Su Shi (January 8, 1037 - August 24, 1101), also known as Zizhan and Hezhong, was also known as Tieguan Taoist and Dongpo layman. 1-3]?. Han nationality, a native of Meishan, Meizhou (now part of Meishan City, Sichuan Province), his ancestral home is Luancheng, Hebei Province, a writer, calligrapher and painter in the Northern Song Dynasty.[4]?

In the second year of Jiayou's reign (1057), Su Shi became a Jinshi. During the reign of Emperor Shenzong of the Song Dynasty, he served in Fengxiang, Hangzhou, Mizhou, Xuzhou, Huzhou and other places. In the third year of Yuanfeng (1080), he was demoted to the deputy envoy of Huangzhou Tuanlian due to the "Wutai Poetry Case".

After Zhezong of the Song Dynasty came to the throne, he served as a bachelor of the Hanlin Academy, a bachelor of attendance, and a minister of the Ministry of Rites. He also went to Hangzhou, Yingzhou, Yangzhou, Dingzhou and other places. In his later years, he was demoted to Huizhou and Dan because of the New Party's rule. state. Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty was pardoned and returned to the north, but died of illness in Changzhou on the way. During the reign of Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty, he was given the posthumous title "Wenzhong" as a posthumous gift to the Grand Master.

Su Shi was a literary leader in the mid-Northern Song Dynasty and made great achievements in poetry, lyrics, prose, calligraphy, and painting. His writings are bold and unbridled; his poems have broad themes, are fresh and bold, are good at using exaggerated metaphors, and have a unique style. Together with Huang Tingjian, they are called "Su Huang"; pungent".

His prose writings are grand and bold. Together with Ouyang Xiu, he is called "Ou Su" and is one of the "Eight Great Masters of Tang and Song Dynasties". Su Shi was also good at calligraphy and was one of the "Four Masters of the Song Dynasty"; he was good at painting, especially good at ink bamboo, strange rocks, dead wood, etc. There are "Dongpo Seven Collections", "Dongpo Yi Zhuan", "Dongpo Yuefu" and so on.

Su Shi has achieved extremely high attainments in literature, poetry and Ci, and can be regarded as the representative of the highest achievement of literature in the Song Dynasty. Moreover, Su Shi's creative activities were not limited to literature. He made outstanding achievements in calligraphy, painting and other fields, and also contributed to medicine, cooking, water conservancy and other skills. Su Shi typically embodies the cultural spirit of the Song Dynasty.

From the perspective of literary history, Su Shi's significance mainly has two points: First, Su Shi's attitude towards life has become a paradigm admired by later generations of literati: he can advance and retreat freely, and he is not surprised by favors and disgrace. Because Su Shi integrated the two attitudes of scholars in feudal society with the same value scale, he was able to remain calm and unstoppable.

Of course, this paradigm is more applicable when scholars encounter ups and downs. It can lead to a state of life that adheres to ethics and is full of fertility. This is what scholars of all generations after the Song Dynasty hoped to achieve. of. Secondly, Su Shi's aesthetic attitude provided an enlightening aesthetic paradigm for future generations. He embraced the world with a broad aesthetic vision, so everything is appreciable and beauty can be found everywhere.

This paradigm has opened up a new world for future generations in terms of subject matter, content and expression techniques. Therefore, it is a historical necessity that Su Shi is universally loved by future generations of literati.

Su Shi enjoyed a huge reputation in the literary world at that time. He inherited Ouyang Xiu's spirit and attached great importance to discovering and cultivating literary talents. At that time, there were many young writers surrounding him like stars over the moon. Among them, Huang Tingjian, Zhang Lei, Chao Buzhi and Qin Guan, who had greater achievements, were collectively known as the "Four Scholars of the Su School". Together with Chen Shidao and Li Lao, they were collectively known as the "Six Gentlemen of Su Clan".

In addition, Li Gefei, Li Zhiyi, Tang Geng, Zhang Shunmin, Kong Pingzhong, He Zhu and others were also directly or indirectly influenced by Su Shi. Because Su Shi's achievements include various literary styles, and his own creations have no fixed norms to follow, Su family writers have different styles in their creations.

Huang Tingjian and Chen Shidao are good at poetry, Qin Guan is good at Ci, Li Lao is famous for his ancient prose, and Zhang and Chao are good at both poetry and prose. At the same time, their artistic styles also have their own personalities. For example, Huang's poetry is new, while Chen's poetry is simple and simple. Their styles are not similar to Su's poetry. Later, Huang and Chen founded separate sects.

Extended information:

Anecdotes and allusions

Daohua Tongmeng

When brothers Su Shi and Su Che were young, they lived in their hometown of Mei, present-day Sichuan Province. They studied in Tianqinguan County, and their first teacher was Taoist Zhang Yijian. ?[52]?At that time, Taoist priest Zhang Yijian had hundreds of students. Su Shi was one of the students who was favored by Taoist priest Zhang. The other was the famous Taoist priest Chen Taichu who was later recorded in "Xianjian".

According to Dongpo's "Zhilin" records, when Su Shi was demoted to Huangzhou, his old classmate Chen Taichu became an immortal in Hanzhong.

Since Su Shi received Taoist enlightenment education since childhood, he had a special liking for Taoism throughout his life. He often wore Taoist robes and visited Taoist priests. For example, "The Crane-Felting Pavilion" highly praises the Taoist Zhang Tianji, while "Hou Chibi Fu" ends with the Taoist falling into a dream. When he was demoted, he still wrote articles for many Taoist temples and Taoist halls, so he wrote "Zhongmiaotang Ji", "Guanmiaotang Ji", "Zhuangzi Ancestral Hall Ji" and other beautiful articles.

In the article "Zhongmiaotang Ji", he described how he met his primary school teacher Zhang Yijian in a dream and was deeply taught by him. This shows the profound influence of Taoism on him.

Su Che, Su Shi's younger brother, begins his "Longchuan Brief History" by saying that he had a dream about studying at Tianqing Temple when he was in elementary school. In the dream, Su Che revealed a little-known story through a conversation with the statue of Lao Tzu. A well-known phenomenon of retribution from heaven: abstention from killing can lead to longevity.

Reference: Baidu Encyclopedia-Su Shi