In October of the ninth year of Xining, Wang Anshi's reform was thwarted and the trend of the reform was reversed. Some elements who speculated on the new law formed parties for personal gain and strife for revenge. The outspoken Su Shi became a victim of political strife among the bureaucrats. He arrived in Huzhou in April of the second year of Yuanfeng and was suddenly arrested on July 28. The evidence was a bunch of poems by Su Shi.
It turned out that Su Shi had revealed some complaints in his poems, expressed his different opinions on the new law, and criticized the shortcomings of the new law. These became grounds for impeachment. Those treacherous villains slandered him for "carrying resentment and anger, engaging in ugly slander", "criticizing the public" and "harboring evil intentions", and threw him into prison.
For a while, relatives and friends dispersed in shock, and the family was shocked. Su Shi suffered humiliation and torture in prison, and sometimes felt that death was inevitable. He wrote two poems to say goodbye to his brother, including the line "Here is a green mountain where bones can be buried, but the heavy rain alone hurts his soul." Thanks to the rescue of his relatives and friends, Song Shenzong did not want to kill him at the time. At the end of the year, he was released from prison after the case was concluded and was demoted to Huangzhou in the name of the deputy envoy of Huangzhou Tuanlian, a member of the Ministry of Water Resources.
In the second year of Yuanfeng, Emperor Shenzong of the Song Dynasty (1079), Su Shi was demoted to the deputy envoy of Tuanlian in Huangzhou (now Huanggang, Hubei). In the autumn and winter of 1082, Su Shi visited Red Cliff near Huangzhou twice and wrote two poems. It was the first time to visit Red Cliff at night (Su Shi visited Chibiji in Huangzhou, not the site of the Battle of Red Cliff).
Extended information
Appreciation of a night tour in Red Cliff
It describes the night scene on the river in early autumn, which is "the breeze is coming slowly, the water is calm", "the white dew is across the river" ", the light of the water touches the sky", the full text is divided into two levels. The first level describes the activities before the trip, including explaining the time, itinerary, companions and preparations for the trip. Writing about the scene of the moonlit night in early winter and the joy of walking on the moon not only conceals the interest of travel, but also naturally leads to the dialogue between the host and the guest.
Faced with "such a good night" with "white moon and clear wind", with good friends, good food and good wine, I wrote about the scene, narrated the story, and expressed my feelings. The three were integrated into one. At this point, the text can be transferred to the main text, but Dongpo inserted a few lines of "return to seek wives" as an extraneous step, which not only added a sense of life to the article, but also made the entire "foreshadowing" text more unique. ?
The second level is the focus of the whole text. There are only four sentences that purely describe the scenery, "The river flows with sound", but it writes that the cliffs of Red Cliff are high and the sky is clear and the moon is small, and the water splashes slowly and the rocks make sounds. The unique night scene in early winter aroused the enthusiasm of the host and guest to abandon the boat and climb ashore to climb the cliffs and visit the mountains. Here, the author spared no effort in describing the artistic conception of the night tour in Chibi. It is quiet and quiet, the mountains and rivers are cold, walking on the craggy rocks, covered with velvet, sitting on the cliff. Tigers and leopards, climbing horned dragons;
Climbing the dangerous nest of the Western Magpie, looking down at the secluded palace of Feng Yi, the strange and thrilling scenery makes people open-minded and lofty. However, when Su Shi was alone on the verge of death, the scene of "a roaring roar, the vegetation shaking, the mountains humming in the valleys, the wind rising and the water surging" could not help but make him feel desolate and worried, and he had to return to the boat. middle.
At this point in the article, another inspiration came to mind, and he wrote about a lone crane "coming across the river from the east", "suddenly roaring" and then sailing to the west. As a result, the already lonely author became even more compassionate, The article made ups and downs again, and also laid the foundation for the dream writing below. Finally, at the third level of the text, Su Zi, who fell asleep after traveling, saw the Taoist priest who had turned into a lonely crane in his dream. In the mysterious hallucination of "Gu Xiao", the author's inner anguish caused by his contradictory thoughts about worldliness is revealed. Su Shi, who was repeatedly frustrated in politics, wanted to seek detachment from the joy of mountains and rivers, but it was not only in vain, but also added new sorrow to the deep wounds in his soul. After a dream, he returned to the depressing reality.
The last eight words "Open an account and look at it, but you can't see it" is quite confusing, but it also has a pun meaning. On the surface, it seems like the Taoist priest in a dream has suddenly disappeared, but the deeper connotation is that Su Zi's Where are the future, ideals, pursuits and ambitions?
The scene of Su Zi climbing alone in the article is really "every sentence is like a picture and every word is like a poem". Through exaggeration and exaggeration, it makes people feel pregnant. The feeling of being there. The article describes the beautiful scenery of mountains and rivers with bright colors and the author's sincere personal feelings. The clever use of parallelism and contrast adds to the musicality of the text. It makes reading more interesting.
Reference source: Baidu Encyclopedia-Night Tour in Chibi