. 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. The two brothers Su Shi and Su Che had great expectations. 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 Bang", he was deeply moved. Unconsciously, she sighed and said to her mother: "If your son is like Fan Yan, will 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. Su Shi, who was famous in the capital, concentrated on studying in his hometown of Meishan until he was twenty years old. , he and his younger brother Su Che left Meishan for the first time, accompanied by their father, and rushed to the capital to take the imperial examination. The two brothers successfully passed the preparatory examination this year, and took the imperial examination together in the spring of the next year. Su Shi became a scholar in one fell swoop. No. 2. The Zhigongju (invigilators) of this imperial examination were Ouyang Xiu and Mei Yaochen, the famous literary leaders at that time. Ouyang Xiu wholeheartedly advocated ancient prose to save the glitz and unreality of the literary world at that time. When he read Su Shi's "Penalty and Reward" When I read the article "On Loyalty and Honesty", I was very surprised. I thought it was the work of my student Zeng Gong. I originally wanted to take the first place. After thinking about it for a long time, in order to avoid the suspicion of favoritism, I finally took the second place (later it was originally supposed to be the second place). Zeng Gong, who was second, became first), and Su Shi came first in the imperial examination (the emperor personally took the oral examination), which was highly appreciated by Emperor Renzong. After appraising Su Shi as a Hanlin scholar, Ouyang Xiu said to people at that time: "I should avoid this person and get out of my way." "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 disciples. Before Dongpo went to Beijing to take the exam, he had already married in his hometown. Marriage. Su Shi's mother Cheng died of illness in April of the second year of Jiayou. The mourning period for the Su family was over in the fourth year of Jiayou. 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 The two of them, Su Che, were recommended by their mentor Ouyang Xiu to take the exam. This year, the exam was held. Su Shi got the third grade and Su Che got the fourth grade. The scores are divided into five grades. In the Song Dynasty, there was no case 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: "Skin is for the descendants." Two prime ministers. "The two people Renzong mentioned refer to Su Shi and Su Che. What the two brothers of the Su family wholeheartedly look forward to is to one day ascend to the position of prime minister, and their relative Su Xun is also very happy about this. November 19, the sixth year of Jiayou On that day, when Su Shi took office as the magistrate of Fengxiang Prefecture, which was the assistant to the prefect, equivalent to the deputy prefect, Su Che went all the way to Zhengxin Gate in the outer city of Kyoto to the west before reluctantly parting ways with his brother. Farewell. Later, Su Shi collected a "Farewell Poem" written at that time in the first volume of the forty volumes of his self-compiled "Dongpo Collection", indicating that this poem was his first work in the spring of his second year as magistrate of Fengxiang Prefecture. Since it didn't rain for a long time, the people's lives were difficult due to severe drought. Later, they were ordered by their superiors to go to Taibai Mountain to pray for rain. Then it rained, so they built a pavilion named?quot; "Happy Rain Pavilion", he also wrote "Happy Rain Pavilion Notes" inspired by this incident, and expressed his joy of getting rain after a long drought in a brisk style.
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 his talent, so Su Shi was extra careful in doing things. In order to meet the needs of the mountains, he compiled a lot of wooden rafts and bamboo rafts, and wanted to go eastward along the Weishui River. However, the water was too shallow, and the rafts stagnated. He was very anxious, and it took him five months to try to transport them out. Later, when the Xixia invaders invaded, the people on the border were very panicked. He rushed around day and night to supply food to the army and the people, which was very hard. In addition to being tired of work, Su Shi also had to deal with various relationships in the officialdom. Because there was a huge gap between the teachings of sages he had learned before and the political reality, as a passionate young man who had just taken up an official position, he felt extremely worried. In the winter of the second year of Emperor Yingzong's reign (AD 1065), after Fengxiang's term of office expired, Su Shi couldn't wait to rush back to Kaifeng, the capital where his father and younger brother lived. Unexpectedly, his beloved wife died the next year (his wife, Wang Fu, was the daughter of a tribute scholar from his hometown. She was knowledgeable about books and etiquette, capable of poetry and writing. She married Dongpo at the age of sixteen and later gave birth to her son Su Mai. Unfortunately, she was so beautiful. , died at the age of twenty-seven), and less than a year later, his father also passed away. With a heavy heart, Su Shi took a boat to transport the souls of his father and his wife back to his hometown of Meishan. In the first year of Xining, Shenzong ascended the throne, and Su Shi left his hometown after serving his mourning period. The following year, he was appointed as the supervisor Haoyuan (the official in charge of officials' speeches). At this time, there was a new political situation. In order to save the national finances that were facing 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 status quo at the time, 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 to reform in a gentler way. If he wanted to Reform should also be carried out gradually, rather than rushing for profit like Wang Anshi's reform. Therefore, he continued to write to Shenzong, submitting "Yu School and Gongju Zhazi", "Admonition to Buy Zhejiang Lanterns", and later submitted "Letter to the Emperor" and "Book of Wanyan", but none of them were accepted by Shenzong. As a result, Su Shi became a member of the old legal school that opposed Wang Anshi and other new legal schools at that time, and was politically excluded. Some people even falsely accused Su Shi of selling illegal salt. In the fourth year of Xining (AD 1071), Su Shi, who was thirty-six years old, saw that the overall situation of the reform had been decided and that it was useless to oppose it. Moreover, he was unwilling to fall into the vortex of sectarian struggle, so he asked to be transferred to Hangzhou (today's Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province). City), but I can’t help but feel a little sad and frustrated. Hangzhou is a place with beautiful scenery. After Su Shi finished his official duties, he would travel around to relieve his worries. He not only made many close friends here, but also wrote many poems, such as the famous "Drinking on the Lake at First Sunny and Later Rain", "Drunken Letter at Wanghu Tower on June 27th", etc. The political setback prompted Dongpo to experience a richer life as a poet, and from then on he opened up a broader literary field. In the seventh year of Xining (AD 1074), 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. Fourth, wandering around 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 that satirized the new law when he was in Hangzhou. For example, the fourth poem of "Five Wonders of Mountain Villages": "The stick is in a hurry, and the money is gone in a blink of an eye. Winning children's pronunciation is good, and one and a half years of strength in "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. The interrogation of Su Shi lasted for more than a hundred days. Su Shi's political opponents Li Ding and others tried every possible means to frame Su Shi in an attempt to put Su Shi to death. Their despicable behavior aroused the dissatisfaction of many people. In addition to the 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 official minister Fan Zhen interceded on his behalf, so 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 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 weeds. He praised the east slope for its rugged and hard roads like rocks, saying that he must not avoid hardships and dangers and be optimistic about the road. Go ahead 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 Lay Scholar". 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, how could the passion for creation be suppressed? He confided in his poems. While facing my own grievances and injustices, I am looking for indifferent and contented joy in my daily life to maintain my psychological balance. Whenever he had free time, he would go to various places to 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 developed new knowledge. 2. Because the "Wutai Poetry Case" hit him hard, he deeply realized that he had some shortcomings in life, so he wrote many articles related to self-cultivation, such as "Qian Chibi Ode", which discusses life The principle of change and immutability. In addition to the above-mentioned "Pre-Chibi Ode", he also wrote works such as "Nian Nujiao·Chibi Nostalgia" and "Post-Chibi Ode" 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, Emperor 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!" 5. 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 called by the court 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 then sent him back to the hospital by scattering golden lotus candlesticks in front of the emperor. 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 Sheren of Zhongshu, Bachelor of Hanlin, 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, the leader of the Old Law Sect, Sima Guang, died, 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, Hangzhou people burned incense and lined up to welcome him. Unexpectedly, Su Shi encountered serious natural disasters and diseases as soon as he arrived. 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 the Poet Su Shi's position rose higher and higher, and the attacks on him from opposing parties became more and more fierce. Some people even made a fuss about his previous literary prison (i.e., the Wutai Poetry Case). 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 eighteen-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 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 this, 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." When he arrived in Danzhou, Su Shi was penniless. Damn, he even sold the wine vessels. 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 passed away, Huizong ascended the throne, and granted amnesty to the world. 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.