When it comes to Su Dongpo, I believe what comes to mind are poems, articles, romantic anecdotes, morning clouds and dusk clouds.
This is another Su Dongpo, a Su Dongpo who regards the welfare of the people as his own responsibility, a Su Dongpo who spends his life like a breeze, a Su Dongpo who goes beyond poetry and articles.
We are familiar with his poems, articles, and romantic anecdotes, but we don’t know that he was a close friend of the common people throughout his life.
Mr. Lin Yutang used his superb language skills and detailed historical materials to vividly describe the ups and downs of this ancient genius, but he was fearless and like a bright moon in his life.
Mr. Lin said that this book records the deeds of a poet, painter and close friend of the common people. He had contacts with all walks of life, including emperors, poets, ministers, hermits, pharmacists, tavern owners, and illiterate peasant women. As he said himself: "I can accompany the Jade Emperor when I am above, and I can accompany the beggars in Beitian Courtyard when I am below."?
His life was a life of seeking welfare for the people. Although he has gone through ups and downs and tribulations, he has never changed his original intention. He walks between heaven and earth with a majestic and upright spirit, and never bends despite a hundred twists and turns!
As Mr. Lin Yutang said: People like Su Dongpo are indispensable in the world. A scholar as creative as Su Dongpo, so upright, so uninhibited, so admirable and unmatched, he has always been involved in the political whirlpool, but he is so brilliant that he is superior to Gou Gou. Above the political activities of the fly camp. He is like a petrel in a political storm, the enemy of mediocre bureaucrats and a warrior who protects the people and resists violence.
He established water conservancy projects in Hangzhou and Guangzhou, established orphanages and hospitals, created a prison doctor system, and strictly prohibited infanticide. Amid the negative consequences of Wang Anshi's new social reforms, he devoted all his efforts to famine relief, and did not hesitate to fight against the restrictive and difficult officialdom. At that time, he seemed to be the only one who cared about the thousands of miles of drought, displacement and starvation. He has been resisting the imperial court on behalf of the people and pleading with the imperial court to forgive the debts of the poor, but he will only succeed. He just wanted to do his own thing, and everything was in vain. He is an ancient man with a modern spirit.
Su Dongpo was born in Meishan, Sichuan in 1036. He read poetry and books at a young age and aspired to become a person who prayed for the people. According to historical records, when Mother Su taught her son to read "Book of the Later Han", there was an article called "The Biography of Fan Pang". It was about the time when the government of the Later Han Dynasty was not being repaired and the political power fell into the hands of the eunuchs. Scholars and Confucian scholars were loyal and upright people who resisted the rule of villains and did not hesitate to risk their lives. The story of writing a letter to impeach the traitorous party:
In the second year of Jianning, the party members were executed on a large scale, and Peng and others were arrested urgently. Supervisor Wu Dao went to the county, held the imperial edict in his arms, closed his house, and lay down on his bed weeping. When Peng heard about it, he said, "It must be for me." He committed suicide. The county magistrate Guo Yi was shocked. He came out of Jieyin Shou and led both of them to death. He said: "The world is so big, why are you here?" Be homeless!" His mother said goodbye to him. My mother said, "Now that you are as famous as Li and Du, there is no need to regret your death! Now that you are famous, if you ask for longevity exams, can you have both?" She knelt down to receive the instruction, then bowed and said goodbye. ?
After reading this biography, Xiao Dongpo raised his head and asked: "Mom, if I grow up to be a person like Fan Pang, would you be willing?" His mother replied: "If you can Fan Pang, can’t I be Fan Pang’s mother?” In this way, the seed of helping the world and serving the people was deeply planted. ?
When Dongpo was 20 years old, he and his younger brother Su Zhe were awarded Jinshi. Over the years, until the last moment of his life, Dongpo never forgot this original intention. Throughout his life, he was either controlling floods or rescuing droughts. No matter where he was or what situation he was in, his concerns were all about the people.
When Dongpo first became a Jinshi, he made a big noise in the capital with his literary fame. Both the emperor and the empress loved his writing. Therefore, if Dongpo wanted to get a high official position and a generous salary, it would be easy. But his original intention was as his father Su Xun once said: As a scholar, the reason why I want to be an official and engage in politics is to serve the country. Otherwise, being a poor scholar is enough.
During Wang Anshi’s reform period, Dongpo worked in the History Museum. Although his official position was humble, he was limited to writing writings and had nothing to do with administration. He saw that the new law caused market depression, economic bankruptcy, and the ruin of farmers’ families. Complaints abounded, and all loyal ministers and good men who opposed the new law were demoted, exiled and dismissed from their posts. Dongpo was furious and wrote to the emperor several times. He spoke eloquently about the shortcomings of the new law and told the emperor that he must not use his power to suppress the people. He also warned the emperor, It would be a big mistake to think that the people can be suppressed by arbitrary authority. "Today, those who have a heart will complain, and those who have a mouth will slander. In ancient times, monarchs and ministers interacted with each other carefully and diligently to support a generation of businessmen, but this does not seem to be the case... Loyalty in a trivial matter is only observed by your Majesty, and I am ignorant and will die in response."
Even though Dongpo knew that opposing the new law would bring about great disaster, he still ignored his personal safety and risked his life to remonstrate. Although his life was in danger, "But if I don't remonstrate candidly, who else will I be? Emperor?" If you want to kill me, I will die without complaint."
As expected, Su Dongpo was deposed and demoted to Hangzhou, Mizhou, and Xuzhou. But no matter what the situation, Dongpo never forgets his original intention.
He wrote a large number of poems reflecting the suffering of farmers, and conveyed the real situation among the people to the court in the form of poems. He also continuously wrote letters on taxation policy, military conscription laws, and asked the emperor to abolish income tax. Among the people, Su Dongpo became the Su Dongpo beloved by the people, the people's friend and warrior - a great figure with a great personality.
During his tenure in Xuzhou, floods occurred, with the water reaching a depth of two feet and nine feet, which once exceeded the streets in Xuzhou city. Su Dongpo worked desperately to save the city. He did not go home for dozens of days and lived in a shed on the city wall. Rich families fled one after another. Su Dongpo discouraged them at the city gate so as not to cause panic. He said: "If I don't leave, you'd better not leave either." He trudged in the mud and personally went to the military camp to plead with them to help fight the flood, and the whole city was saved. Not only did he successfully control the river, he also cared about the health and welfare of the prisoners, because at that time the prisons were full of ordinary people imprisoned for violating the New Deal. ?
Su Dongpo has always hated evil. He once again angered the authorities by writing poems and expressing his grievances about the current situation. They arrested Su Dongpo on trumped-up charges and intended to put him to death. This is history. Fortunately, the emperor knew that he had a clear conscience, so he was able to escape death and be demoted to Huangzhou.
In Huangzhou, Su Dongpo became a real farmer, cultivating his own crops, and making friends with farmers and craftsmen. Although he had no authority, he still spoke out for civil affairs. There was a bad custom of infanticide in the local area. In addition to writing to the local prefect to ask for an end to the bad habit, he also established a children's rescue society and donated ten yuan of money every year to save babies.
During his tenure as the prefect of Hangzhou, Su Dongpo spent just one and a half years implementing a public health plan for the city, including a clean water supply system and a hospital. He dredged salt channels and built the West Lake. In order to stabilize grain prices, he did not hesitate to disagree with the imperial court and officials from neighboring provinces in western Zhejiang. With the spirit of "even if there are thousands of people, I will go", he started the work of famine relief alone.
He allocated two thousand taels of public funds and donated fifty taels of gold himself to establish China's earliest public hospital, which treated a thousand patients within three years. What is even more worth mentioning is that the beautiful West Lake we can see today is a major contribution of Su Dongpo. At that time, the city of Hangzhou was in a mess on the canals, with mud and overgrown grass, and residents had difficulty with water. Su Dongpo built reservoirs, laid pipelines, dredged the rivers and the West Lake, and personally worked with thousands of workers and boatmen. He worked hard and made us what we are today. The incredibly beautiful West Lake.
When the famine was approaching, Su Dongpo was so anxious that he told his royal colleagues: "I couldn't sleep all night. I have to help those refugees a little bit." He kept reporting to the court and calling for help. , he also asked the court to forgive the debts owed by the people to the court. For this reason, he appealed for the people for six years before he finally got his wish and saved thousands of people from misery.
But what followed was more severe persecution. This time Su Dongpo was exiled to the distant Lingnan. His official rank was demoted again and again, and he was so poor that his life was unsustainable. But even so, he still had his original intention. If he does not change, he will still regard the welfare of the local people as his own responsibility.
Although he had no authority, he tried his best to use his influence to persuade local officials to carry out various improvements and innovations for Huizhou City, reduce and exempt people's taxes, build drinking water projects for the people of Guangzhou City, build public hospitals, and promote The "floating horse" used for transplanting rice seedlings.
Su Dongpo was demoted to the more distant Hainan Island. At this time, Su Dongpo was already sixty years old. There was no meat or rice on the island, and life was extremely difficult. However, his indomitable spirit and optimistic life Philosophy, however, did not allow him to lose the joy of life. He became friends with the local people, taught them how to collect medicines and make medicines, and treated them. He truly kept his life alive and fought endlessly.
His glorious and great life finally left the people he cared about after exhausting his last breath of awe-inspiring energy. However, his great personality and soul were forever unlucky! Today, we recite his poems, appreciate his calligraphy and paintings, and tell his stories. For a thousand years, he has never left us.
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We need this kind of Su Dongpo, we need officials like Su Dongpo who always have the people in their hearts and take the benefit of the world as their own responsibility. This is the official that we ordinary people really need!