Su Shi is not only an outstanding writer, but also an outstanding literary critic. He has his own unique views and ideological origins in understanding the social function and aesthetic characteristics of poetry.
First of all, it is emphasized that poetry should be written for something. Su Shi has the thought of benevolent governance and loving the people and the spirit of being active in the world. He attached great importance to the positive social function of literature, emphasized doing something and criticized the disadvantages of the times. In "On Liu Zihou's Poems", he wrote that "poetry should be written in a certain way", and the so-called "doing something" aims to expose the political mistakes of the present era and all kinds of social injustice. Su Shi's intention is very clear. When writing poetry, we should give full play to the social function of poetry, make suggestions and make up for the world. His poems, such as Walking in the Rain, Inspired Guanyin Courtyard and Wuzhong Talented Talk, are realistic masterpieces created under the guidance of this literary thought.
Secondly, it advocates that poetry is precious and vivid. On su shi's poetry. It can be analyzed from three levels: (1) Poetry should convey the gods of objective images. Su Shi's poetry creation shows outstanding talent in conveying his mind, such as writing about the summer rain in the West Lake, "Dark clouds can't cover the mountain, but white rain jumps over the boat." The wind comes and blows away, and the water under the lake is like heaven. "(2) poetry should have far rhyme beyond image. Distant rhyme is a natural development that looks like a spirit. There are endless words and endless meanings. In the infinite time and space outside the image, it leaves people with infinite space for reverie and aftertaste, which is far rhyme. (3) Poetry creation should have an empty heart. Su Shi's repeated emphasis on emptiness and quietness in the process of artistic creation stems from his understanding of Buddhism and Taoism. In Buddhism and Taoism, the essence of "emptiness and quietness" and "emptiness" is to reach the realm of "no self" and get the root of everything. For artists, getting rid of distractions and keeping an ethereal and quiet mind can just get the most humane thinking space and create a profound artistic realm.
Third, advocate nature and freshness. "Tiangong" means that it comes from nature without carving. Anyone who comes from the Heavenly Palace should have the personality of the creator and give people a sense of freshness. Su Shi's fresh and natural aesthetic standard actually includes two aspects. First, the feelings are honest. In many of Su Shi's poems, whether feelings are true or not is regarded as the standard of poetry evaluation. For example, "Reading Two Poems by Meng Jiao" wrote: "Poetry is born from the heart and must be worried about the heart." Su Shi attaches great importance to Tao Qian because Shi Tao's poem is true: "Some scholars often drink heavily and see the truth only when they are hungry and cold." Second, the artistic conception is fresh. Su Shi, with his brilliant pen, can describe a fresh and refined artistic conception in his poetry creation. For example, "To Liu Jingwen": "The lotus has no shelter from the rain, but the chrysanthemum still has Ao Shuang branches. A good year's scenery must be remembered, orange and green. " Su Shi's pursuit of the beauty of nature is actually based on his most ideal and lofty "Tao" or "nature" as the highest standard of his aesthetic pursuit.