Hainan Island was under the rule of the Song Dynasty at that time, but most of the residents were Li people, with a small number of Han people on the northern coast.

Su Dongpo was relegated to the northern coast, a place outside the boundaries of Chinese culture.

Among the hundreds of ministers Yuanyou who suffered hardships, he was the only one who was demoted to this place.

In order to prevent Yuanyou's ministers from coming back again, in that year and in the following years, the ruling faction in the court decided to punish or demote all ministers related to the previous dynasty.

Not long after Su Dongpo was demoted to Hainan Island, the official titles of Sima Guang's descendants were all removed, and many high officials were transferred, including Su Ziyou and Fan Chunren, to either the south or the southwest.

Even the veteran Wen Yanbo, who was ninety-one years old, was not spared, but only a few titles were removed.

The most serious blow to Su Dongpo was that for ministers who were demoted, their relatives and families were not allowed to hold official positions in nearby counties.

Because Su Mai was originally an official near Nanxiong, but now he has lost his official position.

Now Su Dongpo almost only owned that house.

According to his nominal official rank, the imperial court owed him two hundred guan of local currency over the past three years. According to the value of Kyoto currency, it was 150 guan.

Since the owed official salary had not been paid, Su Dongpo wrote to his friend the governor of Guangzhou, asking him to help him get the tax collector to pay him.

This friend Wang Ji once listened to Su Dongpo's advice and built a hospital to help the poor. However, he was soon dismissed by his superiors for "relieving the hungry people in vain", as mentioned above.

Whether Su Dongpo's back wages have been paid or not cannot be verified.

He is now sixty years old, in Western terms.

It is difficult to predict how long he will remain in exile in the future, and the hope of surviving in the mainland is very slim.

His two sons accompanied him all the way to Guangzhou.

Su Zao said goodbye to him by the river, while Su Guo left his family in Huizhou and accompanied him to Hainan.

In order to reach his post, Su Dongpo had to go up the Huxi River and sail hundreds of miles to Wuzhou (in modern Guangxi), then turn south and cross the sea from Leizhou Peninsula.

As soon as he arrived in Leizhou, he heard that his younger brother Ziyou was on his way to the Leizhou Peninsula where he was demoted and had just passed through this place.

It is speculated that the Su brothers were relegated to this place because their names were similar to the names of the places (Zizhan went to Zengzhou and Ziyou went to Leizhou). Zhang Ting found it quite interesting.

Ziyou also brought his wife, third son, and third daughter-in-law, who had lived with him in Gao'an a few years ago.

Su Dongpo arrived in Tengzhou near Wuzhou and met his younger brother Ziyou. Now he was in a miserable situation.

The local area was a poor county, and the two brothers went to a small restaurant for lunch.

Ziyou was used to eating exquisite meals, and it was really difficult for him to eat the coarse wheat flour cake.

Su Dongpo ate up his cake in several mouthfuls, and said to his brother with a smile: "Do you still want to chew this delicious food slowly?" They stood up and walked out of the shop, leading their family forward slowly, trying their best to

He walked slowly, because he knew that as soon as he arrived in Leizhou, he would have to cross the sea immediately.

The prefect of Leizhou has always admired the Su brothers.

He gave them a grand welcome and gave them wine and food. As a result, he was impeached and removed from office the next year.

Ziyou's residence in Leizhou was later converted into a temple to commemorate his two brothers after their deaths.

Su Dongpo had to set off, and Ziyou sent him to the beach.

On the eve of their departure, the two brothers and their families spent the night on the boat.

Su Dongpo's hemorrhoids recurred and were very painful, so he was advised to quit drinking.

The two spent part of their time writing poems together, and Su Dongpo tested the poetic talent of Ziyou's youngest son.

This parting was a life-or-death parting, and it was so depressing that I sat in sorrow all night.

Before leaving, Su Dongpo wrote the following sentence to Wang Gu: "A certain old man fell into poverty with no hope of recovery. In the spring, he said goodbye to his eldest son, and the funeral arrangements have been taken care of. Now that I have arrived in Hainan, I will make a coffin first, and then a tomb.

. He still left a hand with his disciples. He was buried overseas when he died. He was not buried in a coffin when he was alive. This was also the custom of Dongpo's family." That day, he prayed to the sages.

There is a temple dedicated to the statue of the second general Zhengnan.

All travelers crossing the sea in this dangerous and windy place consult the oracle to determine the auspicious day and good time to sail.

In the past, it was found that all oracles were fulfilled.

Su Dongpo also followed customs.

On June 11, the fourth year of Shaosheng (1097), the Su brothers separated. Su Dongpo, his youngest son, and several soldiers sent by the Leizhou prefect to serve him along the way boarded the ship.

The voyage was short, and on this clear day, Su Dongpo could see the outline of the island's mountains rising into the sky.

Thoughts surged in his mind.

The sea is not as magical to him as it is to Western poets.

In fact, he was "dazzled".

But the journey was uneventful.

After landing, Su Dongpo and his son headed for their destination in Yanzhou on the northwest coast, arriving on July 2.

Shortly after his arrival, Zhang Zhong, a very good county magistrate, arrived.

Zhang Zhong not only admired Su Dongpo as a poet, but he was also a Go master.

He and Su Guo later became sworn friends.

The two often played chess all day long, with Su Dongpo watching the game.

Due to Zhang Zhong's warm hospitality, Su Dongpo lived in an official residence next to Zhang Zhong's residence.

But it was also a small old house. When the autumn rain came, the roof leaked, so Su Dongpo had to move his bed from east to west at night.

Because it was an official's house, Zhang Zhong used public funds to repair it, which later caused him trouble.

From the Chinese perspective, Hainan Island is simply uninhabitable.

It is extremely humid and stuffy in the summer, and very foggy in the winter.

The autumn rains are continuous and everything becomes moldy.

Once Su Dongpo saw many termites dead on his bedpost.

This kind of climate that is harmful to people makes people think of the way to immortality.