essayist in the Northern Song Dynasty. Together with his sons Su Shi and Su Zhe, they are called "Three Sus", and they are all included in the "Eight Masters of Tang and Song Dynasties". The word Ming Yun,No. Laoquan. Meizhou Meishan (now Sichuan) people. It is said that I didn't study until I was 27 years old. After studying hard behind closed doors for more than ten years, I made great progress in my studies. In the first year of Ren Zongjia (156), he led Su Shi and Su Zhe to Bianjing and called Ouyang Xiu, a bachelor of Hanlin. Ouyang Xiu admired his works such as Quan Shu, Lun Heng and Ji Ce, and thought they were comparable to Jia Yi and Liu Xiang, so he recommended them to the imperial court. At that time, officials and scholars rushed to tell stories, and the literary name was thus prosperous. Jia-three years, Renzong called him to the Scheeren Institute to take the exam, but he pleaded that he was sick and refused to answer the letter. Jia-five years, as a secretary of the provincial school book lang. Later, he and Yao□, the county magistrate of Xiangcheng (now Henan) in Chen Zhou, initiated the ritual book "Tai Chang Yin Ge Li". Soon after the book was written, he died and was posthumously awarded to Guanglu Temple Cheng.
Su Xun is a man with political ambitions. He said that the main purpose of his composition is to "speak the important words of the present" and to "apply them to the present". In some important argumentative papers, such as On Balance and The Book of the Emperor, he put forward a set of ideas for political innovation. He believes that to govern the country well, we must "judge the situation" and "settle the situation". He advocated "respecting prestige", strengthening official management, breaking the spirit of modesty and laziness, inspiring the enterprising spirit of people all over the world and revitalizing the Song Dynasty. Because Su Xun has a better understanding of social reality and is good at summing up historical experiences and lessons, and taking the past as a mirror, although there are inevitably some pedantic and biased views in his political essays, many of his views are still to the point.
Ceng Gong said that Su Xun was "quite fond of talking and fighting". Su Xun's Ten Books on Power, Examining the Enemy in Several Strategies, Imperial Commanders and Military Regime in Balance, Secret Books of Shang Han Shu, Making Enemies and the Book of Shang Emperor all discussed military issues. In the famous "Six Kingdoms", he thought that the downfall of the Six Kingdoms was to bribe Qin. In fact, it is a mockery of the past and accuses the Song Dynasty of its humiliating policy. Examining the enemy further reveals that the essence of this policy of bribing the enemy is to disable the people. The "Military System" put forward the ideas of reforming the military system, restoring martial arts and credibility. The book of rights systematically studies strategic and tactical issues. In "Xiang Ji", he pointed out the strategic mistake that Xiang Ji could not attack Xianyang. He also emphasized the strategic and tactical principles of avoiding reality and attacking the virtual, attacking the weak with strong force, making good use of surprise soldiers and suspected soldiers, fighting a decisive battle quickly and winning by surprise.
Su Xun's lyric prose is few, but there are also many excellent chapters. In "Sending Shi Changyan to the North", he hoped that Shi Changyan, a friend of Qidan, would not be afraid of violence, despise the enemy and write with momentum. The Portrait of Zhang Yizhou narrates Zhang Fangping's deeds of governing Yizhou, and creates an image of a feudal official who is lenient in politics and loves the people. "The Story of the Wooden Rockery" expresses its feelings through things, praising a spirit of self-reliance and uprightness.
Su Xun's prose has clear arguments, strong arguments, sharp language, and eloquence. Ouyang Xiu praised him for his "great eloquence", "Up and down, rushing in and out, must be built in the deep and then stop" (Epitaph of Su Jun, the main book of Wen' an County, Bazhou); Ceng Gong also commented on his article "Pointing at things, using primers to explain things" and "Worrying can not be chaotic, and the boss can not flow" ("Su Mingyun's Mourning"), all of which are more pertinent. The artistic style is mainly magnificent and varied. Some articles are also good at twists and turns. In Shu Mi Shu Ueda, Su Xun also rated his writing as "the poet's softness, the poet's simplicity, the Meng and Han's gentleness, the move and consolidation, and the simplicity of Sun and Wu". The language of his articles is simple and concise, concise and meaningful; However, sometimes it can be compared with others, and it is especially good at making vivid and wonderful metaphors, such as "Zhong Xiong Zi Wen Fu Shuo", which uses feng shui as a metaphor for a natural written description, which is an example.
Su Xun's papers are also full of incisive opinions. He opposed the flashy and strange prose and advocated learning ancient prose; Emphasize that the article should be "won by my heart" and write "words from my heart"; It is advocated that articles should be "made for something" and "words must be made in the present". He also discussed different styles of * * * and different writing methods. He is especially good at evaluating the styles and artistic features of various essays from comparison. For example, the first book of Shang Ouyang Neihan commented on the articles of Mencius, Han Yu and Ouyang Xiu very well.
Su Xun doesn't write many poems, but he is good at writing five ancient poems, which is simple and vigorous. Ye Mengde, a Song Dynasty poet, commented that his poems are "profound and tasteful, and they are just like their prose" (Shi Lin Shi Hua). His White Rabbit by Ouyang Yongshu, Seeing the Mountain off, Yan Shu, Answering Two Appointments, and Two Poems on Waiting for Wu are all excellent works, but their overall achievements are far inferior to those of prose.
Su Xun's works were popular in various versions in the Song Dynasty, and most of them were originally lost. Today, there are remnants of the Collection of Lao Su's Complete Works published in the Northern Song Dynasty. There are 15 volumes of Four Series, Shadow Song Banknotes and Jia-Ji.