Chapter 4 Chapter Three Childhood and Adolescence

When Su Dongpo was eight to ten years old, his father went to Beijing to take the exam, and after failing the exam, he traveled around, as far as the present Jiangxi Province, where his mother taught him at home.One thing is recorded in the biography of Song Shi and the long epitaph written by his younger brother.His mother taught him one of the "Book of the Later Han Dynasty".Due to improper governance in the later Han Dynasty, the power fell into the hands of eunuchs; scholars all opposed neutral people's governance.Corruption, bribery, money-grabbing and indiscriminate arrest were prevalent at that time, and local officials were all subordinates and disciples of eunuchs.Loyal scholars have repeatedly risked their lives to remonstrate.Repeated waves of reform and protests have brought repeated trials.Scholars were tortured and killed by imperial edicts.

Among this group of upright literati was a young man named Fan Pang, whose biography was read by both mother and son. Little Su Dongpo looked up at his mother and said, "Mom, if I grow up to be Fan Pang, will you allow me?" His mother replied, "If you can be Fan Pang, can't I be Fan's mother?" He entered elementary school at the age of six.It was a rather large school with more than one hundred students, all of whom were taught by a Taoist priest.The bright mind stood out immediately, and Su Dongpo and another child among a large number of students were most praised by the teacher.This student, surnamed Chen (Chen Taichu), also passed the imperial examination later, but became a Taoist, pursuing "immortality".Chen planned to ascend to heaven in his later years and came to visit his friends.His old friend gave him food and money, and he went out to distribute the food and money to the poor. He meditated outside the door according to Taoist rules, and he wanted to starve to death.A few days later, he actually took his last breath.The friend asked the servant to carry the body.But just in time for the new year, the servants complained that they had to carry the dead body on such an auspicious day.After hearing this, the dead man said: "It doesn't matter, I will go by myself." He stood up and walked to the countryside, where he died in a more convenient place.This is the actual scene of many Taoist priests "ascending to heaven".

Su Dongpo had many other interests besides reading when he was a child.After school he often goes home to spy on the bird's nest.His mother strictly forbade the children and the maids to catch the birds. After a long time, the birds knew that they would not be disturbed here, and some of them made their nests on the low branches, where the children could see them.Su Dongpo specifically recorded that a tung sparrow stayed in their garden for four or five days. Dongpo's uncle was already an official, and occasionally officials would pass by the town to see them.So there will be a lot of fun at home, maids go barefoot to the garden to pick vegetables, kill chickens to prepare wine, and officials' visits leave a deep impression on him.

He often played with his cousins, and he and his brother occasionally visited the market and dug in the garden.One day they dug out a piece of stone with beautiful color and fine blue veins.There is a crisp sound under knocking; they are used to make inkstones, and the effect is very good.Inkstones must be made of stones with strong water permeability, which can absorb moisture and retain moisture; it has a lot to do with the art of calligraphy.A good inkstone has always been cherished by scholars, because it is the tool for most of his desk activities.His father gave him this inkstone, and he kept it until he was an adult; he also carved an inscription on it.This is a good omen for his rise to Wenlin.

According to records, he wrote many good sentences when he was ten years old.There are two lines that appear in "The Ode to the Mouse Mouse". "Ode to Rats" is a short article, describing how a small mouse fell into a bag, was thrown to the ground, and pretended to be dead to deceive the rat catcher.At this time, his teacher read to them a long poem describing the gathering of celebrities in the dynasty.He looked over the teacher's shoulder and began to ask questions about these famous people.They are all famous figures in Chinese history.Because Su Dongpo's childhood in China coincided with the wisest monarch of the Song Dynasty, he especially supported literature and art.The country is peaceful, and the Jin people, Liao people, and Xixia people who have been causing troubles in the north and northwest for many years are also in peace.In such a government, good people are in power, and many literary geniuses have emerged to embellish the literary talent of the court.Only then did he begin to hear the names of Ouyang Xiu, Fan Zhongyan and others, and he was deeply moved.Fortunately, this is the only extraordinary performance of his childhood.Although Su Tungpo has recorded many of his adult dreams and unfinished poems in his dreams, there are few casual words in them that modern biographers can use analysis, intuition and fantasy to make up the mechanism of his subconscious mind.Su Dongpo didn't mention diapers or constipation or anything like that.

He entered a secondary school at the age of eleven and was seriously preparing for the exam.In order to cope with official examinations, students must read classics, history books, poems and selected texts.Naturally, they have to memorize ancient Chinese prose and memorize them repeatedly in class. Students turn their backs to the teacher so as not to peek at the books spread out on the teacher's desk.People who are more diligent will memorize chapters of history books.It's not just content and materials that matter.Words and diction cannot be ignored, and a writer's vocabulary is derived from this.Quoting well-known idioms and anecdotes without citing the source often arouses a noble and self-centered pleasure in the knowledgeable reader.It is a kindred spirit language; the reader admires the writer for being able to write it, and also admires himself for being able to understand it.Idioms rely on hints and associations of ideas, which are often much more effective than direct statements without hints.

Endorsement is hard and demanding work.The traditional method is to let the student read the history books without punctuation, and try the punctuation to make sure that he fully understands the meaning.But the most diligent people copied down all the ancient texts and dynastic histories verbatim.Su Dongpo copied in this way when he was a student; think of the rules of Chinese prose and poetry, think of the frequent quotation of names, events and metaphors in historical masterpieces, this method has indeed profound benefits.By copying the entire book down verbatim, the reader begins to develop an understanding of the book that multiple readings cannot.This incident will be of great benefit to Su Dongpo in the future.When he wrote to the emperor or drafted imperial edicts for the emperor, he never used historical examples by mistake. Scholars at that time used historical examples, just like today's lawyers use "precedents".In addition, copying books can also practice calligraphy.

Scribing was necessary before the invention of printing, but commercially printed books had existed for more than a hundred years in Su Dongpo's time.Movable type printing was invented by businessman Bi Sheng.Special clay inscriptions were hardened and formed into different blocks, which were mounted on metal plates coated with turpentine.After the typeface is arranged, the turpentine is heated, and a piece of metal is pressed on the layout to make the surface smooth.The turpentine was reheated after printing; the type easily fell off the metal plate, ready to be washed and set for the next page.However, woodblock printing, in which two pages are printed on one block, is still very popular.

Su Dongpo and his younger brother Ziyou were accumulating a large amount of knowledge of literature and ancient books when his father failed the exam and returned.Public service examinations are subject to fixed standards and formats.Just like a doctoral dissertation, it must meet certain standards, put in quantitative effort, be good at memorizing facts, and have considerable wisdom.Being too smart and too innovative will become an obstacle to success in the exam, and will not help.Many outstanding writers—poets such as Qin Guan—have never been able to pass the test.Su Xun's weakness is probably poetry rhyme; poetry examination requires considerable wording skills and wit, but Su Xun is only interested in concepts.However, being an official is the only way out for scholars, and besides teaching, it is also the only occupation. His father must be very discouraged when he returns home.

Chinese people are used to reading aloud by their children, and the father lies on the bench to listen to their reading. It is said that it is one of the most pleasant and cheerful rhythms in the world.Father can correct the mistakes in pronunciation, and there are too many places where beginners can easily make mistakes.Ouyang Xiu and Su Dongpo themselves would lie down and listen to their son's reading aloud in the future. Now Su Xun is lying on the bench and listening to his son's melodious voice, staring at the ceiling, feeling like a hunter who has lost his last arrow, as if he is recasting a new arrow. Send the son out to shoot the moose.The children read the syllables of ancient Chinese fluently, and their eyes and voices convinced him that they would succeed, so he regained hope, and his frustrated self-esteem naturally healed.Maybe the two brothers surpassed their father in memorizing history and writing poetry.Later, a student of Su Dongpo said that Su Xun was more talented, but Su Dongpo was more knowledgeable.The father has not given up his ambition to be an official, but although he himself failed the exam, he expected his son to pass the exam.This is not to disparage his father, we all know that he taught his two sons to study the laws of the rise and fall of the times, tend to the simple style of writing, and pay serious attention to history and politics.

Fortunately, Su Dongpo's father always supported the simple style of writing and opposed the ornate style that was popular at the time; later, when Dongpo went to Beijing for the exam, Ouyang Xiu, the chief examiner of the Ministry of Rites, decided to reform the style of writing, and those whose works were vain and empty were not admitted.The vanity style is to "beautify" the article by continuously accumulating profound terms and ambiguous allusions.It is hard to find even a simple and natural sentence in this kind of article.They are afraid of getting things right, and of any sentence being plain and simple.Su Dongpo described this kind of poor work as being composed of sentence by sentence, regardless of the overall effect - just like the arms and neck of an old lady at the opening of an opera are full of jewels. The atmosphere of his home seemed to be suitable for the cultivation of young men with strong literary inclinations.The library is full of books of all kinds.The grandfather was a different person; because the second son worshiped the supervisor of construction affairs, the old man was also appointed as an official and served as a judge in Dali.This kind of official position is honorary, and its main function is to let the high officials mention that his father can be called "advisor" or "commodore", even if he has never been to the court or seen a ship in his life, it doesn't matter.It seems that being able to engrave such a title on the epitaph is the goal of all life-if a person cannot be born as a gentleman, at least he hopes to die as a gentleman.If he unfortunately dies too soon and has not yet obtained these honorary titles, he can also be granted posthumously.Especially in the Song Dynasty, even the titles of ordinary officials rarely matched their names.People who read the epitaph of the Su family may misunderstand it, thinking that his grandfather was a Dali judge and the prince's tutor, and his father was the prince's tutor, and those titles were bestowed by Su Ziyou when he was the servant of the family.In fact, neither of them had done these officials during their lifetime.Su Dongpo still has an uncle who is a high-ranking official, and two aunts married to official husbands.Both grandfather and maternal grandfather have official titles. We have already said that grandfather is a fictitious title and maternal grandfather is real. But at home, he grew up and studied with him, and the person closest to him in his life is his younger brother Ziyou.The friendship between the two brothers and the loyalty shown in the ups and downs were the most frequently sung themes in his life.They comfort each other in sorrow, help each other in disaster, often dream of each other, and often write poems and give each other gifts. Even in China, the friendship between these two brothers is quite rare.Ziyou has a stable temper, indifferent, and practical, and somehow his official position is always higher than that of his elder brother. Although they share the same political views and have experienced the same ups and downs throughout their political careers, Ziyou is less emotional and often gives his elder brother some advice.Maybe he's not that stubborn; maybe he's not as talented or famous as his elder brother, and his political opponents don't think he's that dangerous.During this period, Su Dongpo was not only his younger brother's classmate, but also his teacher.He said in a poem: "I know Ziyou little, but my talents are harmonious and clear. I am not only my younger brother, but also a virtuous friend." His younger brother wrote in Su Dongpo's epitaph: "I first joined the public, Lai To have knowledge. Caress me to be a brother, teach me to be a teacher." Having said that, let's talk about Sansu's many names first.According to ancient customs, Chinese literati have always had several names.In addition to his surname, he has a "name", which is specially signed at the end of letters or official documents.There is a "word" for friends to shout or write.Usually when writing a letter to a friend formally, use "zi" without adding a surname, and attach the honorific title of "Mr".In addition, many literati also use "hao" as the name of the library or study on various occasions-it is often engraved on the seal, and once it becomes famous, it becomes a household name.Others refer to him by the title of the anthology.A few well-known figures in the country were even named after their hometowns (Windwiki in China may be called "Indian Wiki", Roosevelt may be named "Hyde Park Roosevelt"), and many prominent officials have posthumous titles after their death. title of honor. Lao Su's name is Xun, his style name is Mingyun, and his poem name is Laoquan, which is the name of his ancestor's tomb in his hometown.The eldest son, Su Shi, was named Zizhan and named Dongpo.The last name comes from the poetic title "Dongpo Jushi", which he took when he was demoted to Huangzhou Dongpo.Later, it became his nickname and became a household name in China.In Chinese records, he is usually called "Dongpo" instead of "Su", and sometimes he is called "Mr. Dongpo".His complete works are sometimes given the title "Wen Zhonggong", which was awarded to him by the emperor 70 years after his death.Poetry critics occasionally call him "Su Meizhou" by the name of his hometown.His younger brother, Su Zhe, was named Ziyou; he retired in his later years and called himself "Yingbin Yilao".Therefore, in Chinese works, he is sometimes called "Su Yingbin" and sometimes "Su Luancheng". Luancheng is the name of his anthology, and it is also the place where the ancestors of the Su family lived. It is in the south of Beiping, near Zhengding County. Only then moved to Meizhou. Each person has a Chinese name, which is confusing to Western readers, so I always call my father Su Xun, my eldest son Su Dongpo, and my second son Su Ziyou, following the popular Chinese names.A scholar using so many names confuses students of Chinese history and wastes a lot of time.In Su Dongpo's time, there were at least eight people named "Meng De", which means that the mother of that person had a child in her dream before she became pregnant. When Dongpo was sixteen, an incident occurred in the family, which worsened the relationship between his father's family and his mother's natal family, and revealed his father's character.According to the custom in Chinese families, the father married Su Dongpo's sister to a cousin from the mother's uncle's family. We don't know the details, but we know that the bride was very unhappy in Cheng's family.Maybe she was abused by her husband's family.Anyway, she died soon, which made Su Xun very dissatisfied.The bride's father-in-law seems to be a shameless villain.Su Xun wrote a bitter poem, blaming himself for the death of his daughter.Then he did an unusual thing.He compiled a genealogy, carved it in stone, and erected a pavilion.To celebrate this occasion, he convened the entire Su clan, intending to read out the proclamation of his wife-in-law's family in public.After the clansmen poured wine and told their ancestors, Su Xun told the clansmen that "someone" in the village—referring to his brother-in-law—represented a powerful family, and he brought moral chaos to the village; Monopolized the family property; he doted on his concubine and overwhelmed his wife, indulging in carnal desires;They are all snobs, "only the rich are virtuous"; the beautiful chariots and horses confuse the eyes and ears of the poor neighbors, and the money and official position are enough to influence the court; and finally said that he "is a great thief in the state. I dare not To sue the villagers, but privately to abstain from the clansmen."His father had undoubtedly offended his wife's natal family, but he had long been prepared to sever all ties and taught his son not to associate with his brother-in-law.From then on, the Su Dongpo brothers and their brother-in-law Cheng Zhicai had no friendship for forty years, but they got along very well with other cousins ​​after their father died.The tone of the challenge and public denunciation of the wealthy family showed that his father had a character of hatred and hatred, and Dongpo later displayed these characteristics. Mother was not happy about it.She also grieves over the loss of her beloved daughter.In this family conflict, it is difficult to guess whether she is supporting the deceased daughter or her natal family.As we have said, his mother was well-educated, and his father was a senior official in the capital, and as far as we know, she may have objected to her natal family's snobbery, or at least her brother's loose style.She was devastated and weakened day by day. According to Chinese folk legends, Dongpo has a younger sister who is not beautiful but talented.She is also a poet, married Qin Shaoyou, a famous poet and a protégé of Dongpo.It is said that on her wedding night, the groom was not allowed to enter the room and asked him to match the pair she had given.Because the pair was difficult, the groom had no choice but to pace up and down in the yard, and finally Su Dongpo helped him out.There are also novels that describe two lovers exchanging strange poems, which can be read forward and backward to form a circle.In the story, Su Dongpo once said to his sister, "If you are a man, you must be more famous than me." Everyone is willing to believe these legends.Unfortunately, there is no historical basis.Qin Guan is often mentioned in the hundreds of letters and records of the Su Dongpo brothers, but there is no sign of marriage.In the dozen or so biographies written by scholars at that time, it was never mentioned that Su Dongpo had a younger sister.Moreover, Qin Guan didn't meet Dongpo until he was twenty-nine years old, and he was already married at that time. Even if Su Dongpo's younger sister really existed, she would have been forty years old by the time Qin Guan met Dongpo.Rumors are fabricated by later generations, and they are often connected with interesting talks after dinner.The existence of such popular rumors only shows that Su Tungpo attracted the fantasy of the Chinese people. However, Dongpo had a cousin who was his first love, and he was tender to her until his death.She is his cousin.After the grandfather's death, Dongpo's father came back from traveling tiredly, and his uncle's family also came back to attend the funeral, so the cousins ​​had the opportunity to meet and play.Su Dongpo said that she "cultivated filial piety and gentleness".Since they have the same surname, it is of course impossible to marry. If she is a cousin—that is to say, she has a different surname—everything will be different.Later, this cousin married Liu Zhongyuan, and Dongpo traveled around in the future, and once lived in her house in Jingjiang for three months.During this period, he wrote two poems, which would be difficult to explain without love poems.Writers and people who studied Su Dongpo's life during this period did not mention this special relationship, because no one wanted to mention it.However, when he was exiled in his later years, when he heard the news of his cousin's death, he wrote to her son, saying that his "heart is like a cut".When he returned from exile, he passed by her cemetery in Jingjiang. Although he was seriously ill, he reluctantly got up to worship the heroic spirits of their husband and wife.The next day my friend went to see him and found him lying on the bed with tears on his face.