One day, Su Dongpo went to visit Prime Minister Wang Anshi. As a result, when Wang Anshi went out, Su Dongpo saw a manuscript of a chrysanthemum poem on Wang Anshi's desk:
Last night, the west wind swept through the garden, blowing off yellow flowers and gold everywhere.
Su Dongpo is conceited by his knowledge. He thinks there is something wrong with Wang Anshi's two poems, because "yellow flower" is chrysanthemum, which is the most cold-resistant and durable, and the autumn wind can't blow it down. "It is better to blow the north wind than to hold incense on the branches and wait for death?" Zheng Sixiao, a poet later in the Song Dynasty, also said so, showing how popular the "common sense" of autumn wind blowing chrysanthemums is.
Wang Anshi is Su Dongpo's predecessor and leader. Su Dongpo's temperament is arrogant, so Su Dongpo rudely added two sentences: "Autumn flowers are not as good as spring flowers, saying that they sing carefully with poets."
Su Dongpo was so immodest that Wang Anshi demoted him to Yingyong Huangzhou. Su Dongpo lived in Huangzhou for nearly a year. One day after the gale, Su Dongpo found that chrysanthemums were falling and the ground was golden. Finally, he knew that his knowledge was indeed worse than Wang Anshi's.
Because of a small matter, Wang Anshi made things difficult for Su Dongpo to retaliate. It seems that it is not difficult for the prime minister to punt in his stomach. In fact, the story is a story after all, completely fabricated, but it is true that Wang Anshi attacked Su Dongpo. The real reason is not quarreling or competing for talents, but their different political views. The conflict between reformists and conservatives is absolutely inevitable.
Wang Anshi can't compete with Su Dongpo simply by fighting for talent. Wang Anshi's handwriting is not very good. When he was prime minister, the signatures on official documents were usually scrawled. Later, a confidant reminded him that the word "stone" you signed looked like the word "reverse". This is no small matter. Wang Anshi was scared out in a cold sweat.
Su Dongpo's poems are excellent, and his calligraphy is equally amazing. The more you read, the more shocked you are-
When talking about his calligraphy, Su Shi said: "The method of writing is superficial and narrow. The three are not perfect, but I have everything in my heart." When talking about his artistic creation of calligraphy, he said: "I can't write books with my heart, and I am very happy." He focused on "meaning" and sent his feelings to the book with "faithful hand".
Su Shi's calligraphy is relatively horizontal with a flat and slightly fat structure. This is also closely related to the way he holds the pen. Su Shi's brush is "lying on his side", that is, the brush lies on his side between the tiger's jaws, which is similar to the current pen holding posture, so his handwriting is inclined to the right and flat. His representative works include Dark Clouds in the Sky, Poems of Dongting Spring, Poems of Zhongshan and Song Dynasties, Poems of Cold Food, The Story of Drunken Pavilion, etc. Su Shi's calligraphy is highly respected by later generations. No one has a better say than Huang Tingjian, who said in "Valley Collection" that "those who are good at books in this dynasty should take (Su) first".