In 1079 AD, Su Dongpo was arrested and imprisoned for the "Wutai Poetry Case", and the black prison of Wutai has since become Su Dongpo's spiritual purgatory. After being detained for more than 130 days, Su embarked on a journey to Huangzhou in the snowy sky.
In the 11th century, Huangzhou, the place that generously hosted Su Dongpo, was a desolate place. The connection between the desolate Huangzhou and the outside world is an old stagecoach road. Although Huangzhou is far away, after all, it gave Su Dongpo a chance to take a breather, so that he could slowly adapt to the darkness in front of him. Su Dongpo stumbled all the way to Huangzhou.
"The relegation of Huangzhou, the biggest blow to Su Shi. Because before this, he was smooth sailing, no such encounter. Relegated to Huangzhou, he thought his life was over."
Because there is nowhere to stay, the abbot of Dinghuiyuan lent Su Dongpo a dusty hut, and the shocked Su Dongpo stayed closed all day. Su Dongpo said in a letter to a friend: Since being relegated to Huangzhou, no one has written a letter to my friends and relatives; even if I wrote to them, I could not receive any reply.
Late at night when he woke up, in the bone-deep loneliness, Su Dongpo wrote a "Diviner's Tale": the lack of moon hanging sparse tung, the leakage breaks the first quiet. Who see the ghosts alone to and fro, drifting lonely shadow. I was surprised to see that no one was there to save me from my hatred. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to do that, but I'm going to be able to do it," he said.
? "He has a kind of emotion of thinking of no home, the feeling of homelessness."
? "Dark night, when he stood at the riverside looking at the gushing river, what was Mr. thinking about? What was he thinking about when he was looking at the starry sky under the begonia tree in that small courtyard of Ding Hui Yuan? He must have been pondering this question: How did I get into this place? What is the reason for this? He wanted to answer this question. So he started looking for this wisdom of the Taoists and the Buddhists."
Not far from Dinghuiyuan, there is an Anguo Temple. During the days when he lived in Dinghuiyuan, Su Dongpo could clearly hear the morning bells and evening drums coming from Anguo Temple. So, Su Dongpo went into the Anguo Temple. After that, every one or two days, Su Dongpo went to Anguo Temple to meditate. He had a profound view and reflection on his life.
? "In the face of adversity, he became more open, less anxious, less anxious to be sure to do important things in this life, became more calm, tried to absorb, rather than letting the environment devour him, because it is only with a complete self that one can finally face the whole world."
Little by little, Su Dongpo got rid of his inner confusion, but the difficulties of life pressed against him.
? "If he was placed in Huangzhou, he had an official position, but it was just a titular position, no salary and no income."
? "It was a very difficult time for him, there was very little money available to him during that time and he had to support his family."
By this time, Su Dongpo's family had come to join him in Huangzhou. In order to get by with his limited savings, Su Dongpo could only live within his means.
Wang Linxiang, deputy research librarian at the Chibi Management Office in Huanggang City, Hubei Province, said, "Take out four thousand five hundred dollars every month, divided into thirty strings, hung on the beams of the house, and used only one hundred and fifty dollars a day."
"When you get up in the morning, you use a drawing fork to give it to take a string down for today's spending for this day. Any money that is not used up is put inside a bamboo tube and saved.
? "It was painful for a very great official, a great scholar who was celebrated by both the emperor and the world, to fall into such a state. "
Fortunately, Su Dongpo had a friend named Ma Mengde. When Su Dongpo was relegated to Huangzhou with the body of a criminal, Ma Mengde unexpectedly came from a long way to be with Su Dongpo in the same sweet **** suffering.
Feng Xiaochuan, vice president of the Jiangsu Institute of Cultural Research, said: "From the Song Dynasty to the present, if there are thousands of fans of this Su Dongpo, this Ma Mengde is the first, the number one fan. "
? "Ma Mengde then went out to Xu Junyou and said, 'Su Shi's family is very difficult, see if you can give some land for him to plant.' Xu Junyou agreed cheerfully, and gave Su Shi fifty acres of land from an abandoned barracks in the city of Huangzhou to cultivate without compensation."
The land that Ma Mengde claimed from the government was an instant hit with Su Dongpo. It was an unnamed piece of high ground, and because it was located in the east of the city, Su Dongpo named it after "Dongpo".
Su Shi called this piece of land 'Dongpo'. This Dongpo is actually not his own invention, but came from Bai Juyi. When Bai Juyi was an official in Zhongzhou, Sichuan, he also had a piece of land at this east gate, where he planted flowers. Su Shi always admired Bai Juyi, so he named this piece of land 'Dongpo', and he himself was called Dongpo Jushi.
On May 6, 2015, the Huangmei Opera "Su Dongpo" is staged in a gymnasium in New Taipei City, Taiwan. The actors on the stage are all from the Huangmei Opera Academy in Hubei province.
? "The performance was a great success, with more than 3,000 seats filled to capacity. The applause was deafening because they said we have not seen such a Su Dongpo. He (Su Dongpo actor, this paragraph in the "he" refers to this person) in order to be able to let themselves live, to labor, to plow, he instead of their own do not care, happy, think very happy, and everyone together, this is nothing, because he has ideals, aspirations, that this will soon be over. The more he is so open-minded, the more he can impress the audience. "
1081 A.D., Su Dongpo began his career as a farmer, this wilderness covered with thorns and rubble, Su Dongpo to do the first thing is to burn the dead grass. Or burn up in the wasteland, the wasteland surprisingly revealed a dark well, that is a treat from heaven, the problem of irrigation is solved.
"Because that piece of land is not considered good land, good land is not your turn to plant, then planting barley on it is undoubtedly his last choice. People do not eat barley, brewing beer is used. But Su Shi planted this barley, barley has an advantage, the requirements of the land is not high, easier to grow."
"Looking at the farmer outside the farmland, think it is an idyllic view. But reclaiming it yourself, being a farmer knows that actually doing something in the farmland is hard work."
Su Dongpo bought a cow, and hoes, sickles and other farming tools. It was a farmer's pen, ink, and paper, only this time it wasn't for aesthetic purposes, it was for survival.
The real local farmer had great goodwill toward Su Dongpo. As Su Dongpo labored in his farmland, a farmer ran to him and told him that if he wanted a good harvest, he would have to let the cows and sheep nibble on the wheat seedlings.
"If the wheat seedlings grow too well, pull too much fertility, the next year that will not grow well. This year, we should let the cattle eat, cattle trampled, the seedlings pressed down. Su Shi really did just what the old farmer said."
This is the most moving moment in the field, Su Dongpo's family was busy harvesting wheat. On this once rubble-strewn wilderness, he ushered in the first season of golden wheat.
"'Su Dongpo' this three words, a thousand years to bring people a great moving from the beginning in Huangzhou. Therefore, Huangzhou can be called the second hometown of Su Dongpo."
In Japan, Osaka Municipal Museum of Art, the collection of this Su Dongpo's one of the real "Li Bai Xian Poetry Scroll", is said to be Su Dongpo imitation Li Bai poetry style made
This work and the collection of the National Palace of Taipei, "Huangzhou Cold Food Poster" and is listed as a very important two pieces of calligraphy of Su Dongpo. Like Li Bai, Su Dongpo was also known as the "Po Xian". The difference is that Su Dongpo's pursuit is not to go away, floating into immortality, but with the warmth of the world to relieve the bitterness of the heart.
" We say that he (Su Dongpo) with a strong earthly color, he is not this kind of people who do not eat earthly fire. Whenever he went to a place, he would illuminate his surroundings with his inner spirituality and he would go on discovering fun and life. "
Sometimes, Su Dongpo simply ran to the fields, the waterfront, the mountains, the marketplace, and chased after farmers, fishermen, woodcutters, and traders to talk and laugh.
"Su Shi sat with them and chatted blindly, and he said everyone tell stories. Where are these peasant class people so much fun? Can not tell, Su Shi said: 'Then the lake made up a nonsense can also.' No, he said, 'Then tell a ghost story, right?' Still nothing, then Su Shi said, 'OK, since you can't tell it, then I'll tell you one.' He's just trying hard to create an atmosphere to be able to get a little bit more relaxed."
In ancient China, the literati were known for "laughing and joking with the great scholars, no white men", but Su Dongpo described himself as "accompanied by the Jade Emperor, and accompanied by the beggar in the courtyard of the lowly field". Meaning that he can accompany the emperor, ordinary civilians, and even beggars, he did not see the foreign, but also equal interaction. In his eyes, there is no one in the world is not a good person, that is truly a great love for people.
In the era of Su Dongpo's life, the government banned the private slaughter of cattle, strictly prohibited after midnight 12:00 into the city; Su Dongpo is not bound by the rules of etiquette and law, and Huangzhou's friends have repeatedly violated the ban.
"Su Shi ran to the outskirts of the city at night and drank at his Dongpo. Drink to half of the time, there is no food, there is a young man their family that cow is sick, go back to this cow slaughtered, and then grilled meat to eat, drunk, and then the city gates are closed. Can not go back how to do it? Go over the wall ------ and climb the wall back in the middle of the night. Su Shi would not do such a thing if he was in Kaifeng. But in Huangzhou, he just turned himself into a peasant and made many small mistakes. These are his efforts to integrate himself into the life of the locals, the only way to really save himself, rather than cutting himself off from these common people."
When Su Dongpo was relegated to Huangzhou, his old friend Chen Qian lived in seclusion here.
"Chen Qian is the son of Chen Gongbi, and Su Shi couldn't get along with his dad, but Chen Qian was very much in tune with his temperament."
During the five years of his deportation to Huangzhou, Su Dongpo was a frequent guest at Chen Shi's home.
"When he went to Chen Qian's house, the two of them were just talking about Buddhism, 'talking about emptiness and not sleeping at night', and they didn't sleep for a night. Suddenly his (Chen慥) wife broke off and said, 'Still not sleeping!'"
"Usually, the manly man, talk about Xuanxuan and Buddha, spirited, was scared by this 'Hedong lion roar' even (Chen慥's) crutches fell, and then full of bewilderment, write him funny, in fact, it is a flirtation between good friends. It's a very famous story, and we now have an idiom called 'The Lion's Roar in the East of the River' came from that."
"I often tell my friends, if I want to go on a trip, I don't want to be with Li Bai, who is irresponsible and has no sense of reality; and with Du Fu, he's too bitter, I'm afraid he's too serious. But Su Dongpo is just fine, I can be a good friend with him. He is really a very interesting person."
In the Anguo Temple in Huangzhou, chef Zhang Bin is teaching the temple's master to make a classic snack: dongpo cake.
"This cake is made to think out like a big net, and it will have a shape like a flower when fried. Today, the secret of Dongpo Cake's deliciousness lies in the meticulous production process; nine hundred years ago, it was born from a thoughtless act."
Su Shi often played chess with the monk Jilian, and once again, after playing chess until very late, Su Shi called his stomach hungry, and asked the monk Jilian, "Grandmaster, do you have anything to eat? Give me something to eat, I am hungry." The master called a small monk over, that small monk ran to the front of the cabinet, open the door to see, there is only a bowl of leftover noodles, the water is dry, the small monk put that dry leftover noodles into the sesame oil on the stove in the roast, the moon is heavy, responsible for the left side of the small monk can not help but doze off. When the hungry Su Dongpo couldn't help but to the kitchen to find out, the inside of the dry noodles have been fried into a paste. Wake up the little monk anxious, Su Dongpo but interested in tasting, he ate, oops, this thing is quite good, eat in the mouth, the texture is very good, crispy and crunchy. After eating walked to pick up a pastry workshop, and the boss said, the boss then follow this method to do. Because this cake is Su Dongpo accounted for things, named "Dongpo cake".
The invention of Dongpo cake greatly comforted Su Shi at the time, in the midst of adversity, but always able to live a life of poverty and fun. He was not the first, nor the last, but one of the most colorful.