Su Shi is the representative of the old school who opposes the abolition of the new law and calls for the strongest.
Su Shi was famous when he was alive, and his reputation remained unchanged for nearly a thousand years after his death. I think that as long as Chinese civilization lasts forever and human civilization continues to disappear, Su Shi will always be a dazzling star shining in the historical and cultural sky of China. Because of his existence, the history of China is rich, lovely and vivid.
Of course, here we don't pay attention to his literary and artistic achievements, but only talk about his ups and downs.
Before the age of 34, Su Shi's official career life can be said to be calm. Banquet, string songs, leaning on red and green, poetry and harmony are intertwined, taking time to deal with some daily work. This is basically Su Shi's life state.
It is not that Su Shi wants to be lazy and have fun, nor that he is born absurd, but the social atmosphere at that time.
The Song Dynasty implemented the national policy of cultivating scholars. In the same official position, there are many officials with real functions but not real functions. In addition, some departments were originally set up to accommodate idle people. There are more people doing things than doing things, and officials at all levels are finally at leisure.
Therefore, officials in Song Dynasty had plenty of leisure time, and feasting and entertainment became an important part of their lives.
The emperor of the Song Dynasty didn't like the scholar-officials who were keen on politics, so he didn't interfere with their enjoyment of life. The emperor not only did not interfere in the private lives of officials, but also gave them land, houses, gold and silver, children and jade, which encouraged the literati to enjoy luxury.
Su Shi is young and arrogant, and his literary style is romantic. He is not as clean and refreshing as Sima Guang's moral model in terms of male and female styles. He did some ridiculous things when he was young, and his personal history was a little confusing. Someone behind him claimed that he was his father, and it was difficult for his descendants to refute him. After all, the history of our ancestors is not very clean, what's more, the family members of the old school suppressed by the court reformists (Cai Jing was in charge) have no room to defend themselves, so let it be. This may be a psychological reason why Su Shi's descendants did not argue.
If life goes on like this, Su Shi in history may just be a muddled scholar who is good at rhetoric and vulgar lyrics, and his literary achievements will be greatly reduced.
The change of his fate originated from Wang Anshi's political reform; The change of his style of writing also began from this time.
Wang Anshi has been worried that the new law can't be implemented, and he is disgusted with any opposition. Ouyang Xiu, Fan Zhen, Sima Guang and other conservative ministers put forward different opinions on the new law, but they were not supported by the emperor. In order not to be angry with Wang Anshi, everyone asked to leave the court and stay away from the wrong place.
Su Shi clearly knew that it was risky to speak ill of the new law, but he saw many problems in the implementation of the new law, and finally he couldn't help but write a book to discuss its shortcomings.
Wang Anshi was very angry and wanted to kill him. Su Shi also knows that his opinions will not be taken seriously. There is no point in staying in the imperial court except fighting, so I wrote an application and asked to work in a local place.
Both Zong Shen and Wang Anshi were annoyed with this guy who had no vision and often played the devil's advocate, and immediately approved him.
In the next eight years, Su Shi worked diligently as an official at the local level, not only implementing the new court law, but also making appropriate amendments based on the principle of convenience, and achieved excellent political achievements.
During this period, Su Shi's life can be said to be calm. But under the calm surface, an undercurrent surged, and a huge disaster quietly came to him.
Su Shi was ordered to be transferred to Huzhou. After taking office, he wrote a "Huzhou Xie Biao" to the emperor as required. Emperor Xie was originally a routine, but Su Shi, as a poet, inevitably incorporated some personal feelings into his articles, and wrote such complaints as "Stupid students are ill-timed, it is difficult to catch up with new ones" and "old people make a mess, or they can support the king".
These inopportune words attracted the attention of reformists. Well, this kid doesn't feel comfortable doing things at the local level, but he still dares to complain and complain. It's strange that he wrote irony in black and white.
When reformers with ulterior motives saw this paper, they extended it and said that it was Su Shi's wanton attack and slander on the emperor and the New Deal. Therefore, they found some of Su Shi's poems and articles for review and found that there were many defamatory contents about the new law.
Su Shi was a literary leader in the Song Dynasty. There are countless fans behind him, and his poems are widely circulated among the people. The emperor wants to reform, but satirizes the government and criticizes the New Deal, which is inconsistent with national policy propaganda and counterproductive in guiding public opinion. This is disloyalty to the emperor, and it is a felony to slander the holy family.
When the reformers were so angry with Luo Zhi, Zong Shen immediately felt that the problem was very serious, and immediately ordered the arrest of Su Shi to investigate the case thoroughly.
Su Shi was arrested and interrogated severely, and he did not hide his views, saying that he only had opinions on the political reform, so it was inevitable to reveal such a meaning in his poems.
Since the suspect confessed himself, it goes without saying that the crime of libel was established, and Su Shi was locked up in the prison of Kaifeng, waiting for the final judgment.
Su Shi's poems implicated dozens of officials, who were arrested and censored. This is the famous literary inquisition in history-"Wutai Poetry Case".
Wutai is another name for Jade Terrace. Because cypress trees were planted all over the office of Yushitai in the Northern Song Dynasty, crows lived in trees all the year round, so it was called Wutai.
One of the most important tasks of imperial history in Song Dynasty is to supervise officials. Whether the proposed job is qualified depends on how many officials he impeached. If there is no impeachment for a long time, then the official is incompetent.
It doesn't matter if the examiner impeached an official. If he makes a mistake, the emperor will not be held accountable, but if he doesn't impeach the official, he will not perform his duties, and he will be held accountable and removed from office.
When it's okay, the people in Yushitai will find fault with the eggs, and none of the court officials are pleasing to the eye. Knocking on this today and impeaching that tomorrow will make officials fidget.
Not to mention those officials who are indeed tainted, the censors will dive in and enjoy impeachment.
There are often inappropriate thoughts in Su Shi's poems. Once they are caught by Yushitai, they will not let go easily.
Wutai Poetry Case is a literary inquisition created by the censor. The prisoner confessed, but how to convict became the focus of controversy.
The reformists who did not deal with Su Shi talked to Zong Shen, thinking that Su Shi's crimes were extremely serious and could not be spared lightly.
The rescue of Su Shi was carried out simultaneously. They thought Su Shi was wrong, but he was not wrong until he died.
There are both old-school bosses and innovative figures among the rescuers. The two forces wrestled with each other and quarreled with each other, and finally they did not form a unified opinion.
How to deal with Su Shi, the final decision is placed in front of the emperor.
Although Zongshen wanted to make an example, this "chicken" was really spicy. He hesitated, clenched his fist, gnashed his teeth for a while, and finally made up his mind.
Wang Anshi, who retired at home, wrote a letter to Zongshen after hearing about this incident. In the letter, the phrase "If there is a prosperous time, scholars will be killed" made Zongshen understand what to do.
Thinking of the rules left by the first emperor to be kind to scholars and not to kill them, Zongshen thought that once he violated the rules, he would be criticized by later generations and ruin his virtue, so he made up his mind to be lenient.
It was because of Wang Anshi's rescue that Su Shi was able to escape.
Capital crimes can be exempted, but living crimes cannot be spared. So Zongshen demoted Su Shi as the deputy envoy of Huangzhou Yong Lian, and accepted the supervision of local officials. Sentenced to several years' imprisonment, suspended sentence and residential surveillance.
After the establishment of the Northern Song Dynasty, Song Taizu stipulated not to kill the literati. The Emperor of the Song Dynasty persisted for a hundred years and never killed a scholar.
Wang Anshi said, "If there is a prosperous time, can you kill scholars?" It is to remind Zongshen that the rules of his ancestors should still be observed, and don't start "killing scholars" easily.
This is also the reason why many people of insight in the reformists insisted on rescuing Su Shi.
After all, everyone is mixed in the same scene, and the wind and water turn around. No one can guarantee that there will be a bad word. Once the court starts the mode of "conviction by words", such things will emerge one after another in the future, and it is inevitable to become victims.
Therefore, saving Su Shi is tantamount to protecting oneself and defending the status and dignity of the scholar-officials. This is a major event and has to be done.
People of insight in the reformists, such as Wang Anshi, thought further, saw things more clearly, transcended political differences and personal grievances, and spared no effort to rescue Su Shi for the same purpose.
A generation of writers escaped an accident.
Zongshen let Su Shi go, which made him a great literary master.
During his "prison term" in Huangzhou, Su Shi wrote famous works such as Red Cliff Fu, Post Red Cliff Fu and Niannujiao Red Cliff Nostalgia.
Su Shi's "prisoner" life in Huangzhou is difficult. In order to supplement his family, he led his family to reclaim land on the hillside east of Huangzhou, so he nicknamed himself "Dongpo layman", which is why we often call Su Dongpo today.
Su Shi's life in Huangzhou is a little hard, but it is also very bleak. He loves mountains and rivers, sings with friends, and lives a relatively poor but absolutely comfortable and fulfilling life.
After Zongshen's death, Zhezong succeeded to the throne, Ren Xuan listened to politics, and the old school gained power. Su Shi was lucky enough to be recalled to the court.
This time, however, he saw the old guard trying to suppress the reformists indiscriminately and abolish the new law willy-nilly. His opinions were not taken seriously, so he became suspicious and even disgusted with the practices of the old school, and his heart was full of worries about the future of the dynasty.
Su Shi has practiced the new law in local areas in recent years and has a deep understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of the new law. He believes that there are some problems in the new law, but there are also some reasonable places. We should not completely deny it and prohibit it, but should identify it and selectively keep it.
So Su Shi wrote to Ren Xuan, saying that although there were some mistakes in the reform of the first emperor, it was not without merit, knowing that the new law was wrong and wrong. In addition, newly elected officials take bribes and pervert the law, which is more harmful than reformists. What's the difference between these unruly officials and reformists?
When this piece of paper was handed up, Su Shi completely offended those in power. At this time, he was neither attracted by reformists nor tolerated by conservatives, and became an out-and-out dissident and isolated.
Su Shi can't get along at both ends. He is not human from the inside out. Seeing that he was in an awkward position, he asked to be transferred to a local job.
The old school is eager for Su Shi to leave and make it happen quickly. The order came down soon and he was appointed as the magistrate of Hangzhou.
When Su Shi arrived in Hangzhou, he worked hard on everything and did it at once.
He saw that the West Lake in Hangzhou was seriously silted up, endangering the production and life of local people, so he led the people to dredge the West Lake and built the famous Su Causeway, leaving a beautiful cultural landscape for future generations.
Legend has it that the famous Dongpo Meat was created by Su Shi at this time to express his condolences to the engineers who made contributions.
After Su Shi took office in the local area, he concentrated on government affairs and worked for the people. Wherever he went, he left behind his achievements. When he was demoted to Yingzhou (now Fuyang, Anhui), he dredged Yingzhou West Lake and built a dam for Yingzhou West Lake.
After Zhe Zongzhu was in power, he didn't like the old school at all. Su Shi, who was nearly 60 years old, was exiled to Huizhou (now Huiyang, Guangdong). Here, Su Shi funded the dredging of the local West Lake and built a long dike.
Su Shi took the lead in dredging the West Lake in three places and built three "Su Causeway". Hangzhou West Lake is a famous tourist attraction with rich cultural heritage. The scenery of Santan Yin Yue and Su Causeway Xiao Chun is well known, so Su Causeway, which people are most familiar with, is here.
As for the West Lake and the two sections of Su Causeway in two other places, not many people know. But today, these two unknown "Su Causeway" still play a role, benefiting the local people for thousands of years. The local people kept chanting Su Shi's kindness.
Gold cups and silver cups are not as famous as ordinary people, which is also called.
After middle age, Su Shi became more and more clear about love and hate, but he did not act rashly like the literati in the past. Wherever he went to be an official, he was diligent, pragmatic and willing to do a lot of things to benefit the people. Even though he was demoted to Danzhou (now Hainan Island), he made every effort to develop local cultural and educational undertakings and raise the local culture of Hainan Island to a higher level.
Soon after Su Shi left Hainan Island, Jiang Tangzuo, a student of Su Shi, won the prize. This is an unprecedented event in Hainan Island, which is backward in culture. So Su Shi wrote a poem: "The sea is broken, and the pearl cliff is unprecedented."
Su Shi spread the cultural seeds from the mainland to the isolated island of Wang Yang, which is also the source for later generations to call Su Shi the pioneer and sower of Danzhou culture.
It was not until the death of Zhezong that Hui Zong succeeded to the throne and granted amnesty to the world that Su Shi was pardoned.
But he no longer has the strength to walk home and see the home he once knew and loved. A generation of literary superstars fell on their way home.