When Su Shi was appointed magistrate of Xuzhou in the summer of the first year of Yuanfeng, Shenzong of the Song Dynasty (AD 1078), there was a spring drought in Xuzhou, so he went to Shitan to thank the rain. Su Shi also wrote a poem "Xuzhou Qingyu Qingci" according to the practice at that time. The full text is as follows: "The river lost its old course, and the legacy spread to the east; Xu lived downstream, and he and other counties were harmed. The fields and huts were drifting, and the father and son were homeless and hungry and cold. There are many robbers in the prison, and the people are in dire straits. I hope that one of the two wheats can save the hungry people from dying. The drought has not yet fallen. There is no snow in the winter and no rain in the spring. The smoke is thick and the vegetation is scorched. Now the wheat has expired and the crops have not been harvested. I am worried about next year. I respectfully follow the old rules and watch for floods and droughts. It is not the work of ghosts and gods. It is used to express condolences to the gods and ask for orders. If the officials are too generous, they will be banished to Yin and Yang; Ignorance, great destiny is about to end. May the gods of mountains and rivers send thunderous edicts, so that the clouds will be aligned with each other at dusk, and the people will be well-off. "Taibai Mountain is located in the south of Weihe River, although it is very mountainous. Although it is high, the large pond in front of the Taoist temple on the top of the mountain is full of water, which indeed adds to the magic of Taibai Mountain. People all know that water flows to lower places, so they don't understand how on such a high mountain, the water can flow to the pond on the top of the mountain. That's why the locals firmly believe that there is a dragon king living in the pond. Su Shi was very serious about praying for rain for the people. He first asked the government servants to place sacrifices, and then personally lit incense wax and knelt down to worship the mountain god and the dragon king. After performing the worship ceremony, Su Shi began to read aloud the "Praying for Rain". In his prayer, he first praised the mountain gods and dragon kings, and then turned to the main topic and said confidently: "Even in the winter, the spring rain and snow will not come, and the poor people only have wheat and grain to survive. Today, there will be no rain and snow." Rain means an unlucky year, and the people will not be able to eat well, and thieves will start to appear. Isn't it just a matter of concern for the ministers who are guarding the land, and it is not a place where gods should sit and be familiar with? The Holy Emperor is above, and everyone is prepared to show kindness. Down to the stupid people and the common people running around and fearing things, there is no one else. Everyone thinks that this is the day! The gods also learn from it. The best is to live up to the wishes of the Holy Emperor, and the worst is to not let down the hopes of the foolish people and the common people. "Su Shi's "prayer for rain" article is not to plead with the Dragon King, but to argue with the Dragon King and reason. With sufficient arguments and penetrating writing, it is worthy of being a masterpiece by a great writer. The general idea of ??the article is: the people make a living by growing crops, but there is no rain or snow from winter to spring. If there is no rain, the disaster will be serious this year! If the people have no food to satisfy their hunger in the future, there will undoubtedly be thieves. As a local official, shouldn't we worry about the suffering of the people? God can't turn a blind eye to the suffering of the people, right? In order to care about the suffering of the people, the emperor carefully arranged to prepare gifts and pray for rain. Not to mention the people, they even regarded praying for rain today as a The greatest hope! God should understand. Don’t let down the emperor’s care for the people. Don’t let the people down! From this prayer for rain, we can see that Su Shi believed in God without fearing God and convinced "God" with reason. , which further reflects his upright and forthright character.