Su Shi is a famous literary giant in the history of my country's Song Dynasty. He is so talented that even the poems he exported can be remembered throughout the ages.
Once, Su Shi went to visit his friend Wang Gong who had been demoted. He accidentally saw Wang Gong's beautiful wife and was instantly envious.
What he didn't expect was that his friend's wife not only had a beautiful appearance, but also had an open-minded and transparent mind. She didn't feel at all that she was suffering after being demoted to a desolate place with Wang Gong.
After the conversation, Su Shi was suddenly inspired and immediately composed a poem. It unexpectedly became a classic poem and is still praised by the world after thousands of years.
How did Su Shi’s friends and wife live in difficult circumstances? What kind of poem did Su Shi write?
This starts with Su Shi's literary attainments and how he was demoted...
Articles must be unique in the world
Su Shi was born in the Northern Song Dynasty Song Renzong was in power. His father was Su Xun, a well-known scholar at the time.
Under the influence of his father, Su Shi and his younger brother Su Che also fell in love with literary creation. In contrast, the young Su Shi's talent was slightly higher than that of his younger brother Su Che.
In the first year of Jiayou (1056), Su Shi, under the leadership of his father, left his hometown to take part in the scientific examination in the capital.
Su Shi's hometown was in today's Sichuan area, which was far away from the capital at that time. Therefore, it was not until the second year that he rushed to the capital to participate in the scientific examination that year.
The examiner at that time was the famous Ouyang Xiu, The topic of the scientific examination policy was "On the Punishment and Rewards of Loyalty".
Ouyang Xiu has always advocated innovation in poetry, and Su Shi's writing style happens to be a fresh and free and easy new style. Therefore, Su Shi's answer sheet made Ouyang Xiu find everything new and fresh.
Ouyang Xiu appreciated Su Shi's article more and more as he read it, and then gave Su Shi the second place.
In the article, Su Shi wrote:
"Gao Tao was a scholar and would kill people. Gao Tao said to kill three people, Yao said to forgive three people."
Ouyang Xiu especially liked this, but he didn't know where this sentence came from.
So he asked Su Shi afterward, but Su Shi bluntly said: "Why do you need to know the source!"
Seeing that Su Shi was so talented and so bold and free and easy, Ouyang admired him even more. He bluntly said that Su Shi would have a bright future in the future, and predicted that his "articles will be unique in the world."
If an ordinary young man were so praised by the examiner of the imperial examination, he would definitely be proud and grateful. However, Su Shi had always been upright and did not take Ouyang Xiu's words seriously.
After that, Su Shi took part in the middle school scientific examination, passed the Jinshi examination in one fell swoop and became an official in the court. From then on, he entered the official career that people at the time were eager to pursue.
At that time, Emperor Shenzong of the Song Dynasty was in charge. Shenzong always cherished talents. Seeing that Su Shi was talented, he appointed Su Shi as a judge in Dali.
In officialdom, Su Shi was upright and honest. He liked to make colleagues with real talents and knowledge, but he never formed cliques for personal gain, so he was deeply appreciated by Song Shenzong.
However, after Su Shi had been an official for several years, his father Su Xun suddenly passed away.
At that time, the Song Dynasty paid great attention to filial piety. If many officials encountered the death of their parents while on duty, they would choose to go home to observe filial piety.
Su Shi was deeply taught by his father since he was a child. He was very sad when he learned the news of his father's death, so he temporarily left the court and returned to his hometown to honor his father.
was involved in the turmoil in the court and was demoted
After the three-year filial piety period expired, Su Shi returned to the court to continue serving. However, at that time, there had already been a turmoil in the court about Wang Anshi's reform .
Su Shi and his mentor Ouyang Xiu were very dissatisfied with some of the radical measures promoted by Wang Anshi.
In the fourth year of Xining (1071), Su Shi wrote a letter to Song Shenzong, talking about the various shortcomings of Wang Anshi's implementation of the new law. Unexpectedly, Wang Anshi knew about it.
Wang Anshi was so angry that he arranged for his confidants to impeach Su Shi for his various faults in front of Song Shenzong.
Su Shi has never been good at forming parties, and he has been away from the court for many years, so he is naturally no match for Wang Anshi.
Under the exclusion of Wang Anshi and others, Song Shenzong almost became murderous towards Su Shi.
Fortunately, Song Shenzong took into account the laws of his ancestors and did not take Su Shi's life, but demoted him.
During the Northern Song Dynasty, if an official was punished or demoted, the emperor would often punish those close to the minister in order to completely eliminate the hidden danger.
Su Shi had a bold personality and always liked to make friends through literature, so he made many friends in the literary world, one of whom was Wang Gong.
After Su Shi was demoted, his younger brother Su Che was not greatly implicated. On the contrary, Wang Gong became the first to be affected because of his close personal relationship with him.
What is Wang Gong’s identity?
Among Su Shi’s many friends, why was he the one who was most implicated?
Wang Gong is the grandson of Wang Dan, a famous prime minister in the early Song Dynasty. was influenced by his family elders since childhood and was very interested in poetry and songs.
As an adult, Wang Gong was diligent in creation. Not only did he publish many books, but he also made some achievements in poetry and painting.
Wang Gong himself had real talent and knowledge, and with the support of his ancestors, he quickly became famous and entered an official career. After
entered the court, he successively served as Dr. Taichang , Yangzhou Tongpan, and Zongzheng Temple Cheng. Although his official position was not high, he, who had always been indifferent to fame and fortune, also enjoyed it.
While serving as an official, Wang Gong met Su Shi, who had similar interests as him.
Strictly speaking, he admired Su Shi's talent, took the initiative to approach Su Shi and became a poetry friend with him.
Wang Gong and Su Shi liked similar poetry styles. The two often discussed each other and kept in touch with each other through letters.
Su Shi liked to hold banquets in his mansion and meet friends with poems. As his good friend, Wang Gong was often invited to banquets.
Therefore, in the eyes of outsiders, these two people have a very close personal relationship.
Later, Su Shi was demoted because he offended Wang Anshi and Song Shenzong. Wang Gong was also implicated precisely because he was too close to Su Shi.
Luck among misfortunes
Wang Gong has always been upright and upright, and he does not have high expectations for fame and wealth. Therefore, he did not participate in this party dispute between "conservatives" and "radicals."
But this time Song Shenzong was determined to punish him. Although he felt deeply wronged, there was nothing he could do about it.
The emperor's orders cannot be violated. Although Wang Gong was unwilling to receive the imperial edict, he could only pack a few bags and prepare to rush to the bitter cold place.
It was a long way to go, and he didn't know when he would be able to come back. So, he dismissed the servants at home and allowed his wives and concubines to freely choose whether to follow him.
What he didn't expect was that after a few days, the once bustling official residence would become empty in an instant.
Most of the wives and concubines who surrounded him on weekdays chose to go their separate ways when disaster struck. Wang Gong suddenly felt desolate in his heart. Disappointed, he prepared to just hit the road and rush to Lingnan.
Unexpectedly, a woman named " Yuwen Rounu " suddenly appeared and expressed her willingness to follow Wang Gong.
" Rounu " is a concubine in the family. Before this, Wang Gong's relationship with her was not close.
It was not until this woman stood in front of him that Wang Gong remembered that it turned out to be a singer he had brought back.
"Yuwen Rounu" was also a lady when she was a child. Her father was a royal doctor in the palace, and her mother was a noblewoman from a famous family.
Under the cultivation of her father and mother, Rounu grew up to be a graceful person. She was not only good at singing and dancing, but also had some knowledge of poetry and poetry, as beautiful as a flower in bud.
Unfortunately, a few years ago, her father was wrongly accused of being involved in a palace fight and died tragically in prison.
After his father was killed, his mother passed away soon after because of excessive grief.
At that time, Yuwen Rounu was still young, so his huge family property was occupied by his uncle's family.
Uncle was worried that Rounu would take back the family property in the future, so he cruelly sold her to a song and dance studio and turned her into a dancer.
After that, Yuwen Rounu was forced to stay in the singing and dancing studio as a performer, living a miserable and helpless life.
During a performance, she happened to meet Dr. Chen, her father's good friend during his lifetime. Dr. Chen was kind-hearted and could not bear to see his old friend's flesh and blood wandering around in a romantic place.
So, he relied on many connections to rescue Yuwen Rounu.
After that, he raised Rounu in his house to provide her with food and accommodation, and also taught her some medical skills to treat diseases and save people.
After Yuwen Rounu achieved success in his studies, he bid farewell to Imperial Physician Chen and began to practice medicine to support himself.
Later, during a medical visit, Rounu met the high-spirited Wang Gong, and immediately fell in love with him.
Wang Gong saw that the girl was beautiful and kind-hearted, so he took her into his residence.
At first, the wife at home thought that Wang Gong just bought back a singer, so she didn't care.
Later, the wife learned that Rounu was once a lady of the family. She was not only good at singing, dancing, and proficient in poetry, but was also good at practicing medicine and saving people. She instantly felt that she was a threat to her status.
Therefore, his wife often made things difficult for Rounu when Wang Gong was not at home, and arranged for her to do a lot of work, so that she did not have much time to spend with Wang Gong.
Rounu herself has a weak temperament and is not good at house fighting. In addition, she once made a living in a singing and dancing studio, so she does not feel that her life is very wronged.
In her opinion, it would be great to be able to settle down and live under the protection of her beloved.
Wang Gong never thought that it was this weak woman who did not fight or grab, who became his only comfort in a desperate situation.
This peace of mind is in my hometown
After the two of them packed up, they set off to take office.
On the way, Wang Gong couldn't help but feel sad every time he saw the desolate scenery, with a sad and depressed expression on his face. Rounu has a delicate mind. He knows that Wang Gong is depressed and often enlightens Wang Gong.
Not only that, she also tried her best to improve Wang Gong's life, practicing medicine to earn income along the way, while taking good care of Wang Gong's body.
Wang Gong saw that Rounu, as a female prostitute, could be so tenacious in difficult situations, he was filled with admiration in his heart, and all the previous worries were gone.
Just like that, the two of them supported each other along the way, sometimes practicing medicine to save people, sometimes reciting poems and making tea, and they didn't look like they were being banished from Beijing.
After arriving at the place where he took office, Wang Gong still maintained his enthusiasm for poetry creation. Under his influence, Rou Nu also fell in love with reciting poems and composing poems.
Although this place is not as prosperous as the capital city, the couple has a very happy life, and their life is very smooth.
Five years passed in a flash. Wang Gong was ordered to return to the capital as an official. The couple instantly felt that the clouds had cleared and the moon was bright.
At that time, Su Shi also received the news that Wang Gong was demoted because he was implicated. He had always felt guilty about this, but he had no chance to apologize to Wang Gong in person.
So, this time he calculated the time for Wang Gong to return to Beijing, and prepared a banquet early to welcome Wang Gong.
When Wang Gong came to the banquet, Su Shi looked shocked. For so many years, he thought that his friend had suffered a lot in that bitter cold place and must have looked lonely.
But the Wang Gong in front of him was not only strong and rosy, but his spirit was no worse than five years ago.
Su Shi was very confused when he heard that the Lingnan area was not wealthy and that most of the people who were demoted there could not endure the harsh living conditions.
So he asked Wang Gong curiously: "How good is it in Lingnan? I heard that life there is very difficult?"
Before Wang Gong could answer, the woman serving on the side replied softly: "This is my hometown."
Hearing this sentence, Su Shi was shocked. How could a mere maid be so talented?
Seeing Su Shi's surprised look, Wang Gong quickly took Rounu's hand and said:
"Rounu and I are married. Life is indeed very difficult in Lingnan, but Rounu always takes good care of my body and life.
She often reassured me that as long as my mind is calm, anywhere can be my hometown."
After that, Wang Gong talked about how he was demoted five years ago and all his wives and concubines left him. Only Rounu was willing to endure hardships with him.
After hearing these words, Su Shi was very shocked. He originally thought that the woman in front of him was just beautiful and only responsible for serving Wang Gong.
Unexpectedly, she was not only virtuous and capable, but also encouraged Wang Gong to face difficulties and not be knocked down by life. Such a woman is indeed rare.
After the banquet dispersed, Su Shi said goodbye to Wang Gong and Rou Nu. Looking at the two people's retreating figures, Su Shi instantly envied Wang Gong for having such a confidante.
So he walked into the study and immediately wrote a poem " Set the Storm·Nanhai Returns to Wang Dingguo's Waiter Yu Niang", ready to give it to Yuwen Rounu..
One of the sentences is:
When you smile, you still smell the fragrance of Lingnan. I wonder if Lingnan should be good? But he said, this place of peace of mind is my hometown.
In this poem, he uses Lingnan plum blossoms to compare Wang Gong's wife Yuwen Rounu.
praises for her perseverance in not bowing to life and facing difficulties, and also thanks her for her care and encouragement to Wang Gong over the years.
And the sentence "This is my hometown where my heart is at peace" has been passed down to later generations. The open-minded and optimistic feelings in the poem have encouraged generations of people to get out of the difficulties in life.
Conclusion
In ancient my country, the social status of women was generally low. As a woman from a declining family, Yuwen Rounu originally had a miserable life waiting for her.
However, every time she was in trouble, she could live optimistically and strongly, and led her husband Wang Gong to spend the days of being demoted with a calm and open-minded attitude.
This is just a weak woman, but she shows many beautiful qualities such as kindness, open-mindedness and cheerfulness, helping the world and saving people. No wonder the great writer Su Shi could write a poem for her in person!
