Biography Editor
Early life experience
Su Shi was born in Meishan, Meizhou, in the third year of the reign of Emperor Renzong Jingyou of the Song Dynasty (January 8, 1037),[5] after Su Weiwei, a minister of the early Tang Dynasty. Su Shi's grandfather was Su Xu, cousin Zhongxian, and his grandmother Shi. Su Shi's father, Su Xun (蘇洵), was the "Su Laoquan" (苏老泉), mentioned in the Three Character Classic (三字经), who was "twenty-seven years old when he started to make an effort". Su Xun was a late starter, but a hard worker.[6] Su Shi's name was Su Laoquan. [6] Su Shi's name "Shi" originally meant the handrail in front of the car, taking the meaning of his obscurity, but to help the poor and indispensable. [7] Su Shi was an open-minded and honest person, with a deep sense of Taoism. He was a good friend,[8] a good gourmet,[9] a creator of many culinary masterpieces,[10] a good tea drinker,[11] and a good traveler. [12]
Examination in Beijing
In the first year of the Jiayou era (1056), Su Shi traveled to Beijing for the first time to take the imperial examinations. Su Xun took the twenty-one-year-old Su Shi and the nineteen-year-old Su Zhe from the remote western Sichuan region, eastward along the river, to Beijing to take the examination. At that time, the chief examiner was Ouyang Xiu, the leader of the literary world, and the minor examiner was Mei Yaochen, a veteran of the poetry world. These two men were eager to innovate in poetry and literature, and Su Shi's fresh and free style of writing immediately shook them up. The title of the essay was "The Essay on Punishment, Reward, Loyalty and Generosity", and Su Shi's "Essay on Punishment, Reward, Loyalty and Generosity" was recognized by the examiner, Ouyang Xiu, but Ouyang Xiu mistakenly thought it was written by his own disciple, Zeng Gong, and in order to avoid any suspicion, he only got the second place. Su Shi wrote in the text: "Gaotao for the Shi, will kill. Gaotao said kill of three, Yao said forgive of three." Ou, Mei two male both appreciate its text, but do not know the source of these words. And su shi visit xie, that is this ask shi, su shi replied: "why need to know the source!" Ouyang Xiu heard, can not help but Su Shi's boldness, dare to innovate extremely appreciated, and foresee Su Shi's future: "This person can be said to be good at reading, make good use of the book, his article will be unique in the world." [13]
Famous in the capital
After Ouyang Xiu's repeated praises, Su Shi was instantly famous. Whenever he produced a new work, it immediately spread throughout the capital. When the father and son famous Beijing, is about to show their skills, suddenly came Su Shi Su Zhe's mother died of the sad news. The two brothers went back to their hometown with their father to mourn. Jiayou four October mourning period back to the capital, Jiayou six years (1061), Su Shi should be in the system of science exams, that is, usually called "three years of the Beijing investigation", into the third and so on, for the "hundred years of the first", awarded the Dali assessor, signing the book of the Fengxiang Province judge.[14] Four years later, also Chaojiao, the city of Beijing. [14] Four years later, he returned to the imperial court to judge the Dengwen Drum Academy. In the second year of the reign, Su Xun died, and the brothers Su Shi and Su Zhe returned to their hometown with their coffins, observing filial piety for three years. Three years later, Su Shi returned to the imperial court, and the Wang Anshi Reforms, which shook the countryside, began. Many of Su Shi's teachers and friends, including Ouyang Xiu, who appreciated him, were forced to leave the capital because of their opposition to the new law and their disagreement with Wang Anshi, the new prime minister. The old rain of the dynasty and the countryside withered away, and Su Shi's eyes saw, is no longer the "peaceful world" that he saw when he was twenty years old. [15]
Self-application to leave the capital
Su Shi wrote a letter in the fourth year of the Xining period (1071), in which he talked about the shortcomings of the new law. Wang Anshi was furious, and had the imperial historian Xie Jing talk about Su Shi's faults before the emperor. Su Shi then requested to leave the capital to serve: Xining four years to Xining seven years (1074) was sent to Hangzhou as a Tongjian, Xining seven years in the fall of the transfer to Mizhou (Shandong Zhucheng) as a governor, Xining ten years (1077) April to the Yuanfeng two years (1079) in March in Xuzhou as a governor, the Yuanfeng two years in April transferred to Huzhou as governor. In April of the second year of Yuanfeng, he was transferred to Huzhou as the governor of the province.
The Wutai Poetry Case
Su Shi's Portrait
Su Shi was forty-three years old when he was transferred to Huzhou in 1079. After taking office, he wrote a "Huzhou thank you table" to the emperor, which is routine, but Su Shi is a poet, pen often with feelings, even if the official article, can not forget to add a bit of personal color, saying that he is "stupid not suitable for the time, it is difficult to accompany the newcomers", "the old do not have to do anything or be able to shepherd the people! These words were caught by the new party, saying that he was "fooling the dynasty, presumptuous", that he was "harboring grievances and anger", "rebuking the public opinion", and that he was "harboring evil intentions". He was said to be "harboring grievances and anger", "rebuking the public transportation", "harboring evil intentions", satirizing the government, reckless and rude, disloyal to the emperor, and deserved to die for such a great crime. They picked out from Su Shi's large number of poems that they thought implied the meaning of ridicule, and for a time, the court was a sound of inverted Su. On July 28th of this year, only three months after he took office, Su Shi was arrested by the officials of the Imperial Palace and sent to the capital, implicating dozens of people. This is the famous "Wutai Poetry Case" in the Northern Song Dynasty (Wutai, i.e., the Imperial Palace of Government, is called Wutai because of the cypress trees planted on it and the crows that inhabit it all year round). [
The Wutai case was a turning point in Su Shi's life. The new party had to put Su Shi to death. The rescue campaign was launched in the court and the countryside at the same time, not only with Su Shi's political views of many of the patriarchs have written, and even some of the change of the school of thought also advised the emperor not to kill Su Shi. Wang Anshi, who was retired in Jinling at that time, also wrote to the Emperor, saying, "Is there a holy world that kills talented people?" In everyone's efforts, the poetry case because of Wang Anshi "a decision", Su Shi was leniently sentenced, relegated to Huangzhou (now Huanggang, Hubei), deputy regimental training, the state resettlement, subject to the surveillance of local officials. Su Shi was imprisoned for 103 days, several times on the verge of beheading. Fortunately, in the Northern Song Dynasty, Zhao Kuangyin years established under the state policy not to kill the scholar, Su Shi was dodged. [
Relegated to Huangzhou
After his release from prison, Su Shi was demoted to the position of deputy regimental trainer (equivalent to a modern-day self-defense force vice-captain) in Huangzhou (present-day Huanggang City, Hubei Province). This position is quite low, and no real power, and at this time Su Shi after this battle has become disillusioned, Su Shi to the office, depressed, had many times to Huangzhou outside the Chibi Mountain tour, wrote the "Chibi Fu", "after the Chibi Fu" and "Nian Nujiao - Chibi Huai Gu" and other ancient masterpieces, as a way to send his banishment when the ideological feelings. In his spare time, he led his family to reclaim a piece of sloping land to the east of the city and planted fields to help make ends meet. The nickname "Dongpo Jushi" was given to him at this time.
Eastern mountain again
In 1084 (Yuanfeng seven years), Su Shi left Huangzhou, was ordered to go to Ruzhou. Due to the long and tiring journey, Su Shi's toddler died prematurely. Ruzhou is a long way, and the road fee has been exhausted, coupled with the pain of the loss of his son, Su Shi wrote to the court, requesting that temporarily do not go to Ruzhou, first to live in Changzhou, was approved. When he was ready to return to Changzhou, the death of Emperor Shenzong. The area around Changzhou is interspersed with water networks and beautiful scenery. He could live in Changzhou without the worry of hunger and cold, and enjoy the pleasure of beautiful scenery. Moreover, he was far away from the political disputes in the capital, and could spend time with his family and many friends. So Su Dongpo finally chose Changzhou as his final resting place. [18]
In 1085, Emperor Zhezong of the Song Dynasty took the throne, and Empress Dowager Gao, in the name of the Emperor's youth, was in charge of the government; Sima Guang was re-instated as a prime minister, and the New Party, led by Wang Anshi, was suppressed. Su Shi was reappointed as a courtier to Dengzhou (Penglai). Four months later, he was summoned to return to the court with the Ministry of Rites. After half a month in the court, he was promoted to be the head of the Rising House, and three months later, he was promoted to be the head of the Central Library, and soon afterward, he was promoted to be a scholar of Hanlin, who knew the system of enjoinment, and to know the Ministry of Rites and Tributes. [19] When Su Shi saw the emerging forces desperately trying to suppress Wang Anshi's group and abolish the new law, he thought that he and the so-called "Wang's Party" were just raccoons, and once again remonstrated with the emperor. He attacked the corruption exposed after the old party came to power, thus, he aroused the strong opposition of the conservative forces, and was falsely accused and framed. Su Shi to this point is neither tolerated in the new party, but also can not be sympathetic to the old party, and thus once again to seek external transfer.
Construction of the Su Causeway
In the fourth year of the Yuanyou era (1089), Su Shi was appointed as a bachelor of the Longtugu Pavilion in Hangzhou, where the West Lake had not been dredged for a long time. As the West Lake had not been dredged for a long time, it was silted up
Su Shi's portrait
Su Shi's portrait
was more than half stuffed with the legendary Legendary Terrace and Pinghu Lake, which had long been overgrown and withered in the rich years of the past, and the lake gradually dried up and was filled with weeds, which seriously affected agricultural production. Su Shi came to Hangzhou in the second year led the dredging of the West Lake, using more than 200,000 workers, dismissed the turnip field, restore the old view, and in the deepest part of the lake to establish the three towers (now the three pools reflecting the moon) as a symbol. He concentrated the dredged mud and built a long embankment across the West Lake, with six bridges connecting the embankments for pedestrians, which was later named "Su Causeway", or "Su Causeway" for short. Su Causeway in the early morning of spring, the smoke and willow, waves and trees, birds singing and warbling, is one of the ten famous West Lake scenic "Su Causeway Spring Dawn".
Su Shi built three embankments in his lifetime. When Su Shi was relegated to Yingzhou (present-day Fuyang, Anhui Province), he also dredged the West Lake in Yingzhou and built embankments. In the first year of Shao Sheng (1094), Su Shi was relegated to the position of deputy envoy of the Yuanning Army Jiedu, and resettled in Huizhou (present-day Huiyang, Guangdong). Nearly sixty years old, Su Shi, day and night Mercedes-Benz, thousands of miles to the deputation, was warmly welcomed by the people of Lingnan. Su Shi took the gold rewarded by the emperor and donated to dredge the West Lake and build a long embankment. For this reason, "fathers and elders are happy to gather, no empty pots to carry, three days to drink, kill all the chickens in the west of the village", people celebrated. Nowadays, this Su dike is at the entrance of the West Lake in Huizhou, like a green belt, crossing the center of the lake, bisecting the lake into two, with Pinghu on the right and Fenghu on the left. [16]
Exile in Danzhou
Su Shi had a comfortable life in Hangzhou, comparing himself to Bai Juyi of the Tang Dynasty. However, in the sixth year of the Yuanyou era (1091), he was called back to the court. Soon after, he was transferred to Yingzhou as governor in August of the sixth year of the Yuan-You era, to Yangzhou in February of the seventh year of the Yuan-You era (1092), and to Dingzhou in September of the eighth year of the Yuan-You era (1093) because of political disagreements. After the death of Empress Gao in the eighth year of Yuanyou and the reign of Emperor Zhezong, the New Party came to power again, and in June of the first year of Shao Sheng (1094), he was relegated to Huiyang (present-day Huizhou City, Guangdong Province) once again after being made a deputy envoy of the Ningyuan Army Festival.
Su Dongpo night tour Chengtian Temple
Shaosheng four years (1097), the year has been 62 years old Su Shi was sent to a lonely boat by a mere side of the desolate land of Hainan Island Danzhou (present-day Hainan Dan County). It is said that in the Song Dynasty, the banishment of Hainan is only a lesser punishment than the crime of decapitation. He took Danzhou as his second hometown, "I was Dan'er's, parasitic West Shuzhou". He ran a school here, between the style of learning, so that many people not far away from thousands of miles, chase to Danzhou, from Su Shi learning. In the Song Dynasty for more than 100 years, Hainan from no one and the first scholar. But Su Shi returned to the north soon, here Jiang Tang Zuo will raise the township tribute. For this Su Shi poem: "the sea has not broken the veins of the earth, the Pearl Cliffs since the breakthrough." People have always regarded Su Shi as the pioneer of Danzhou culture, sowing seeds, and have deep respect for him. In Danzhou handed down to this day, Dongpo village, Dongpo well, Dongpo field, Dongpo road, Dongpo bridge, Dongpo hat, etc., expressed the people's feelings of remembrance, even the language has a kind of "Dongpo words. [16]
Finale
After Emperor Huizong's accession to the throne, Su Shi was transferred to Lianzhou for resettlement, Shuzhou as deputy minister of regimentation, and Yongzhou for resettlement. In the third year of Yuanfu's amnesty (1101), he was reappointed as a courtier, and on his way back to the north, he died on July 28th (August 24, 1101) of the first year of Jianzhongjingguo, in Changzhou (now part of Jiangsu Province). He died in Changzhou (now Jiangsu) on the 28th day of the 7th month of the first year of the Jianzhong Jingguo period (24th day of the 8th month of 1101). Su Shi left his will to be buried in Shangrui Lane, Juntai Township, Jiacheng County, Ruzhou. In the following year, his son Su passed his father's coffin to 郏城县, where he was buried.[20] Song Emperor Gaozong became the first emperor of China. [20] Upon his accession to the throne, Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty conferred upon Su Shi the posthumous title of "Wenzhong" (文忠).