This article is published in the "Bashu Historical Chronicles" No. 3, 2023.
Interpretation of the three Soviet literary and artistic creations (6).
Zhai Xiaonan. Su Zhe: Compared to my father and brother, we are a family of our own
Su Zhe's life and scholarship were deeply influenced by his father and brother, and he was known for his prose, and was good at political and historical theory. His poems try to follow Su Shi's footsteps, and his style is simple and unpretentious, and his early poems such as "Night Park Niukou" show his concern for the people's suffering. Su Zhe is also good at calligraphy, and his calligraphy is chic and free, neat and orderly. It can be said that Su Zhe has made good achievements in many artistic categories, especially his prose achievements, which can be compared to his brother Su Shi. Su Zhe entered the peak period of poetry creation in his later years, and at the same time, he further enriched the subject matter of poetry and opened up a new realm of poetry style. After retiring to Yingchuan, Su Zhe learned more about the life of peasants, and wrote poems such as "Autumn Crops" that reflected real life more profoundly, and works such as "Nansai Bamboo" that expressed his personal life feelings, showing the characteristics of leisure and long-term taste.
In addition to poems, Su Zhe also wrote 20 volumes of "Collected Poems", 12 volumes of "Spring and Autumn Collection of Explanations", 60 volumes of "Ancient History", 10 volumes of "Longchuan Brief Chronicles", 8 volumes of "Longchuan Farewells", 2 volumes of "Laozi Interpretation", etc., plus "Mencius Explanation", "Analects of the Analects", "Treatise on the Past Dynasties", etc., involving classics, historiography, Zhuzi and other studies, it can be seen that Su Zhe's academic achievements are richer than his brother Su Shi.
An artistic achievement that is not overshadowed by the light of the elder brother
Su Zhe once said to himself: "The world does not lie to me, knowing that I am not as good as my brother." The chapters are scattered in the world, and the fallen ground is Qiongying. Awe-inspiring from one family, how can it fight with the rest of the people. He admits that his literary achievements are not as good as his brother's, which is not pretending to be modest or arrogant, but Su Zhe also clearly recognizes the uniqueness of his writings, so he can "be awe-inspiring at his own family".
Objectively speaking, as an all-round genius, Su Shi's literary and artistic achievements are indeed higher than Su Zhe's, but we cannot simply judge the merits of the works of the two. The dragon gave birth to nine sons, each with their own differences, and the two brothers created different styles of literary works because of their different character endowments. Su Shi's works are like rivers and seas, rushing and turbulent; Su Zhe's poems are like deep mountains and valleys, thick and introverted.
The literary achievements of the two Sus, like their respective lives, are harmonious and different, but they are full of wonderful.
The poetry style of "quiet and flavorful" and "dry and creamy".
Many people think that Su Zhe's literary achievements are inferior to his brother Su Shi, but Su Shi himself said that "Zi You's poetry is far more than me" ("Remembering Zi You's Poems"), and said, "Zi You's literary achievements are better than servants, and the world doesn't know it, but he thinks it's inferior." He is a person who does not want to be known, and his text is like his person, so Wang Yang is indifferent, and there is a voice of singing and sighing; And its showmanship is indispensable. (Answer to Zhang Wenqian).
According to the records of Zhou Bida in the Southern Song Dynasty, he once asked Lu You to teach poetry, and Lu You persuaded him to "Oh Su Huangmen Poems" ("Basu Ziyou and Liu Gong's Father Province Shows Sitting Guest Poems"), that is, to learn Su Zhe's poems. Su Zhe's poetry is natural and simple, fresh and elegant, and this style is consistent with the realm of Su Shi's admiration of "dry and creamy, like light but beautiful" ("Commenting on Han Liu's Poems").
Concise, straightforward, neutral and peaceful prose style
Compared with poetry, Su Zhe's literary achievements are mainly reflected in prose. Su Zhe's composition does not pursue unconventionality, but focuses on stability, he once said: "Zizhan's Wenqi is a text but a stable ear." (Luan Cheng's last words).
It is this kind of neutral and peaceful style that makes Su Zhe's prose stand on its own, and his essays are rigorous and orderly in structure, fair and equitable in concept, concise and fluent, simple and elegant in language, and clear and thorough in reasoning. For example, in the second year of the reign of Emperor Xining of the Song Dynasty (1069), he boldly made suggestions to the imperial court, vigorously stated the disadvantages of "three redundancies", and proposed practical solutions; In the ninth year of the reign of Emperor Xining of the Song Dynasty (1076), when he was the secretary of Qizhou, he published the "Book of Current Affairs from Qizhou", listing the harm caused by the new laws of Qingmiao, Exemption from Labor, Baojia, and Shiyi implemented by Wang Anshi.
Therefore, Mao Kun's "Su Wending Gongwen Banknote Citation" cloud: "Su Wending's official (rut) text, its sharp thinking is not as good as his father, and his heroic spirit is not as good as his brother, but he is indifferent, easy and sparse, the big one has ten thousand words, and the small one has more than a thousand words......Since the Western Han Dynasty, there has been no tune. Mao Kun comprehensively summarized the achievements of Su Zhe's prose and affirmed Su Zhe's position in the history of prose.
Appreciation of masterpieces
Huangzhou Kuaizai Pavilion
The river goes out of Xiling, and it has to be flat. Its flow is unrestrained and unbridled, with Hunan and Yuan in the south, and Han and Han in the north. It's gaining momentum. As for the red cliffs, the waves are soaking and irrigating, similar to the sea. Qinghe Zhang Jun dreamed, living in Qi'an, that is, the southwest of his house is the pavilion, in order to watch the victory of the river, and the Yu brothers said "fast".
What you see from the pavilion, a hundred miles from north to south, and a house from east to west. The waves are turbulent, and the wind and clouds open and close. In the daytime, the boat haunts in front of it, and at night, the fish and dragon roar under it, changing suddenly, shocking, and not to be seen for a long time. Today is on top of a few seats, and the eyes are sufficient. Looking at the mountains of Wuchang in the west, the hills are undulating, the grass and trees are in the ranks, the smoke disappears and the sunrise, and the fisherman's house can be indexed. That's why it's "fast". As for the shore of Changzhou, the ruins of the ancient city, Cao Mengde and Sun Zhongmou, Zhou Yu and Lu Xun, and the ruins of its flowing wind are enough to be called fast and secular.
In the past, the king of Chuxiang from Song Yu and Jingcha was in the palace of Lantai, and there was a wind that came suddenly, and the king deserved it, saying: "Hurry, this wind!" Who is the widow and the commoner? Song Yu said: "This is the majestic and powerful ears of the king, and everyone can share it!" "The words of jade are covered with irony. There is no difference between male and female, and people have changes that they do not meet. The reason why the king of Chu is happy, and the reason why the people are worried, is that the people have changed, and what is the wind? If a scholar is born in the world, and he is not satisfied in it, what will he do instead of being sick? To make it calm, not to hurt the sex, how can it be comfortable rather than fast? Today, Zhang Jun does not take the trouble of stealing the rest of the accounting, but puts himself between the mountains and rivers, among which there should be those who are outstanding. The Penghu urn is not unpleasant, and the clear stream of the Yangtze River, the white clouds of the West Mountain, the victory of the poor ears and eyes is comfortable! Otherwise, even the mountains and ravines, the long forests and ancient trees, vibrating with the breeze, shining with the bright moon, this is the reason why the people are sad and haggard and can not win, and it is fast to see it? On the first day of November in the sixth year of Yuanfeng, Zhao Jun Su Zhe Ji.
In the third year of Yuanfeng of Song Shenzong (1080), Su Shi was demoted to Huangzhou because of the "Wutai Poetry Case". Su Zhe wrote to Emperor Shenzong to rescue his brother, so he was convicted and demoted to the prison of Yunzhou salt and liquor tax. The two brothers had a deep brotherly relationship, and they often exchanged letters and sang poems during their respective residences. In the sixth year of Yuanfeng (1083), Zhang Huaimin, who also lived in Huangzhou with Su Shi (the word Mengde, also the word 偓佺), built a pavilion in the southwest of the residence in order to overlook the river, Su Shi named it "Kuaizai Pavilion", for which he also wrote a song "Water Tune Song Tou Huangzhou Kuaizai Pavilion Gift Zhang Kuaiya" to commemorate. On the first day of November in the sixth year of Yuanfeng (1083), after Su Zhe read his brother's lyrics, he immediately wrote a "Huangzhou Kuaizai Pavilion Record" to echo.
The first paragraph of the article explains the magnificent scene of the Yangtze River near Huangzhou and the cause of the construction of the "Kuai Zai Pavilion" in just over 70 words. Looking around in the pavilion, "a hundred miles from north to south, east and west" are in full view, the river is turbulent and rushing, the weather changes thousands, and the scene of day and night is almost different. Starting from the sentence "looking west", from the river to the mountain, the perspective changes from overlooking to overlooking, the mountain twists and turns, between the smoke and sunrise, the grass and trees farmhouses in the distance can be counted, showing a colorful and vibrant appearance. "As for" the following sentence, it transitions from the beauty of the country to the historical aria.
In the third paragraph, Su Zhe discusses the word "fast", and Su Zhe puts forward the main purpose of this article, that is, what attitude should scholars have in the good and bad times of life? Su Zhe did not answer directly, but used two causal sentences to explain: Only when a reader is "self-satisfied" and "calm" in his heart, and does not affect his own nature because of external things, can he achieve the realm of "happiness". And Zhang Mengde in the article "does not take the trouble as a problem", and places his affection on the landscape, which must have its advantages. This is exactly the same as the idea in Su Shi's "Former Red Cliff Fu".
This article has novel ideas, concise language, and deep emotions, and has always been regarded as one of Su Zhe's masterpieces of prose. Mao Kun commented that this article "enters the Song Dynasty and its style is good", which means that this article re-discusses the grammar of the whole text with the theme of "fast".
The Ersu brothers in adversity have gained spiritual comfort and emotional pleasure, and the spirit of "self-satisfaction" revealed in this article still has profound enlightening significance for us living in modern society.
Special Tips. **Please specify: "*Fang Zhi Sichuan".
*: Sichuan Provincial Office of Local Chronicles.
Author: Zhai Xiaonan (Museum Librarian of Meishan Sansu Temple Museum).
Pictured: Fang Zhi Sichuan.