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It is clearly stated at the beginning that among Su Shi's many names, the most well-known is "Dongpo", because this name is widely accepted by people. High, so people also affectionately call Su Shi "Su Dongpo".

A very important point is that Su Shi gave himself the name "Dongpo". So, what is the story and origin of his name?

After the incident of the Wutai Poetry Case, Su Shi set foot on the land of Huangzhou. After coming to Huangzhou, Su Shi first lived in Dinghuiyuan, and later moved to Lingao Pavilion on the bank of the Yangtze River, and gradually began to adapt to the relegated life in Huangzhou.

As life gradually stabilized, Su Shi also emerged from the shadow of the Wutai Poetry Case. In the second year after arriving in Huangzhou, Su Shi rented 59 acres of wasteland outside Huangzhou with the help of friends. After that, Su Shi bought farm tools, worked personally, and plowed the fields.

Because this reclaimed wasteland is just outside the east gate of Huangzhou, and it is a sloping land. So he thought of the story of Tang Dynasty poet Bai Juyi planting flowers and trees in Dongpo, Chungju, so he named this farming land "Dongpo", and he also called himself "Dongpo". In other words, Su Shi was in This title only came into existence during the Huangzhou period.

So, why did Su Shi imitate the story of Tang Dynasty poet Bai Juyi planting flowers and trees on the east slope of Chungju? Is there any intrinsic connection between the two? Or what is Su Shi's attitude towards Bai Juyi's lifestyle?

To understand this point, we must first go into the story of Bai Juyi and explore this issue using the method of "knowing people and analyzing the world". It turns out that when the poet Bai Juyi of the Tang Dynasty was the governor of Zhongzhou, he planted flowers on the east slope of Zhongzhou and wrote the poem "Stepping to Dongpo": "Step up to Dongpo in the morning, step to Dongpo in the evening. What do you love about Dongpo? I love this new Chengshu..."

It turns out that Bai Juyi was transferred from Jiangzhou Sima to Zhongzhou governor in the 13th year of Yuanhe, Emperor Xianzong of the Tang Dynasty, and arrived in Zhongzhou (Zhongxian County, Chongqing) in the spring of the 14th year of Yuanhe. During his two years in Zhongzhou, Bai Juyi devoted himself to his duties at work; after work, he would travel around Zhongzhou to experience the scenery and people of Zhongzhou.

Bai Juyi liked to plant flowers and trees in his daily life, and he maintained this habit well after arriving in Chungju. He reclaimed wasteland on the hillside east of Chungju City and planted many flowers, plants and trees with his own hands. In the poem "Planting Flowers on the East Slope", Bai Juyi wrote: Use money to buy flowers and trees and plant them on the east slope of the city.

Just when Bai Juyi was about to leave Zhongzhou and Dongpo, which he cherished so much, he felt a lot of reluctance in his heart, especially the flowers, grass, trees and trees he planted on Dongpo with his own hands. . So Bai Juyi wrote in his poem: "The new governor upstairs next year might as well still be a flower lover."

Even though Bai Juyi left Zhongzhou to take up a post in Chang'an, he still missed the flowers he planted on the east slope of Zhongzhou. Flowers, plants and trees: I most remember the red east slope and the wild peach mountains and apricot trees.

Having said that, the reason why Su Shi named the place where he cultivated "Dongpo" and called himself "Dongpo layman" is not only similar to Bai Juyi's deeds of planting flowers and grass, but also has a profound meaning. The reason for the level is Su Shi's recognition and admiration for Bai Juyi's personality. This is a bit like "different generations meeting and becoming confidants".

Why do we say this? We have to start with the ideological changes and cognitive levels of Su Shi and Bai Juyi. Su Shi called himself "Dongpo Jushi". This self-title means Su Shi's recognition and admiration for Bai Juyi's philosophy and attitude towards life. It also means a major change in Su Shi's thinking.

Huangzhou was a stop in Su Shi’s life journey. He spent five years here. These five years were not only an obscure period of endless ups and downs in his official career, but also the low point in his life. This is a period, and it is also a period in which people work hard on farmland to provide food and clothing and are frugal in running the household. Therefore, Huangzhou was also a major transition period in Su Shi's life journey.

Su Shi, who was in Huangzhou, had a deep admiration for Bai Juyi. If you consider Bai Juyi's background as the governor of Zhongzhou, it coincides with Su Shi's background of being relegated to Huangzhou. Although they are people of different eras, they But they have similar life experiences and official careers.

As for Su Shi, Su Shi during the Huangzhou period was very similar to Bai Juyi, whom he had always admired, in terms of experiences and mood. At this time, with the help of his friends, he had land that he could cultivate and plant trees and flowers. When growing food, I naturally thought of Dongpo, where Bai Juyi planted trees and flowers in Chungju.

Therefore, after two years in Huangzhou, Su Shi deliberately imitated Bai Juyi's story of planting flowers and trees in Zhongzhou, and also opened up wasteland outside Huangzhou City, worked hard on it, and named the land "Dongpo". He called himself "Dongpo Jushi", which was Su Shi's admiration and recognition of Bai Juyi's planting on the Dongpo land in Chungju.

In fact, Su Shi did not call himself "Dongpo" as soon as he arrived in Huangzhou, but he only got the nickname "Dongpo" after living in Huangzhou for two years. Before the Wutai Poetry Case, Su Shi was vigorous as a scholar, full of self-confidence, and had the ambition to help the world.

However, after experiencing the Wutai Poetry Case, Su Shi worked hard in Dongpo in Huangzhou. At this time, he had a new understanding of official career and life, and also had a new perception. His soul Turn more to the interest of nature.

After experiencing the "Wutai Poetry Case" that rewrote his life destiny and official trajectory, Su Shi had already begun to intend to retire when he first arrived in Huangzhou. At that time, Su Shi was full of ambitions and at a loss as to what to do, so he revealed the idea of ??going into seclusion.

In fact, Su Shi's idea was also influenced by Bai Juyi's thought of retreating into seclusion. Su Shi envied Bai Juyi's pursuit of a leisurely life in his later years, and he praised Bai Juyi's morality.

In addition to praising Bai Juyi's personality and morality, Su Shi's greatest recognition of Bai Juyi was Bai Juyi's philosophy of life and attitude towards life. Bai Juyi once said: "The great hermit lives in the imperial court, and the small hermit lives in the market." Qiu Fan. Qiu Fan is too indifferent, and the market is too noisy. It is better to be a seclusion in the middle, and to remain in seclusion as an official." In Bai Juyi's view, a leisurely and unrestrained life does not necessarily have to go to the forest and spring trails to experience. A higher level of secluded life is to be alone in the bustling city and find a tranquility in the pure land of the soul. The destination of the soul.

Xiao Yin and Dayin are just like two ends of a line, but Bai Juyi did not hesitate at both ends of this line, hesitating and unable to find a suitable foothold. But after Bai Juyi's rigorous examination, he folded the line in half and focused on the inflection point of the line, which is the midpoint. He felt that the midpoint was the most appropriate footing point.

In other words, at this time Bai Juyi reached a tacit balance with the reclusive life, and found a way of life that was more suitable for him, that is, "Zhongshe" - this line of midpoint.

Zhongyin is a way of survival between small hermitage and great hermitage. It is a dynamic balance. In other words, Bai Juyi highly recognized a leisurely lifestyle, and his thoughts shifted from "contributing to the world" to "taking care of himself."

Su Shi in Huangzhou is not only seeking a fertile spiritual ground, but also trying hard to adapt to life in Huangzhou. He wants to reconcile with himself and even with life. Su Shi wrote this in a poem from the Huangzhou period: If you talk about seclusion before you become a small person, you can get long-term leisure than temporary leisure.

Su Shi agreed with Bai Juyi's "middle and hidden" mentality in the world, and in his subsequent official career, he maintained his inner calm, combined with his own ideological cultivation, improved it, and achieved a broad-minded and detached attitude towards the world. Realm, which further improves the depth and breadth of Bai Juyi's "Zhongyin".

Even if Su Shi was either demoted or on the road to being demoted later, even though his life was not as comfortable and comfortable as Bai Juyi's, he still maintained an optimistic and open-minded attitude. This mentality is consistent with his choice of "invisibility" Inextricably linked. It can also be said that Su Shi directly benefited from Bai Juyi's "Zhongyin".

In Huangzhou and later years, Su Shi felt that he had a similar trajectory to Bai Juyi in terms of life experience and mentality. He recounted more than once the appropriateness and tacit understanding of different generations meeting and becoming confidants. That was Su Shi's life perception after experiencing the ups and downs of the world. This perception often means various spiritual experiences that are not known to outsiders.

Su Shi believed that he and Bai Juyi had many similarities in life experiences, and often compared himself with Bai Juyi in his poems.

For example, in the poem "Giving Photos to Taoist Li", "He will refer to the sages and know that he is an old layman in Xiangshan", and another example is in the poem "Giving Cheng Jie, a good friend", "I am like Lotte King who remembers it, and appreciates it everywhere." "Luoyang Spring" are all written evidence of Su Shi's admiration for Bai Juyi.

Su Shi, a literary giant in the Northern Song Dynasty, saw another version of himself in Bai Juyi, a famous poet in the Tang Dynasty; another possibility is that Su Shi saw his own shadow in Bai Juyi's life experience and mentality.

Judging from the above discussion, Su Shi's nickname "Dongpo" itself was his admiration, following and imitation of Bai Juyi's life. Therefore, meeting different generations and becoming confidants is the most powerful interpretation of Su Shi's intention to follow Bai Juyi's life step by step.