In fact, the answer lies in the words of Wang Chaoyun, Su Dongpo’s favorite person, which is that Su Dongpo is full of inappropriate things. This question depends on two factors. On the one hand, Su Dongpo has a stubborn personality and is often the loneliest among people. When others are happy, he pours cold water, while when others are sad, he jokes.
On the other hand, the issue of Su Dongpo’s political stance choices. Some people say that the biggest secret of life lies in choice, so we can also say that the biggest secret of mixing in the officialdom is choosing sides, that is to say, how to mix is not important, who to mix with is the most important. Below, we will elaborate in detail.
1. Look at how Su Dongpo chose sides in the officialdom of the Song Dynasty. A person who cannot find a balance between the new and old parties will inevitably be severely demoted by both parties! In the officialdom, mingling circles is a profound and inscrutable subject.
In Journey to the West, before Sun Wukong met Tang Sanzang, he was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Tathagata for disrupting the order of the heavenly court and had no chance of making a name for himself. With Sun Wukong’s “monkey vein”, even if he risks escaping from prison, he can at most become the director of the Flower and Fruit Mountain Scenic Area Management Committee. It’s different with Tang Monk. Although there are ninety-nine and eighty-one difficulties, there are various immortals in the circle, making it easy to get things done. In the end, all the monsters in the circle are taken away by the immortals, and their merits are complete; The monsters outside the circle were all beaten to ashes by the Wukong brothers, and in the end, the Wukong brothers all succeeded in their respective places and became Buddhas. So it doesn’t matter how you get along, who you hang out with is important.
Su Dongpo is a comprehensive talent in cultural history, and his achievements in poetry, calligraphy, and painting can definitely be ranked among the top in the entire history of Chinese art. However, in politics, Su Dongpo is a master who has gone all the way to the black, unable to tolerate anything and unable to get along with anyone. When the New Party came into power, he couldn’t stand the rapid progress of the reformists and criticized Wang Anshi’s arbitrary and dictatorial behavior; When the old party made a comeback, he was dissatisfied with Sima Guang’s comprehensive rejection of the reform and his extermination of the old party. Both the new and old parties are not happy about Su Dongpo, who is full of outdated ideas.
2. A naive and carefree Su Dongpo, without any ulterior motives, would inevitably suffer a head injury and blood loss in the fiercely contested Song Dynasty officialdom.
Being wild and unrestrained is the foundation of Su Dongpo’s personality. Because of his madness, he provoked resentment and was retaliated against; Because of his madness, he spoke out without speaking out. In his own words, ‘Like a fly eating, neither vomiting nor pleasure’. He has a childlike heart, is humorous, open-minded, and loves to joke around. Therefore, Su Dongpo always stood out from society and his career was always bumpy.
He always speaks without restraint, jokes about others without restraint, tears off their scars without restraint, and treats others well without restraint. Su Dongpo is naive and scheming, confiding in everyone and seeing everyone as a good person. He said, ‘I can accompany the Jade Emperor above, and I can accompany the beggars in the Beitian Temple below. There is no bad person in the world before my eyes.’. But Mr. Boyang uses China’s “sauce jar culture” to tell us that in this society, who can be self-sufficient? Only by being an aggressor can one avoid being abused by others.
And Su Dongpo is a narrow-minded person. He treats others with sincerity, while others secretly harm him; He gave others the ‘Golden Mistake Knife’ and stabbed them in the back. He glared at them and they rolled their eyes at him. But Su Dongpo did not feel any harm at all and continued to treat others well without regret until death.
So, a person who fantasizes about being able to be self-sufficient in the vortex of party struggles in the Song Dynasty is destined to fail, and a person who is innocent and unmotivated in a complex society like a dyeing vat is destined to suffer a head injury!
