Su Shi's father, Su Xun, hated reading when he was young and spent all day playing outside. His elder brother Su Huan, on the contrary, loved reading and was promoted to Jinshi at the age of 24 (the second year of Renzong's Tiansheng reign, that is, 1024).
The glory of his brother may have stimulated Su Xun, and Su Xun also started studying, quite like a "prodigal son turning back". In 1027, 16-year-old Su Xun also took the exam, but failed to pass the imperial examination.
This failure made Su Xun, who already hated sentence reading and pronunciation, hate the imperial examination even more. After returning home, he no longer worried about studying and simply went to get married.
The woman Su Xun married was the daughter of Cheng Wenying, the prime minister of Dali Temple in Meizhou. Her name is unknown and she was called Mrs. Cheng in later generations. The Cheng family was also a well-known family in Meizhou, and their economic conditions were much better than those of the Su family at that time. Mrs. Cheng could be said to have married down.
After getting married, the two of them played in harmony and had a good relationship. Su Xun still has the nature of a knight-errant. When he is not at home, it can be said that Mrs. Cheng takes on the responsibility of the housekeeper.
After coming to the Su family, they were not financially well-off, but Mrs. Cheng never spoke to her natal family. She considered her husband's face issue and would rather live a life of poverty than let her husband lose his face.
Mrs. Cheng never said anything about Su Xun's temper. It wasn't until Su Xun woke up that she said, "I've been wanting to say this for a long time. I've been trying to make you want to learn because of me. If you're ambitious, I'll be tired of you!"
She hoped that Su One day Xun will be able to wake up on his own instead of being forced by external pressure.
Mrs. Cheng gave birth to three sons and three daughters. The eldest daughter and the second daughter both died young. The third daughter and the eighth daughter were one year older than Su Shi, followed by Su Shi and Su Che. Before Su Xun "began to become very angry at the age of twenty-seven, thanked Qi for visiting young people, and studied poetry in isolation", he had been taking exams or traveling around. During this period, Mrs. Cheng took care of the children at home.
It can be said that the most important primary school education for Su Shi and Su Che was completed by their mother, Professor Mrs. Cheng.
Mrs. Cheng was born into a noble family and was extremely knowledgeable. She taught her children to read history and encouraged them with the ancient famous figures in the book. Su Che wrote in "The Biography of the Elders of Yingbin": "My mother, Mrs. Cheng of the country, was also good at reading, knowledgeable, and upright."
Mrs. Cheng read the history of the Eastern Han Dynasty to Su Shi's brothers. "The Biography of Fan Pang". Fan Pang was an honest official, but he was framed and sentenced to death for criticizing corrupt officials. Before his execution, Fan Pang said to his mother: "My son is leaving today. I hope you won't be sad."
His mother wiped away her tears and replied: "What you get is the same as Li Ying and Du Mi." With the same good reputation, why should I be sad?" Mrs. Cheng couldn't help sighing after reading this, deeply admiring Fan Pang and his mother.
The little Su Shi was also infected. He threw himself into Mrs. Cheng's arms: "Mom, when I grow up, I want to be like Fan Pang. Do you allow me?" Mrs. Cheng replied: "If you can be like Fan Pang, why can't I be like Fan Pang's mother?"
Nowadays, the story of Mrs. Cheng teaching her son to read "Fan Pang's Biography" has become the same as "Meng's mother moved three times". "The same, it is widely known. She, Meng Mu (Mother of Mencius) and Mother-in-law (Mother of Yue Fei) are known as the "Three Ladies". The world is moved by their wisdom and mind, and they will be immortal!
Mrs. Cheng is also kind-hearted and never kills. There are many birds in the Su family's yard, and other similar families have killed the birds. Only Mrs. Cheng told her servants not to hurt any birds they saw.
In this way, there are often many birds in the Su family's yard, even the precious "tung flower phoenix". This gave Su Shi and Su Che a lot of happiness in their childhood. Every day after school, I observe birds and bird nests in the yard.
Su Shi later wrote a poem called "Strange Magpie": "In the past, I was a gentleman, and benevolence and filial piety were practiced in my family. My family has five acres of garden, and the phoenix gathers the tung flowers." (Excerpt)
Mrs. Cheng is extremely knowledgeable, wise and generous. After coming to the Su family, she has been diligent in running the house and taking good care of the whole family. She also fully supports and understands her husband 100%.
With such a mistress and such a family tradition, how could it not benefit future generations?
In April of the second year of Jiayou (1057), 58-year-old Mrs. Cheng became seriously ill due to years of overwork. At this time, the good news that brothers Su Shi and Su Che had become Jinshi at the same time had not yet reached their families. In this way, Mrs. Cheng, who had devoted her whole life to the Su family, sadly passed away.
When the two brothers Su Xun and Su Shi and Su Zhe heard the bad news, they hurried home. They buried Mrs. Cheng next to Laowengquan in Kelongli, Anzhen Township, Meishan. Later, Su Xun himself and Su Shi's wife Wang Fu were also buried here.
Later, Su Shi asked Sima Guang to write an epitaph for his mother, which was the "Epitaph of Jun Cheng's Family in Wuyang County": "...a woman is gentle enough to harmonize her clan, and smart enough to harmonize her family. He is already a virtuous man. How about his wife, who can develop and mentor her husband and son so that they can be distinguished in the world through literature? How can this be done without having a high level of knowledge? The boudoir, now my wife has seen the credibility of the ancients."
Among the eight great families of the Tang and Song Dynasties, the Su family can occupy three seats, which is inseparable from Mrs. Cheng behind them. As the saying goes, a good woman is the best "feng shui" for a home. With a wise and tolerant wife and mother like Mrs. Cheng, her husband can have a successful career and his children can get the best education. How can such a family not get better and better?
Reading history means reading human nature and wisdom!
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