First, philosophical concepts. Su Shi's idea of ??being an official is governed by his philosophical ideas. Therefore, when studying Su Shi's philosophy of being an official, we must study the formation of his worldview, and first of all, we must study his philosophy of conduct. His academic philosophy can be summarized as "four views". The first is the golden mean view of “nothing is too great”. The essence of Su Shi's Doctrine of the Mean is that it is neither too high nor too low. In today's terms, it is necessary to prevent both "right" and "left". The second is the view of the movement that "every time is new". Su Shi believed that all things are in the process of occurrence, development and change. Change is eternal, and immutability is relative. The third is the dialectical view of "hardness, softness and self-destruction". Su Shi believes that softness is better than hardness, and softness is better than hardness. Softness can overcome hardness, and hardness and softness can break apart.

On the contrary, if you use hardness to overcome softness, not only will you not be able to win, but it will actually be harmful. When used as an official in governing, it is expressed as: "The good rulers in ancient times never fought with the people, but allowed them to make their own choices, and then followed the path." The fourth is the outlook on life of "inner saints and outer kings". The outlook on life determines a person's behavior and principles of doing things. Su Shi believed that the "inner sage" and the "external king" are unified. Immortal achievements are inseparable from the cultivation of happiness, and external success comes from inner cultivation. Therefore, he created the "outer king" among the "inner saints", became the "inner saint" among the "outer kings", and created immortal achievements in the practice of serving as an official.

Second, the people-centered concept. Su Shi’s people-centered concept has been elaborated in many of his books and articles, which can be summarized as “three views”. The first is the "people-centered view". Because he was influenced by Confucianism since he was a child, Su Shi deeply understood the principle that "water can carry a boat or capsize it" when dealing with the relationship between officials and the people. Therefore, he always put "the people" first, In many of his articles, he clearly put forward the "people-oriented" point of view. For example, in the "Criminal Policy" chapter of "Two Poems on the Way of the Throne at Shangchu", he clearly put forward the concept of "the people are the foundation of the country". He also clearly stated in "Cebie Training Brigade II": "The people are the foundation of the world." He also clearly pointed out in "Dongpo Shu Zhuan·Songs of the Five Sons No. 3": "The people can be close but cannot be removed. The people are the foundation of the country, and the foundation is strong and the country is at peace." He further pointed out that " If one person loses three things, if he loses his people, he will lose his heaven, and if he loses his heaven, he will lose his country. It can be seen that in the relationship between the king and the people, he puts "the people" first. At present, he must first think of the common people, which is very valuable for a feudal official.

Third, the concept of reform. Su Shi's reform concept can be found in his "Emperor's Letter to Shenzong", "Emperor's Letter to Shang again", "25 Poems on Jin Ce", "A Road to Imperial Examination System", "Intended Jinshi vs. Imperial Examination Policy", "On Thought and Governance" "There are many wonderful discussions in articles such as "Thesis", which can be summarized into five thesis. One is the theory of mouth. The purpose of Su Shi's reform should be to enrich the people and strengthen the country. All laws and regulations must be beneficial to the people, and use this as a criterion to judge the success of the reform. He disapproved of some provisions in Wang Anshi's reform that disturbed the people; he also disapproved of Sima Guang's complete denial of Wang Anshi. He believed that some regulations in the new law were still beneficial to the people and should continue to be implemented. The second is the theory of gradual change. The biggest difference in approach between Su Shi's view of reform and Wang Anshi's view of reform is that one advocates "gradual change" and the other advocates "radical change."

The reasons why Su Shi advocated "gradual change" can be found in his "Advancing Policy·Strategy First", "On Rites and Nurturing People", "Asking about Health Preservation", "Dai Tengfu on Xixia Shu" and " There are many clear discussions in "The Emperor's Book of Shang Shenzong". He has a famous saying: "Things will be easy to achieve because of the laws, and the people will not be alarmed if things are gradual." ("Bianshi Guan Zhi Ce Wen Ge Zi") means: , let the reform proceed without the common people being aware of it. He believes that the country is like a fast-moving carriage. If it suddenly makes a sharp turn, it will overturn. He also used the metaphor of a doctor treating a patient and prescribing medicine, and discussed the principle that reform should be "gradual" and not "radical". He believed that governing a country is like treating a patient. If a doctor encounters a critical patient and prescribes strong medicine, the result will be very serious. It may lead to death of the patient; if a poor and weak country engages in "radical change", it is likely that haste will lead to waste in haste.

Fourth, economic philosophy. Su Shi talked about some of his economic ideas in a relatively systematic manner in the 25 policy papers he submitted to the court when he took the system-related examination. In summary, there are five main types. One is higher taxes. Aiming at the problem of unchanged taxation due to changes in land, Su Shi seized on the key link of changing land deeds to realize the transfer of farmland, and calculated the "wide and narrow hemorrhoid glue" based on the value of the land, and used this to collect taxes, which could solve the problem of land transfer. The problem of too much endowment and too little. The second is the equalization of households. Su Shi believed that cultivating land was the way to get rich.

And people all over the world often gather in wealthy places, resulting in the contradiction of too many people and little land.

For this reason, he proposed the idea of ??encouraging people to migrate from places with large populations to places with sparse population in order to achieve the purpose of equalizing household registration. The third is to encourage farmers to grow mulberry trees. Su Shi actively advocated planting mulberry and raising sericulture, and linked the performance of planting mulberry and raising sericulture with the evaluation and promotion of officials. He clearly pointed out: "For the government of agriculture and mulberry, household registration is the method of examination." ("Strategy 2") The fourth is to reduce expenses. Su Shi believed that it was necessary to "spare use in order to gain cheaply." In response to the problems at that time, he specifically proposed to use frugally from three aspects: first, reduce redundant troops and reduce military expenditures; second, cut redundant officials and redundant staff and reduce financial expenditures; Third, we must restrict the royal family’s spending on extravagant and extravagant events. Fifth, exemption from miscellaneous taxes. Su Shi believed that on the one hand, the government should be "economical" on itself, and on the other hand, it should be "honest and honest" to the people.

Fifth, educational philosophy. Su Shi attached great importance to education as an official and had his own unique insights, which can be summarized into three main types. The first is the concept of education. Su Shi advocated promoting enlightenment. Dun means attention; enlightenment means educational influence. Su Shi advocated educating the people of the world with benevolence, justice, etiquette, and trustworthiness in order to achieve national stability. He advocated "encouraging harmony" and encouraged the people to live in harmony and harmony, not to "break the law lightly", but to "be close to each other as fathers and sons, brothers and wives." He also taught people not to be "more talented than honest" but to pay attention to the cultivation of ideological and moral character. The second is environmental outlook.

Su Shi believes that education has a large environment and a small environment. The large social environment and the small family environment are both important. At the same time, learning must also have a certain atmosphere. The third is methodology. Su Shi attaches great importance to the method of learning. He said in "Yu Wang Ku Wu": "Books are as rich as the sea of ????people, and department stores are available. From them, one cannot absorb all the energy, but one can get what he wants. Therefore, I hope that scholars, Every time you make one intention to seek it, it is like seeking the role of saints and sages in eradicating chaos in the past and present. However, if you make this intention and seek it, do not think about it again, and do the same for other people. Although this is dull, if you succeed in learning, you will be attacked from all sides, which is different from those who dabble. "Su Shi's learning method of reading with questions is indeed effective.

Sixth, military concept. Su Shi had a martial spirit since he was a child, and he attached great importance to military construction as an official. Especially when he was a local governor, he put forward many commendable military views, which can be summarized in the following three points. The first is "teach, fight and defend". In his articles such as "Cebiebing Training Brigade", Su Shi put forward the ideas of "accumulating materials", "training the army effectively", "promoting bravery" and "teaching war and defense", etc., and discussed the importance of generals and soldiers respectively. The second is "defining the military system." Su Shi proposed that with the unification of the country, the imperial court "does not need to suspect the soldiers from all directions but only trusts the banned soldiers". "Soldiers in counties and counties can be gradually trained and secretly seize their power, while the banned soldiers can be gradually reduced and useless." Doing so not only reduced the burden on the court, but also increased the country's overall military strength. Third, all the people are soldiers.

Seventh, the concept of clean government. Su Shi attaches great importance to integrity as an official. He not only has monographs on clean government, but also practices on clean government. To sum up, he has five main views. First, success is due to greed, and success is due to integrity. Su Shi put forward in "Six Matters of Integrity as the Fundamental Fu" "Knowing that merit is wasted by corruption, and action is accomplished by integrity" tells the relationship between integrity and fame, explaining that integrity is the decisive factor in success or failure in fame. Second, there is no difference between rich and poor, but there is no difference between life and death. He put forward an important point in "Hou Si Ju Fu": No matter whether you are poor or rich, whether you eat meat or vegetables, you will eventually die. There is no need to covet glory and wealth in life. The third is to be rational and selfless, and to be economical and economical. Su Shi believed: "There is no other way for a gentleman to be obedient (to do good things smoothly). He is just following the rules and being selfless." ("Dongpo Yi Zhuan") actually requires people to act in accordance with the laws of the development and change of objective things, and not to be influenced by others. Interference from selfish thoughts. Being frugal and economical means that the court should take the lead in reducing expenditures and reducing excessive taxes and levies.

The fourth is to establish rules and regulations and test hundreds of officials. Su Shi proposed to institutionally restrain and punish corrupt officials. In "Six Matters of Integrity as the Fundamental Fu", he proposed that the results of the integrity assessment should be combined with the use of officials. In "Advancing Policy", he elaborated on the specific method of testing hundreds of officials, with special emphasis on strict law enforcement. Use the law to restrain officials and deal with officials who violate the law in accordance with the law. Five is not mine, and I cannot take any of it. Su Shi said in his famous prose "Ode to Red Cliff" that "If it is not my property, I will not take even a single cent of it." This means that as long as you don’t own something, don’t take any of it. In fact, it puts forward the requirement that clean government must start from oneself, which is very commendable for a feudal official.