Chapter 29 Chapter 28: The Final Station

In the second year of Yuanfu (1100), Zhezong died at the age of twenty-four, leaving behind a bunch of lifeless, depressed and tired scholars.His father, Shenzong, had fourteen sons, and he had only one child born to "Liu Meiren", who died young.His younger brother Huizong succeeded him.Huizong would leave behind twenty-one sons, a few fine paintings, and a chaotic state.Huizong continued the tyranny of his elder brother.He employs the same people and follows the same policies.Wang Anshi's state capitalism was linked with Shenzong's government, and was dubbed the "ancestor's instruction".In terms of enriching the treasury and dealing with the northern barbarians, Huizong followed Wang Anshi's example.Maybe the emperor had a hard time resisting a policy that concentrated wealth in the government and the royal family.But every amassing emperor has to pay a price.Huizong later lost his throne, the capital fell, and he was captured by the Jin people and died.Although Huizong painted many beautiful flowers, birds and mandarin ducks, the ruler who had the heart to oppress the people and built a paradise by himself deserved to lose his throne.

By the time Huizong came to the throne, the lifeblood of the country had corroded and weakened.A gentleman with individuality, talent, and a sense of justice is a precious product of a civilized society, and it takes a long time to grow and thrive.The era of Sima Guang, Ouyang Xiu, Fan Chunren, and Lu Gong has passed, and people of that generation have been imprisoned, exiled, died of illness, died of old age, or been killed.The atmosphere of independent criticism and courageous thinking and writing has become rigid, and the entire political life has been polluted.Su Dongpo's master and apprentice suffered because of their speech, and they were unwilling to enter the political arena again, not to mention that the political atmosphere was not good for them.When the emperor gave an order, it was impossible for a group of upright, knowledgeable, and fearless scholars to appear in court immediately.It is even less likely that a large number of politicians who have tasted power for eight years will give up their positions.

However, Su Dongpo had good luck for the time being.In the first six months of the third year of Yuanfu (1100), the new empress dowager—Empress Shenzong—regented.In April of that year, all ministers Yuanyou were pardoned.In July, she returned power to her son, but she kept protecting Yuanyou party members until her death in January of the following year.When she was alive, the exiled scholars were pardoned and promoted, or at least they could live anywhere.Obviously, like her mother-in-law, the empress Shenzong is good at feeling the interests of the country. They have pure female instincts and can judge good people and bad people.Critics and historians are obsessed with beautiful words and abstract features, and are good at studying profound issues and policies of a certain period, but they forget that we can't escape the two adjectives "good" and "bad" when we look at people.Summing up a person's deeds and personality, "good guy" is the highest compliment.The empress dowagers served by Su Dongpo never seemed to care about the problems and policies of the government leaders.Of course Zhang Dun is a strong and decisive person.Huiqing is an orator.Cai Jing is full of vigor and shrewdness.But the Queen Mother always classified them as bad people.

In May, Wu Gugu, who was free and easy, reappeared and brought news to Su Dongpo that he had been pardoned and assigned to a certain place on the opposite bank of the Leizhou Peninsula.A letter from Qin Guan soon confirmed the news. Qin Guan is currently relegated to Leizhou and has just received an amnesty order. From then on, Su Dongpo drifted east and west again.He crossed the sea to Leizhou, and within a month of his arrival, he received an order to move to Yongzhou (now Lingling, Hunan).Within four months, he repeatedly changed routes to Yongzhou, halfway there, and finally received permission to settle anywhere.If they had been allowed to settle freely from the start, the Su brothers could easily meet up in Guangzhou and head north together.Ziyou was sent to an area by Dongting Lake in Hunan.At that time, Su Dongpo was transferred to the opposite bank of Hainan Island, far away from Guangzhou.Ziyou hurriedly took his family northward. They originally lived in Huizhou's apartment on Dongpo.He walked near Hankou, was promoted in official position, and was allowed to move freely; so he went back to Yingchang, where there was a farm, and the other children lived there.

Unlike Ziyou, Dongpo took a lot of time to leave Hainan Island.He originally wanted to wait for the big ship from Fujian, but couldn't wait, so he followed Wu Fufu, Su Guo and his pet dog (Wuzui) across the sea, and the group went to Leizhou to find Qin Guan.Wu Guguo disappeared again.Su Dongpo and Wu Guguo traveled all over China throughout their lives. The difference is that Su Dongpo was driven around by orders from others, while Wu Guguo wandered voluntarily.Looking back on the past, Su Dongpo seems to wish he could exchange opportunities with his friends.That must be much happier and freer.

We don't need to go into detail about his return to the north.He was entertained and welcomed everywhere, and this time it can be said that he returned in triumph.Friends and people who admired him surrounded him everywhere, accompanied him to see mountains and temples, and asked him to write and inscribe poems.When he received the order to emigrate to Hunan, he followed his son from Lianzhou to Wuzhou and asked other children to pick him up.When I got there, I found that my children and grandchildren hadn't come yet, and the He River was shallow, so it was difficult to go directly north to Hunan.He decided to take a detour, return to Guangzhou first, and then cross the water ridge in the north to go from Jiangxi to Hunan.The journey will take half a year, but luckily he doesn't have to go the whole way.

In October, he arrived in Guangzhou to reunite with his descendants and family members.The second son, Su Xi, also came from the north to see his father.Su Dongpo wrote that he seemed to wake up from a dream. He was warmly received in Guangzhou.In the second year after he arrived in Hainan Island, it was rumored that he died."I thought you were dead," one friend joked at the dinner. Su Dongpo said: "That's right, I died, and I met Zhang Dun on the way to the underworld, so I decided to turn back." There are many children and young women in the big family, so they took a boat to Nanxiong.Not far away, Wu Gugu and a group of monks caught up with them and accompanied Lao Su for a few days.Then Wu Fugu suddenly fell ill and passed away, everything was that simple.Su Dongpo asked him what he had to say on his deathbed.Wu Fugu smiled and closed his eyes.

Just about to leave Guangdong, he received news that he could settle freely.In the first month of the first year of Huizong's founding of Yasukuni (1101), Su Dongpo crossed Dageng Ridge and stayed in Gan County in the north of the mountain for 70 days.He waited for the boat to come with a large family, but several children fell ill, and six servants died of the plague.He was not busy writing inscriptions there, or he was treating the people in the city and administering medicine.Several friends were often with him.They plan to travel together.He was known everywhere, and along the way, many people sent silk and paper for him to write poems.It wasn't until it was getting late and he was about to rush home that he asked to rewrite a few big characters.Everyone who asked for words returned with satisfaction.

He arrived in Nanking on May 1.He once wrote to his good friend Qian Shixiong, asking him to find a house in Changzhou.Judging from the letters he wrote during those six months, he still hasn't made up his mind.At this time, Ziyou had already returned to the old farm in Yingchang, and wrote to ask him to live with him.Su Dongpo didn't know what to do.He knows that Changzhou is located in the lake area, with beautiful scenery, and he has land in the countryside, which can support him.But he also wants to live with his younger brother, but the family has a large population and Ziyou's living space is limited. He doesn't know whether to bring "three hundred index fingers"—that is, thirty family members, descendants and servants—to disturb his younger brother.After receiving his brother's letter, he finally decided to be his neighbor.He crossed the river in Nanjing, asked Su Mai and Su Ni to go to Changzhou to clean up the housework, and then meet him in Yizhen.In fact, he even wrote to apply for four official ships, so that the family could go in the direction of the capital.

However, the Queen Mother passed away in January of that year, and it was already May at this time. Judging from all signs, the political atmosphere will return to its original state.Su Dongpo was afraid of trouble again, so he didn't want to live too close to the capital.He wrote a letter to Ziyou, hating God for not letting them get together, "I am like heaven".At this point, he will naturally settle in Changzhou, and when his family settles down, he will ask Su Mai to take up a new job, while he and his two young sons will live on a farm in the Lake District. Su Dongpo waited for his son to pick him up in Yizhen, and stayed overnight on the boat.Summer came suddenly, and it was extremely hot that year. Unexpectedly, when he came back from the tropics, he found that the middle-earth was unbearably hot.The sun shines on the water on the shore, and steam rises from the river.He felt overwhelmed.On June 3rd he probably contracted amoebic dysentery.He thought he was probably "too cold."Maybe he drank the river water and it is unknown.The second man was weak and tired and hadn't touched a drop of water.He is also a good doctor himself, so he asked people to buy astragalus to eat, and he felt much better.Chinese medicine believes that astragalus is a tonic, which can nourish the blood and nourish the internal organs.This is a good supplement for debilitating diseases, not suitable for treating a certain disease.It is necessary for modern experts to study this herb. Many Chinese people drink Astragalus soup every day, and the effect is really good.

He has trouble with his digestive system and can't sleep at night.The great painter Mi Fu visited him several times, and when he was in better health, the two of them even went to the East Garden together.The course of his illness can be seen in the nine letters he wrote to Mi Fu in Yizhen.Once he wrote: "I didn't sleep all night last night, sitting upright and full of mosquitoes. I don't know what the weather is like tonight." Mi Fu sent a medicine "Maimendong Decoction".Su Dongpo always regarded Mi Fu as his younger generation, and Mi Fu respected him very much.Now he has read a descriptive poem by Mi Fu, predicting that he will become famous in the future, but regrets that he has not learned more about him in the past 20 years.Sometimes Su Dongpo recovered slightly from his illness, and sometimes he was tired and exhausted.His life was not destroyed by the emperor or Zhang Dun, but by amoeba.The hot and humid atmosphere on the river bank was really unbearable, so he ordered the boat to be moved to a shady place. He bid farewell to Mi Fu on June 11, and crossed the Yangtze River to Jingjiang on the 12th.He is especially well known in the district.Going back there is like coming home.The news of the great poet's return from overseas has already spread.Thousands of people stood on the banks of the Jingjiang River to catch a glimpse of the celebrities.Everyone said he would be called back. His cousin's cemetery is in Jingjiang, and her son Liu Hong is also there.On June 12th, he was ill and took his three sons and nephew to pay homage to the spirits of his cousin and his wife.He once again wrote two eulogies to mourn the dead.Maybe one is for the husband and one for the wife, but the content is not very obvious. The first article "Worship of Liu Zhongyuan" first mentions the wife, and then says, "I am Zhongyuan, a filial friend and respectful."The second sacrificial text is more emotional: The next day several visitors found him lying face to face, sobbing, unable to get up to meet them.The person who came was the son of the old Prime Minister Su Song. They thought Su Dongpo was crying for the news of their father's death.Su Song was eighty-two years old.Although the two have the same surname, they are from different villages.Su Dongpo had known him for thirty or forty years, but it is hard to believe that he would be so sad to hear the news of his old friend's death.Moreover, when Su Dongpo heard the news of the obituary the first day, he did not go to the tomb to worship in person, but only sent his eldest son Su Mai as a representative.I believe the source of sorrow can be read from the sacrificial text just now. Zhang Dun's son Zhang Yuan was one of many scholars in the city who wanted to see Su Dongpo but could not see him.Su Dongpo was seriously ill and turned away many visitors.Zhang Dun was demoted to Leizhou Peninsula a year ago, and his son was going to visit him.When Su Dongpo was the chief examiner, he once selected Zhang Yuan as the first, and Zhang Yuan was also counted as his disciple according to the custom.That was nine years ago.Zhang Yuan knew that his father had persecuted the Su brothers, and he also heard that they would reset at any time.So he wrote a 700-character long letter to Su Dongpo.This letter is difficult to write.He listed many reasons for not visiting, and confessed that he was hesitant because of his father.He hinted slightly that if Su Dongpo returned to the emperor, his words could decide the fate of others.Zhang Yuan was afraid that Su Dongpo would repay his father's persecution.He hoped to talk to Su Dongpo, or ask him to write back to express his attitude. If Zhang Yuan thought that Su Dongpo wanted to take revenge, he was really wrong.Su Dongpo heard the news of Zhang Dun's exile on his way back north.There is a Mr. Huang Shi (Huang Shishi) who is related to the Su family and the Zhang family.He is Zhang Dun's son-in-law and the father-in-law of Ziyou's third son.When Su Dongpo heard the news of Zhang Dun's demolition, he wrote to Huang Shi, saying: "Zihou (Zhang Dun) got Lei (zhou), and he was amazed when he heard it. Although Haikang is far away, there is no miasma. My younger brother lives here. One year, very stable. I hope this will help Mrs. Tai." His reply to Zhang Yuan is as follows: "Francis the Saint of Assisi," born in that century, must have agreed with him.This letter from Su Dongpo, the letter he wrote to Zhu Shouchang against infanticide, and the statement in the seventh year of Yuanyou (1092) requesting forgiveness of the debts of the poor can be said to be the three major documents of his humanitarian thoughts. On June 15th, he traveled up the canal from Jingjiang to his residence in Changzhou.The news of his arrival was a sensation everywhere, and crowds of people gathered on the banks of the canal to welcome him warmly along the way.He was not physically strong, and sat on the boat wearing a coat and hat.Because of the heat, both arms were exposed.He turned to the people in the boat and said, "They will look at me too." The journey was not long, and he soon arrived in Changzhou, where he lived in a house near the east gate, which was rented by his friend Qian Shixiong for him.He first wrote to the emperor, requesting to withdraw from politics completely.Officials of the Song Dynasty were often appointed as abbots of temples and retired in a semi-retired state.Su Dongpo was also appointed as the administrator of temple property in a certain place in his hometown.At that time, there was a superstition that if a senior official was seriously ill and resigned from the official position, he would be able to heal his illness and prolong his life.In the eyes of God, politics and plundering people are almost synonymous. This is a very reasonable assumption. Resigning from office is tantamount to promising to start a new life.Su Dongpo said that he had heard people talking about this therapy and was determined to give it a try. When he arrived in Changzhou, his condition did not improve.Always had a poor appetite and spent most of the month or so in bed.He had a premonition that the end was coming.Apart from his family, his good friend Qian Shixiong came to see him almost every other day.When he was relegated to the south, Qian Shixiong continued to write letters and deliver medicines, and his friendship never changed.When Su Dongpo's condition improved slightly, he would ask Su Guo to write to invite Qian Shixiong to chat.One day Qian Shixiong came and found him lying on the bed, unable to sit up. "I'm very glad to come back from the south alive," Su Dongpo said. "The most uncomfortable thing is that I didn't see Ziyou on the way home. I haven't seen him since the Leizhou coast." After a while, he added, "I finished "The Analects of Confucius", "Shu Zhuan" and "Yi Zhuan" overseas. I entrust you to keep them safe, keep them well, and don't show them to others. They will definitely be greatly appreciated in thirty years. " He wanted to open the box, but couldn't find the key. Qian Shixiong comforted him and said that he would recover and he didn't need to rush to explain these things.For four weeks Qian Shixiong often came to see him.Su Dongpo's first and ultimate pleasure was writing.He showed Qian Shixiong the poems and essays he wrote in the south, his eyes sparkled, and he seemed to have forgotten everything.Sometimes he can also write short briefs and postscripts, including an ode to osmanthus wine. He knew that his friends would cherish it carefully, so he gave this article to Qian Shixiong. On July 15, his condition deteriorated extremely.I had a high fever that night, my gums were bleeding the next day, and my whole body was weak.He analyzed his symptoms and believed that his illness was caused by "heat poison", which is the common name for infectious diseases.He believed that he could not cure the disease, he could only let the source of the disease die by itself; it was useless to prescribe medicine.He didn't eat anything, he only took ginseng, Ophiopogon japonicus and Fu Ling, boiled it into thick soup, and drank a little when he was thirsty.He wrote to Qian Shixiong and said: "Zhuang Sheng has heard that he is governing the world, but he has never heard of governing the world. If it does not heal, it will be the sky. It is not my fault." Qian Shixiong gave him several expensive medicines that were said to have miraculous effects. , but Su Dongpo refused to eat. On July 18th, Su Dongpo called his three sons to him and said, "I have never done anything bad in my life, and I will not go to hell." From the Songshan Mountain near the residence.A few days later, his condition seemed to be improving. He asked his two younger sons to help him get up and walk a few steps, but he couldn't even sit on the bed for a long time. Hopes of recovery on July 25 were completely dead.Abbot Wei Lin, an old friend who was in Hangzhou back then, came to visit and stayed by his side all the time.Although Su Dongpo couldn't sit up, he liked that Elder Wei Lin stayed in the room so that he could talk at any time.On the twenty-sixth he wrote his last poem.The elders have been talking with him about life in this world and the next life, and suggested that he recite Buddhist scriptures.Su Dongpo smiled.He had read the lives of many Buddhist monks and knew that they all died in the end. "As for Kumarajiva, he is still worthy of death, right?" Kumarajiva was an eminent Indian monk who came to China in the fourth century AD.He single-handedly translated three hundred volumes of Buddhist scriptures into Chinese, and is generally recognized as the first Buddhist monk to lay the foundations of the Mahayana, which is popular in both China and Japan.Before he died, Kumarajiva asked his fellow monks and friends from India to recite Sanskrit scriptures for him.However, Kumarajiva's condition deteriorated and he died soon after.Su Dongpo read his story from "Hou Qin Shu", and still remembers it. On July 28th he rapidly weakened and his breathing became shorter and shorter.According to the custom, the family put a piece of cotton on the tip of his nose to detect his breath.The whole family is inside.The elder leaned into his ear and said, "Now think about the afterlife!" Su Dongpo whispered slowly: "Western Heaven may exist, but it's useless to try to get there." Qian Shixiong stood beside him and said to him, "Especially at this time, you must try it." Su Dongpo's last words were "Try It's not right."That is his Taoist philosophy, liberation lies in natural and unconscious good deeds. Su Mai went up to him and asked him what his order was. Su Dongpo left the world without saying a word, at the age of sixty-four.Two weeks ago, he wrote to Elder Wei Lin: "You can't die for ten thousand miles in the south of the Lingnan, but you have to worry about returning home in the fields. Isn't it fate? But life and death are so delicate, there is no way." By worldly standards, Su Dongpo's life was quite rough and unfortunate.Once a disciple of Confucius asked about two ancient sages who starved to death for their beliefs.A disciple asked Confucius if Boyi Shuqi had any regrets before his death.Confucius said: "They seek benevolence and get benevolence, why should they regret it?" Su Dongpo's "magnificence" in this life has been exhausted.Human life is nothing but the life of the spirit, and the spirit is the power to control human deeds and personality, which is inherent and can only be expressed by life and circumstances and circumstances.Just like Su Dongpo’s description: “The awe-inspiring spirit does not stand by form, does not rely on force, does not wait for life to survive, and does not die with life. Therefore, it is stars in the sky, rivers and mountains in the earth, ghosts and gods in the dark, and human beings in the bright. .It’s normal, there’s nothing wrong with it.” Reading the life of Su Tungpo, we are tracing the temporary manifestation of human mind and spirit on the earth.Su Dongpo is dead, his name is just a memory, but he left us the joy of his soul and the joy of his mind, which are indelible treasures. (Finish)