"No illness and no disaster, I will come to you" is wrong, the correct verse is "No disaster, no disaster, I will come to you". This poem comes from "Xi'er Opera" written by Su Shi, a writer in the Song Dynasty. The full text of the poem is :

"Xi'er Play"

Su Shi [Song Dynasty]

Everyone raises his son to be smart, but I have been deceived by my wisdom my entire life.

I hope that my child will be foolish and careless, and that he will be able to come to the palace without any trouble.

Vernacular translation:

Everyone hopes to have smart children, but what are the benefits of being smart? Just because I was smart, I was jealous of others and wasted my whole life.

I just hope that my children will be stupid and slow, free from disasters and misfortunes, and be able to be officials.

Word notes:

Adopted son: giving birth to children. "Book of Rites·University": "There is no one who has not learned to raise a son and then gets married."

Yuqielu: ignorant and slow to react. Yu means ignorance and stupidity; Lu means slowness and clumsiness.

Gongqing: generally refers to senior officials. Xun Yue of the Han Dynasty wrote in "Han Ji·Zhao Di Ji": "In the first year of the First Yuan Dynasty, in the second month of spring, in the Taiye Pond of Jianzhang Palace under the yellow swans, the minister celebrated his birthday."

Appreciation of the work:

On the surface, this poem is about children’s education. It seems to have an absurd point of view, but it is actually ironic, because in Su Shi’s view, the ministers and prime ministers at that time were all just retaining power and had no idea of ????ruling the country. Talented person. "The Story of the Eastern Capital: The Chronicles of Shenzong": "In the summer of the fifth year of Yuanfeng, in April, Guichou changed the official system, with Wang Gui as the left servant of the minister and the minister of the family, Cai Que, the right servant of the minister and the minister of the middle school, and the minister of Zhang Dun. , Zhang Hong was changed to the Minister of Zhongshu, Puzong Meng Shangshu Zuocheng, Wang Anli Shangshu Youcheng. "It can be seen that the ministers in the Yuanfeng period were all people with mediocre talents, so it was inevitable that Dongpo would make a cry of injustice. Lin Yutang's "The Biography of Su Dongpo" said in the chapter "The Way of Self-Retreat": "The political rules of the East and the West are exactly the same, and those who climb to the top must be mediocre." This is absolutely true. Because as a high-ranking official, it is best not to take any responsibilities. It is not necessary to affirm or deny things. It is not advisable to be ambiguous in your opinions and to be vague in your words. This will always be detrimental. When you are a high-ranking official, you must be particularly careful not to offend others casually, and you must give more small favors to others. But Su Dongpo was not such a person. He could not strictly abide by the rules for success in being a high official, so he was ruthlessly attacked and exiled. Therefore, he said, "I hope that my child will be stupid and reckless, and he will be able to reach the officialdom without any disaster." There was a cry of injustice.

In addition, Su Dongpo was extremely talented and knowledgeable. He would not have known that there had been precedents in history of pretending to be ignorant to protect one's health: In the Spring and Autumn Period of Wei, there was a doctor Ning Wuzi. The changes in the two generations, from Duke Wen of Wei to Duke Cheng of Wei, became the elders of the two dynasties without any disasters. Confucius explained the whole story: "Ning Wuzi, if the country has the Way, he will know; if the country does not have the Way, he will be foolish. His knowledge can be achieved, but his stupidity cannot be reached." It means: "Ning Wuzi, when the country has the Way, he will be ignorant." He appears to be smart; when the country is dishonest, he will pretend to be stupid. Others can do his kind of cleverness, but others cannot do his kind of pretending to be stupid. "Su Dongpo wanted his son to be "foolish" for his own sake. One of the life strategies designed is to learn from Ning Wuzi's "foolishness", which is also Laozi's "great wisdom is like a fool". This is difficult for ordinary people to do. Su Dongpo knew that he would easily become the target of public criticism just because he stood out, so he wanted his son to hide his edge and learn to pretend to be confused while still understanding.

Su Shi is a great writer who is excellent in both poetry and prose. His works pay attention to refining the words and meaning, and this is also the case with this poem. The word "hope" expresses people's expectations for their children; the word "mistake" expresses all the experiences of one's life. There are several twists and turns in the poem, and all the emotions are in them: The world hopes that the child is smart, but I hope that the child is stupid, which is the first twist; a smart person should have a smooth life, but I missed my life because of my cleverness, which is the second twist; a stupid person should do nothing, But being able to "reach the official without any trouble" is the third turning point. Su Shi's complaints all lie in these turns.

Creative background:

In the third year of Yuanfeng (1080 AD), Emperor Shenzong of the Song Dynasty, Su Shi was demoted to Huangzhou as an idle official because of the "Wutai Poetry Case". Demotion means five years. Su Shi first lived in Dinghuiyuan in Huangzhou, and later moved to Lingao Pavilion. He was content with his demoted residence, eating vegetables with the monks. When he had time, he would bathe in the village and temple, find streams and valleys, fish and collect herbs, and find his own comfort.

Sometimes he would follow a small boat on the river, wandering among the mountains and rivers, among fishermen and woodcutters. He would often be pushed down by drunken men, and even cursed at him. Its fun. Su Shi's most proud life in Huangzhou was probably his relationship with Chaoyun. Chaoyun was Dongpo's concubine. He came back in September of the seventh year of Xining (1074) and was deeply favored by Dongpo. On September 27, the sixth year of Yuanfeng (1083), Chaoyun gave birth to a son, whose nickname was Qian'er. He was handsome and unusual, and Su Shi was delighted because he wrote the poem "Xi'er Opera".

About the author:

Su Shi, (January 8, 1037 - August 24, 1101), courtesy name Zizhan, Hezhong, Taoist Tieguan, Dongpo layman, Su Dongpo, also known as Su Xian, is a Han nationality from Meishan, Meizhou (Meishan City, Sichuan Province). His ancestral home is Luancheng, Hebei Province. He is a famous writer, calligrapher and painter in the Northern Song Dynasty, and a famous figure in water control in history. Su Shi was a literary leader in the mid-Northern Song Dynasty and made great achievements in poetry, lyrics, prose, calligraphy, and painting. His writing is bold and unbridled; his poems are broad in subject matter, fresh and vigorous, good at using exaggerated metaphors, and have a unique style. Together with Huang Tingjian, he is called "Su Huang"; 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 good at calligraphy and one of the "Four Masters of the Song Dynasty"; he was good at literati painting, especially ink bamboo, strange rocks, dead wood, etc. Together with Han Yu, Liu Zongyuan and Ouyang Xiu, they are known as the "Four Great Masters of Eternal Writing". His works include "Dongpo Seven Collections", "Dongpo Yi Zhuan", "Dongpo Yuefu", "Xiaoxiang Bamboo and Stone Picture Scroll", "Old Wood and Strange Stone Picture Scroll", etc.