Su Shi "asked for forgiveness" because of Qiuju
The west wind passed through the garden last night, blowing down the yellow flowers and covering the ground with gold.
Autumn flowers fall no better than spring flowers. Let the poet recite it carefully.
Su Dongpo made a special trip to Beijing to apologize to Wang Anshi for his mistake in revising the chrysanthemum poem.
Wang Anshi and Su Dongpo were both members of the Eight Great Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties. They were officials in the same dynasty and were both great talents in the Song Dynasty. Su Dongpo had a superb talent, he could recite what he saw and what he said could be recited. As elegant as Li Taibai, Cao Zijian was as nimble. After becoming a Hanlin scholar, he served under the Prime Minister Wang Anshi. Wang Anshi admired his talent and valued him very much. Su Dongpo, on the other hand, relied on his intelligence and ridiculed him a lot. Because Wang Anshi wrote "Zi Shuo", each word had its own meaning. He happened to talk about the word "po" in Dongpo. Wang Anshi said, "The word 'po' comes from soil and skin, so slope is still the skin of soil." Su Dongpo joked: "According to what you said, the character 'Hua' is the bone of water." Wang Anshi continued: "The character '鲲' comes from Yu Cong'er, which combines to form fish roe. The four horses are four horses, and the heavenly insects are silkworms. It is not that the ancients made characters. "It's meaningful." Su Dongpo raised his hands and said, "Do you know if there is any allusion to the word dove for nine birds?" Wang Anshi thought it was true and happily asked for advice. Su Dongpo smiled proudly and said: "Mao's Poetry says: The dove is in the mulberry tree, and its sons are seven. With the mother and the father, there are nine." After Wang Anshi heard this, he hated his frivolity, so he demoted Su Dongpo. Go to Huzhou to be a assassin.
Su Dongpo stayed in Huzhou for three years. At the end of the three years, he returned to the capital. He thought that he had been demoted because he offended Wang Anshi, and he had to visit Grand Master Wang first when he returned to Beijing this time. Then go to see the emperor. So, he rode towards Prime Minister Wang's Mansion. When Su Dongpo came to the Prime Minister's Mansion, Wang Anshi was sleeping. He was led by the housekeeper Xu Lun to Wang Anshi's east study to have tea.
After Xu Lun left, Su Dongpo saw that the bookcases on the four walls were closed and locked, and there were only pens and inkstones on the desk, and there was nothing left. He opened the inkstone box and saw a green inkstone, which looked very energetic. The remaining ink in the inkstone was not dry yet, so I wanted to cover it up, but suddenly I saw a corner of paper exposed under the inkstone box. When I took it out, I found that it was an unfinished poem with two lines. I recognized it as the poem "Yong Chrysanthemum" written by Prime Minister Wang. Su Dongpo smiled secretly: "We have been separated for three days, and we treat each other with different eyes." In the past, when I was an official in Beijing, the old master wrote thousands of words without thinking. Three years later, it will be different. There are only two lines in this poem, and it has no final rhyme. It seems that he has exhausted his talents. Su Dongpo picked it up and read it again:
The west wind passed through the garden last night, blowing down the yellow flowers and covering the ground with gold.
Su Dongpo laughed at these two lines of poetry as nonsense. He believed that the winds in the four seasons of the year have their own names: spring is the gentle breeze, summer is the Xunfeng, autumn is the golden wind, and winter is the new wind. The first line of this poem says that the west wind belongs to the west, and the west belongs to gold, and the golden wind carries the order of autumn. The golden wind blows, the Wu leaves flutter yellow, and the fragrance falls. The yellow flower mentioned in the second sentence is chrysanthemum. This flower blooms in late autumn. Its nature is fire. It dares to fight the autumn frost and is the most durable. As you grow old, it will become dry and rotten, but its petals will not fall off. Isn't it wrong to say "the yellow flowers blow down and the ground is filled with gold"? Su Dongpo was inspired by the idea, but he couldn't do it himself. He raised his pen and licked the ink, and continued two lines of the poem according to the rhyme:
Autumn flowers do not fall as much as spring flowers. Let the poet recite it carefully.
After writing, Su Dongpo felt guilty and cute again. I thought: If the old master came to the study and saw this poem, it would not look good in front of him. I originally wanted to put it in my sleeve and take it away, but I was afraid of hurting Xu Lun. After thinking about it, I felt quite uneasy. I had no choice but to fold up the poems, put them under the inkstone box, and walk out of the study. Go to the front of the gate and say to the gatekeeper: "Old Master, please come out and report that Su has been waiting here for a long time. Since I first arrived in the capital, I haven't tidied up my writings. I will pay my respects tomorrow morning and come back to see you again." Finished riding away.
Not long after, Wang Anshi walked into the east study room, saw the manuscript of the poem, asked why, and recognized Su Dongpo's handwriting. He said nothing but hesitated: "Su Dongpo, although he suffered many setbacks, His frivolous nature has not changed. There is a poem in Qu Yuan's "Li Sao" called "The Autumn Chrysanthemums in the Evening". He did not admit that he had little knowledge and talent, but he came to ridicule me. Tomorrow morning, I will tell the emperor to cut him off. The duty is for the people." He thought again: "Wait a minute, he didn't know that the chrysanthemums in Huangzhou were falling, so I can't blame him!" Then he asked Xu Lun to take a look at the registration list of vacant officials in Huguang. It was found that only Huangzhou Mansion lacked a deputy regimental envoy. In the morning of the next day, Prime Minister Wang secretly reported to the emperor that Su Dongpo was unable to do so and demoted him to Huangzhou. The emperor played it accurately, and all the officials obeyed. Only Su Dongpo was dissatisfied, thinking that Wang Anshi was avenging his personal revenge for changing the poem. I had no choice but to thank him and obey.
The next day, Su Dongpo resigned from Beijing and rushed to Huangzhou at starry night.
Su Dongpo became friends with Chen Jichang, a guest from Shu in Huangzhou. However, climbing mountains and playing in the water, drinking and composing poems, military affairs and people's affairs have nothing to do with autumn. Time flies quickly, and it will be a year. On Double Nine Day, the weather was fine, and Su Dongpo suddenly remembered: "Dean Dinghui once gave me several kinds of chrysanthemums to plant in the back garden. Why not go and enjoy them today?" Chen Jichang happened to be visiting. Su Dongpo was so happy that he took him with him. Watching chrysanthemums in the back garden. When I walked under the chrysanthemum stand, I saw that the ground was covered with gold, but there was not a single flower on the branches. Su Dongpo was stunned and speechless for a while. Chen Jichang asked: "Why was Zi Zhan so surprised when he saw the chrysanthemums falling off their petals?" Su Dongpo said: "Ji Chang didn't know something. Normally, this flower is only scorched and withered, but does not fall off its petals. Last year, I saw him in the palace of Prime Minister Wang. The poem "Ying Chrysanthemums" reads: "'The west wind passed through the garden last night, blowing down the yellow flowers and covering the ground with gold.' The younger brother only said that the old master had written it wrong, so he added two more sentences: "'Autumn flowers do not fall as much as spring flowers. Let the poet recite it carefully'."
Little did he know that the chrysanthemums in Huangzhou had actually fallen! The old prime minister demoted me to Huangzhou because he wanted me to see chrysanthemums! Chen Jichang smiled and said: "Yes!" Su Dongpo sighed: "When I was demoted, I just thought it was Prime Minister Wang avenging his personal revenge." Who knew he was good, but I was wrong. From now on, I will be modest and prudent and will not laugh at others easily. Alas, what a careless thing, and a lack of wisdom! ”
Later, Su Dongpo made a special trip to Beijing to apologize to Wang Anshi for his alteration of the chrysanthemum poem.