But many people don't know that Su Dongpo's life is actually a bumpy life and a life full of adversity. In particular, his open-minded outlook on life in adversity has given us great inspiration even after 1000 years, so that there is a saying circulating on the Internet: "Life is not satisfactory, that is, I have never read Su Dongpo."
Su Shi was smart and studious when he was a teenager. He studied at the age of seven and entered school at the age of eight, which won the praise of teachers. Of course, father Su Xun's family education is also extremely strict. After several decades, Su Shi was exiled to Hainan, dreaming that his father asked him to recite Chunqiu. Su Shi was awakened when he remembered that he hadn't even finished reciting half of it.
At the age of twenty, Su Shi went to Beijing to take the Jinshi exam and won the second place. There is actually an episode here. At that time, when Ouyang Xiu, the examiner, was marking papers, he saw Su Shi's papers and his articles were particularly well written. He wanted to put them in the first place, but Ouyang Xiu thought it was his favorite student Ceng Gong's paper. In order to avoid suspicion, he deliberately pushed it to the second place. In other words, Su Shi was the first.
Ouyang Xiu, a great writer, also spoke highly of the young man. He once said to Mei with a thank-you letter written by Su Shi: If you read a poem, you won't feel sweaty. Come on, come on. I should avoid the road and let him out. He also said to his son: remember, no one has taught me for more than 30 years!
However, just when Su Shi was enjoying the infinite scenery, the bad news suddenly came from his hometown. Su Shi's mother died in his hometown Meishan. So Su Shi had to take his father Su Xun and his younger brother Su Zhe back to his hometown to arrange his mother's funeral. Poor mother has been raising it for 20 years, but she can't share any happiness in his high school.
After the funeral, Su Shi returned to Beijing. A few years later, Su Shi suddenly suffered the pain of losing his wife. Mrs. Wang is only twenty-seven years old and has only one son, who is not yet seven years old. Although their marriage is only ten years, and ten years is a difficult period for her husband to seek fame, but Su Shi's love for his wife is eternal. 10 years later, when he dreamed of his wife, he wrote the famous "Jiangchengzi":
To make matters worse, less than a year after his wife's death, his father died of illness, and Su Shi went home again to offer condolences.
By the time the funeral came back, great changes had taken place in Beijing. Wang Anshi began to lead the political reform, and Su Shi happened to be a member who opposed the political reform. Under the attack of reformists, Su Shi invited himself and transferred himself out of Beijing. So he was appointed general of Hangzhou.
Although I was invited to Beijing this time, it was also out of helplessness. Fortunately, after arriving in Hangzhou, he was attracted by the beautiful scenery of the West Lake and was able to place his feelings in the mountains and rivers. Visit the West Lake and visit famous monks. Here, he left many famous articles.
On the third day in Hangzhou, Su Shi visited a famous monk in Gushan, West Lake. When he went, it was just dark and it seemed to snow. In addition, he first saw the West Lake, so he wrote the poem "Two Monks Visiting Qin Hui Huisi Gushan in December":
One day, Su Shi went to Wanghulou in front of Zhaoqing Temple outside Qiantang Gate to drink alone. Suddenly it began to rain, and he enjoyed the rain scene on the lake.
One day, drinking by the lake, after the rain of Chu Qing, I wrote two poems, one of which is:
As soon as this article comes out, it can be described as "unprecedented in the West Lake poetry, and there is no one after it".
In Hangzhou, Su Shi did not feel depressed, but worked hard for the people of Hangzhou. Because the West Lake has not been renovated for a long time, he took the lead to dig out all the silt and built a long dike, which is now the famous West Lake Su Causeway. At the same time, there are three small stone pagodas in the West Lake, which gradually evolved into the famous beauty of the West Lake-"Three Tans Reflecting the Moon".
Three years later in Hangzhou, Su Shi was transferred to Mizhou. Although he was short here, Su Shi became a great poet here.
Two famous "Jiangchengzi" both come from here. The first one is the mourning for the dead wife mentioned above, and the other one "Hunting in Mizhou" became the first masterpiece of the uninhibited school:
There is also a famous poem "Water Turn around" written on Mid-Autumn Festival night because of missing my brother's son:
Although Su Shi is not in Beijing, his political opponents have not forgotten him and will continue to attack him as long as they have the opportunity. Soon, the famous Wutai poetry case broke out, which became a turning point in Su Shi's life. Su Shi was arrested and tortured in prison for more than one hundred days. Later, with the help of Empress Dowager Cixi, he was released from prison and relegated to Huangzhou.
In the Northern Song Dynasty, Huangzhou was a very barren place, but Su Shi lived his own life here.
On his way to Huangzhou, Su Shi saw the endless bamboo forest on the mountain outside the city, and then looked down at the Yangtze River. He thought: there are so many bamboo forests here, bamboo shoots must be fresh and tender, and there are fresh fish in the Yangtze River. Don't worry about food. With food, everything else is easy.
It is also true that in Huangzhou, Su Shi often cooks his own dishes. He also wrote down his detailed method of making fish soup:
Su Shi praised Huangzhou for its best pork. Write "ode to pork", saying: a clean pot, lack of water, firewood can not afford to smoke. Don't rush him when he is ripe, he will be beautiful when the heat is enough. Huangzhou good pork, the price is as cheap as dirt. If you refuse to eat, the poor can't cook. Get up in the morning and play two bowls, which are full, so don't worry at all. The braised pork he cooked later became a famous dish: "Dongpo Meat".
Su Shi also got a secret recipe from a Taoist priest and brewed mead himself.
Outside Huangzhou, there is a 50-mu flat land among the rolling mountains. This is a wasteland. Su Shi personally reclaimed land in that wasteland and planted Huang Sang himself. Although hard, Su Shi is very satisfied. He also gave this painting a name, Dongpo, calling himself Dongpo Jushi. From then on, he was called Su Dongpo.
In Huangzhou, Su Shi also left some famous poems. One day, Su Shi went to Husha Lake, which is Huangzhou, 30 miles away. On the way home, it suddenly rained heavily. Dou Lin, a fellow traveler, was embarrassed, but Su Shi didn't seem to realize the rain and walked slowly. It was sunny after the rain, and I wrote Ding Feng:
One day, Su Shi took a boat trip to Chibi, thought of Battle of Red Cliffs in the Three Kingdoms period, and wrote the famous "Red Cliff Nostalgia":
Su Shi stayed in Huangzhou for four years and three months and finally left Huangzhou. Later, Wang Anshi's political reform failed, and the old guard regained control of state affairs, so Su Shi was called to Beijing again.
Before entering Beijing, Su Shi wandered around the Jianghuai area for a period of time, visited Lushan Mountain and met Wang Anshi in Nanjing. Although they have different political views, they all appreciate each other's personality and literary level.
At the same time, on the way to Nanjing, Su Shi's youngest son died unfortunately, which was a great blow to Su Shi. He asked the court to let him stay in Changzhou temporarily, and the court agreed to his request.
In Changzhou, Su Shi's love for food is once again reflected. Changzhou's famous puffer fish has always been tasted by Su Shi. There is a local gentleman who specializes in puffer fish and invited him. The whole family and their wives hid behind the screen to see how the celebrity tasted it. I saw the old man sitting on the table, chewing, saying nothing, and the women who stole it were disappointed. Just then, Su Shi grabbed a big piece and said, "It's worth dying." Put it in your mouth at once. The host treated us, and the whole family was very happy.
Later, Su Shi returned to Beijing. Although Wang Anshi was no longer in power this time, Su Shi disagreed with Sima Guang's attitude of abolishing all new laws and all Wang Anshi's policies. Coupled with Su Shi's maverick, he never gave in to others and soon left Beijing.
Later, it fell again and again. 1094 Shao Shengyuan. Su Dongpo, 59, was first sent to Lingnan and demoted to Yingzhou in April. Huizhou will be downgraded again in June.
Even in Huizhou, Su Shi did not change the character of eating goods, and it was not easy to buy meat, so he discussed with the butcher and bought a sheep thorn that was rejected by the bureaucrats. He also wrote to his younger brother: Huizhou is sparsely populated, but still killing a sheep every day. Dare not argue with the authorities. When buying, let the butcher buy his spine, and there is also a slight meat between the bones. Boil it (don't cook it with water if you don't use the heat), dip it in some wine, add some dilute salt and stir-fry it a little. Picking all day and getting two baht between Ken and Mao make you happy. For example, eating crab claws makes you feel good for several days. I have been in the canteen for three years, and all I eat is meager food. I have no teeth or bones. How do I know the smell? The script was left behind. Although it is a script, it can be used. However, if you say this, the dogs will be unhappy!
In backward Huizhou, there is no medical doctor for illness, and poisoning is a common occurrence. Soon after Su Shi arrived, he immediately collected medicinal materials and distributed them to the local people. Meanwhile, he built bridges and did these things. His meager savings soon ran out of pockets, but he thought he was lighter from then on.
Four years less. Su Dongpo, 62, was once again demoted to Danzhou.
Danzhou, now Hainan, was barren in the Song Dynasty. Not only is there no meat or fish, but everything you eat has to be shipped from the mainland. When there is a strong wind, the market will be closed immediately. At this time, you should even eat vegetable soup. Su Guo, Su Shi's son, was tired of vegetable soup, so he came up with a way to make soup with sweet potatoes, which was euphemistically called "Jade Warm Soup". Su Shi ate it and exclaimed, "The color, fragrance and crispness in the sky are all unknowable. There is no such taste in the world!" .
In Hainan, Su Shi still writes prescriptions tirelessly. He not only collects prescriptions, but also personally tries to use weeds and flowers as medicine from time to time. This also brought some happiness to his life.
In April of Fu Yuan's third year, the imperial court granted amnesty and Su Shi was able to return to the mainland, but he died in Changzhou in August of the following year at the age of 65.
Throughout Su Shi's life, although he has made many great achievements, he is full of ups and downs, especially in the second half of his life, and his life is extremely difficult. But no matter what kind of difficulties, Su Shi showed an extremely optimistic attitude towards life and was not defeated by life or environment. From those famous sentences left by him, we can well understand that "life is everywhere, it should be like flying snow", "straw sandals are lighter than horses, who is afraid, a misty rain will last a lifetime" and "looking back at the bleak place, there is no rain or shine". Even today, I feel the lightness of life. So Lin Yutang said, "Su Shi is an incurable optimist, a great humanist and a friend of the people."
Looking at Su Dongpo, we can easily think of our poet Li Bai. Both of them are talented people, but at the same time they seem to be isolated from the world and slightly immortal. Ye Jiaying, a modern scholar, analyzed the differences between the two poets and thought that Li Bai was a "fairy couple" and Dongpo was a "fairy couple". He has the same troubles and pains as ordinary people, but he can transcend the secular world and get rid of it with a detached attitude towards life.