When it comes to Su Shi, what we think of most are his lyrics. In that time when all the people "played with lyrics", everyone loved them, from emperors and generals to talented men and beauties, down to ordinary people and outstanding singers and prostitutes." The fact that so many excellent works have been spread throughout the world in the dynasty of "playing with Ci" shows how high Su Shi's achievements in Ci were. Today we won’t talk about his lyrics, but will share with you another side of Su Shi besides his lyrics.
1. A younger brother of an official who cannot be an official. Su Shi's ancestor, Su Weiwei, was a Jinshi scholar. He was promoted to a prime minister twice, and his father and younger brother also served as officials. Su Shi had many ups and downs in his career, from the north to the south. He was very talented but his official skills were always poor.
2. A Confucian scholar who was enlightened in Taoism and liked to make friends with monks. Su Shi entered school at the age of 8 and received enlightenment education from the Taoist priest Zhang Yijian. He was demoted to Huangzhou and lived in Dinghuiyuan where he ate and lived with the monks and cultivated his Buddha nature. He read Confucian classics throughout his life, governed many places, and gathered the thoughts of Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism in his life.
3. Transforming Ci from the traditional pattern of "Yanke" into an independent lyric poetry style, fundamentally changing the development direction of Ci history.
4. A calligrapher ignored by the world. Perhaps because of his great achievements in writing, many people don't know that Su Shi is a great calligrapher. Su Shi was good at writing running script and regular script, and he was known as one of the "Four Masters of the Song Dynasty" along with "Xiu", "Xiu", "Xiu" and "Xiu".
5. The forgotten painter. Compared with calligraphy, Su Shi, who was good at painting ink and bamboo, few people knew that he was also a painter.
6. A cook who was delayed by poetry: Today, there are more than 60 kinds of food named after Dongpo. If he were alive today, Mr. Su would be rich by collecting copyright and trademark royalties.
7. A water conservancy expert who was ruined by official circles. Mr. Dongpo, who was demoted everywhere, was a natural water conservancy expert. If he had not entered the officialdom, his water conservancy achievements might be no less famous than Li Bing. "Su embankments are built everywhere on the east slope." Su Shi built three embankments in his life. Yingzhou West Lake (now Fuyang, Anhui), Huizhou West Lake, Hangzhou West Lake Sudi.
8. A joker who is well versed in Confucianism, Buddhism and Taoism: When he was in Huangzhou, Su Shi often had good relations with the Zen master of Jinshan Temple. One day, Su Shi composed a poem and presented it to the Buddha's seal: "The head of the sky is in the middle of the sky, shining brightly across the universe, unable to be blown by the eight winds, sitting upright on a purple golden lotus." The Zen master immediately criticized the word "fart" and asked the boy to take it back. Dongpo was furious after seeing this, and immediately crossed the river to question the Zen master. The Zen master laughed and said, "Bachelor, bachelor, aren't you 'unable to be blown by the eight winds'? Why did you cross the river with just a 'fart'? There are many more jokes." Popular among the people.
9. Su Shi was a traveler who regarded being an official as a side job. His life was ups and downs, and he traveled from Shandong, Anhui, Jiangsu and Zhejiang to Hainan. He has held official positions in as many as 11 provinces and regions, and has traveled to the great rivers and mountains in the north and south of the motherland.