati in this era was a little awkward, which aroused bitter jealousy among some people, and then it was almost inevitable that you would punch and kick me. In this shameful siege, some men of letters of low character acted as vanguards.
For example, Shu Yu. This person can be called a "professional whistleblower". While exposing Su Dongpo, he also exposed another person, who was the benefactor who had recommended him to become an official. This great benefactor wrote him a letter, taking his son-in-law's schoolwork and asking him for advice and guidance. This was a very normal exchange between friends, but he did not expect that he would be ungrateful and write an inexplicable report to the emperor. The expose letter said that since both of us were officials and I was in the field of public opinion, it was not appropriate for him to ask me to tutor his son-in-law.
The emperor demoted that person after reading his report. This is simply the story of Mr. Dongguo and the wolf. It was such a disgusting person who, echoing He Zhengchen and others, wrote an article to tell the emperor that Su Dongpo's thank-you letter to the emperor after taking office in Huzhou "contained remarks that ridiculed current affairs." The emperor had already read Su Dongpo's letter of thanks and found no problems. However, Shu Yu analyzed it one by one and told the emperor carefully. Su Dongpo is rebelling against you, and it is very serious. Moreover, he has already rebelled against you. According to legend, all loyal and righteous people are angry and sad!" "Angrily" means being angry with Su Dongpo, and "拋" means being angry with the emperor. How many loyal people are "angry"? ?
He said it was "everything", which means 100%, nothing is missing. This kind of quantitative statistics cannot be verified at all, but it can make Emperor Shenzong, who pays attention to social reputation, feel a little bit in his heart.
Another example is Li Ding. This was a high-ranking official who had been reviled by people for his disobedience to filial piety after his mother's death, and he attacked Su Dongpo the most. He summarized many of Su Dongpo's crimes, but after careful identification, I found that he was particularly concerned about Su Dongpo's poor background in his early years, his current status in the cultural world, and his social reputation. None of these could be classified as crimes, but he seemed unable to suppress his greatest indignation at these points. It is said that Su Dongpo "began in a humble life in the grasslands", "had no academic knowledge at the beginning, and gained his fame in vain", "the literary words he wrote, although unreasonable, were enough to inspire popular culture", etc.
Su Dongpo’s background aroused his dissatisfaction and he did not talk about it. He insisted that Su Dongpo was ignorant and had poor diction, which really surprised me. But unless he said so, he could not conclude that Su Dongpo's social reputation and secular motivation were "excessive." All in all, Li Ding's attack clearly hides one of the most secret elements beneath the surface motives: jealousy. In any case, it was too stupid to slander Su Dongpo's knowledge and literary talents. This did not make Su Dongpo guilty at the time, but it became a laughing stock for thousands of years in the future. But when jealousy gets deeper, he will lose control. He will only attack the part he hates the most, no longer caring about the credibility and rationality of even pretense.
Another example is Wang Gui. This is a domineering and hypocritical old man. By virtue of his qualifications and status, he thought he was the best in the world in writing. In fact, he couldn't do without the words "gold, jade and beauty" in his poems and compositions. Everyone laughed secretly, and he felt good about himself. Now, a rising star, Su Dongpo, is famous in the literary world. Of course, he must do everything possible to deal with him. Once he said to the emperor: "Su Dongpo does have two minds about the emperor."
The emperor asked: "How can you see it?" He cited a poem by Su Dongpo about juniper trees that contained the words "hidden dragon" The emperor was puzzled and said: "What does the poet writing about juniper trees have to do with me?" He said: "If he writes about dragons, doesn't he also write about the emperor?" The emperor was clear-headed and retorted: "Not necessarily, they are called Zhuge Liang is still called Wolong! "This Wang Gui has such low intentions, how can his article be any better? Not to mention competing with Su Dongpo. A few strands of white hair can sometimes pretend to be a teacher and cover up evil, but they cannot deceive history. In the end, history did not rank his name in front of Su Dongpo because of his age.
Another example is Li Yizhi.
This is another special case. I am working as a minor official. I heard in Lingbi County, Anhui Province that Su Dongpo wrote a garden note for a local garden. There are words and phrases that advise people not to be keen on being an official. He wrote a letter to the emperor to report and report, and analyzed that this kind of thinking would make people lack enterprising spirit and would also affect the selection of scholars. It seems that in addition to having evil intentions, this Li Yizhi also has serious intellectual problems. You see, he even found ways to frame him.
However, in the absence of a rational court, no matter how stupid the accusation is, it can be established, so it is an encouragement to Li Yizhi scattered across the country. Why would people of such a low class crowd in and besiege Su Dongpo? Mr. Li Yibing, a contemporary researcher of Su Dongpo, said it very well: "He also stepped in to help. Without him, an unknown little official can gain weight by participating in a major event that brings down a celebrity." In a certain sense. It is said in the article that his purpose was indeed partially achieved. For example, when I wrote this article today, I even wrote the name Li Yizhi. It was entirely because he participated in the siege of Su Dongpo. Otherwise, there would be no reason for him to be dismissed. It was written in print by people of the same era.
Based on their multi-faceted observation of today’s secular psychology, some of my young friends feel that people like Li Yizhi do not necessarily want to leave their names in history, but do so out of a kind of behavior that can be called "smashing windows." mischievous mentality. At night, a group of children stood in front of a building and pointed, picking up a stone and throwing it at whose window was bright. There was no purpose behind it, they just wanted to be a little limelight among a few children. I think my young friends regard Li Yizhi as too modern and too urban.
Li Yizhi’s behavior was mainly due to political speculation. Hearing that Su Dongpo was in trouble, he made the trouble bigger. Anyway, he would not bear moral responsibility internally or legal responsibility externally, so he was happy to vote. Cutting rocks from the well can support a smooth sailing boat. Such people don't have the guts to attack a cultural celebrity like Li Ding, Shu Quan and Wang Gui did. Maybe they were bragging about having met Su Dongpo somewhere two days ago and insisting that Su Dongpo was their friend. Even teachers.
Another example - I really don't want to write out this name, but after thinking about it again, I have no reason to avoid it, so I might as well write it down: Shen Kuo. This famous scientist who occupies a considerable position in the history of ancient Chinese science and technology also framed Su Dongpo out of jealousy. The method used was still to expose the tendency of Su Dongpo to ridicule the government in his poems. If he and Su Dongpo were political enemies, that would be fine. The problem is that they had been good friends, and the poems he reported and exposed were the recent works that Su Dongpo had written and given to him as a souvenir when they parted ways.
This really doesn’t taste good. Historians have analyzed that this is probably related to the fact that the emperor said good things about Su Dongpo in front of Shen Kuo. Shen Kuo had a silent contrast in his heart and did not want Su Dongpo's cultural status to be higher than his own. Another possibility is that he knew that Wang Anshi and Su Dongpo had different political views, so he bet on Wang Anshi's side.
But after all, Wang Anshi is also a cultural master who pays attention to character. He paid great attention to Shen Kuo, but in the end he came to the conclusion that he was an unapproachable villain. Of course, his inaccessibility in terms of personality does not affect our recognition of Shen Kuo's scientific achievements.
Extended information:
Su Shi, also known as Zizhan and Hezhong, was also known as Tieguan Taoist and Dongpo layman. He was also known as Su Dongpo and Su Xian in the world. Han nationality, a native of Meishan, Meizhou, and his ancestral home is Luancheng, Hebei Province. He was a writer, calligrapher and painter in the Northern Song Dynasty.
In the second year of Jiayou's reign (1057), Su Shi became a Jinshi. During the reign of Emperor Shenzong of the Song Dynasty, he served in Fengxiang, Hangzhou, Mizhou, Xuzhou, Huzhou and other places. In the third year of Yuanfeng (1080), he was demoted to the deputy envoy of Huangzhou Tuanlian due to the "Wutai Poetry Case". After Zhezong of the Song Dynasty came to the throne, he served as a bachelor of Hanlin, a bachelor of imperial examination, and a minister of the Ministry of Rites. He also went to Hangzhou, Yingzhou, Yangzhou, Dingzhou and other places. In his later years, he was demoted to Huizhou and Danzhou because of the new party's rule. Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty was pardoned and returned to the north, but died of illness in Changzhou on the way. During the reign of Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty, he was posthumously given the title of Grand Master, with the posthumous title "Wenzhong".
Su Shi was a literary leader in the mid-Northern Song Dynasty and made great achievements in poetry, lyrics, prose, calligraphy, and painting.
His writing is bold and unbridled; his poems have broad themes, are fresh and bold, are good at using exaggerated metaphors, and have a unique style. Together with Huang Tingjian, they are called "Su Huang"; Xin; his prose writings are grand and bold. Together with Ouyang Xiu, he is called "Ou Su" and is one of the "Eight Great Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties". Su Shi is also good at calligraphy and is one of the "Four Masters of the Song Dynasty". He is good at painting, especially ink. Bamboo, strange rocks, dead wood, etc. There are "Dongpo Seven Collections", "Dongpo Yi Zhuan", "Dongpo Yuefu" and so on.
Reference: Su Dongpo's Breakout - Baidu Encyclopedia