China News Service, Beijing, January 8th (Reporter Wang Shiyao) January 8th is the 986th birthday of Su Shi, a famous writer in the Northern Song Dynasty.

　　Lin Yutang, a master of modern Chinese literature, once commented on Su Shi as a person who "one cannot live without one, and it is difficult to have two".

He is a talented man, proficient in poetry, calligraphy, painting, etc., but his life has been rough, with ups and downs in the political whirlpool.

　　However, even though "I picked all the cold branches and refused to live, and the lonely sandbank was cold", Su Shi still smiled at life, "When the chrysanthemums bloom, it is the Double Ninth Festival, and the cool weather and the beautiful moon are the Mid-Autumn Festival."

As long as there is a bright moon in the heart, every day is the Mid-Autumn Festival. If everyone has Su Shi's open-minded feelings, maybe there will be more happy people.

Data map: The statue of Su Dongpo in the Sansu Temple in Meishan, Sichuan.

Photo by Zhang Zhongping

Do you blame the "Capricorn" for your hard life?

　　Today is the birthday of "Capricorn Boy" Su Shi.

But you may not know that Su Shi actually has a lot of opinions on Capricorns!

　　As early as the Song Dynasty, the saying about the twelve star palaces had been widely circulated.

In the fifth year of Kaibao in the Northern Song Dynasty (972), the "Blazing Light Buddha Dharani Sutra of Great Power, Virtue, Misfortune and Auspiciousness" was published. The illustration at the beginning of the volume is a ring-shaped diagram of the twelve constellations.

The "Da Sui Qidharani Sutra" published in the second year of Jingde in the Northern Song Dynasty (1005) even combined the twenty-eight mansions of ancient Chinese culture with the zodiac palaces imported from abroad.

The Sanskrit text of the scriptures and mantras of "Da Sui Qiu Dharani" (Source: Silk Road Digital Museum)

　　If you want to say which celebrity in the Song Dynasty had a little research on constellation knowledge, you have to mention the great writer Su Shi.

　　Su Shi's official career was so bumpy that it needs to be described as "miserable".

When he became an official, he was catching up with Wang Anshi's political reform. He was retaliated for criticizing the New Deal, slandering him for stealing and selling private salt when he helped his father return to Sichuan after his funeral.

Su Shi disdained to argue with him, and only wanted to be a magistrate to avoid disaster.

　　From then on, Su Shi began his career of demoting officials, from north to south, from the rich capital to the barren land, the farther and farther he was demoted.

In the end, at the age of 62, he was demoted to Danzhou, Hainan Island!

In the Song Dynasty, exile to Hainan was only a lesser punishment than the crime of copying and beheading.

　　Han Yu, a writer in the Tang Dynasty, once wrote a poem "Samsung Xing": "On the day of my birth, the moon is in the south. The cow stretches its horns, and the dustpan opens its mouth. The cow does not see the serving box, and the bucket does not pour out the wine. The dustpan has a unique god, Never stop winking." To the effect that when Han Yu was born, the moon was in Dousu, because he did not see Altair's protection, and there was a dustpan star to tell stories, so he was hit repeatedly, and his life was bumpy and rough. .

　　After Su Shi recited Han Yu's "Three Stars", he immediately wrote a poem "Dongpo Zhilin Fate" and sighed: "The poem of retreat goes: the day of my birth, the moon and the night. Palace, but the servant is made to grind scorpions, and he has been slandered a lot in his life, it is almost the same disease!"

　　What Su Shi meant was that both he and Han Yu were Capricorns.

　　Why is "Capricorn" the fault of suffering?

In the eyes of Song people, Capricorn is an unlucky constellation.

Fang Dacong, a scholar in the Song Dynasty, complained when he wrote to a friend: "Only in the palace where the Moxie came, there is a saying that Zimao is punished." Mou Yi of the Southern Song Dynasty laughed at himself: "In the palace where the Moxie was born, everyone feels pity for the strange points." Even Zhou Bida, who was once a prime minister, said: "I also know that Moxie is straight in the palace, and he is lazy to visit star officials and Li Weng." But according to scholars' research, Zhou Bida is not a Capricorn, but an Aquarius.

　　However, people in Song Dynasty have regarded Capricorn as an evil star. Anyway, it is right to blame Capricorn for bad luck.

"Health expert" who digs wild vegetables

　　Everyone knows that Su Shi is a gourmet, but in fact he is also a "health expert".

He can find an opportunity to keep healthy in the seemingly ordinary diet.

　　Although Dongpo meat is well-known, Su Shi also advocated the theory of eating vegetables to keep healthy. When he was demoted to various places as an official, he would often dig wild vegetables to eat.

Not only that, Su Shi also loves honey very much. Every time he eats vegetables, dip some honey, it tastes sweet.

"Yu Shao is addicted to sweets, and the solar eclipse is five times combined with honey. It is said that it is possible to eat honey fried sugar."

Drawing: Zhang Jianyuan

　　As a native of Sichuan, Su Shi fell in love with sweets, which shows how much he loves honey.

Moreover, honey has a good medicinal effect, which can nourish the heart muscle, protect the liver, moisten the stomach, lower blood pressure, and prevent vascular sclerosis.

　　He once wrote in a poem: "It's useless to chant drunkenly and dance, and ask for a soup of millet, rice, and quinoa to refresh your mind." Based on his own experience, he advised others not to be drunk, but to keep in good health.

　　Tea health is Su Shi’s experience. He said in "Qiu Chi Notes": "To get rid of boredom and boredom, you must have tea." And in ancient times when there was no toothpaste and toothbrush, Su Shi had already proposed the idea of ​​using tea to rinse the body. Mouth method, "I have a method. After every meal, I rinse my mouth with strong tea, and the boredom comes out, but the spleen and stomach don't know it. The flesh between the teeth shrinks and falls off, so you don't have to worry about picking thorns, and the teeth will gradually become denser because of this. "

　　He created this set of "strong tea teeth strengthening method", and called on everyone to form a habit and persist for a long time, so that the teeth will gradually become firmer.

Data map: tea.

Photo by Shi Yalei

　　Su Dongpo also regards "massaging the soles of the feet" as an important magic weapon for health preservation.

"Cross-legged to rub the Yongquan, sit and watch the calamus" He would sit cross-legged on the bed every day and massage the soles of his feet vigorously.

Modern scientific research has confirmed that regular massage of the soles of the feet can alleviate many diseases such as anemia, diabetes, impotence, dysmenorrhea and renal dysfunction.

Incorruptible "parent officials" who share the suffering of the people

　　"Between the heaven and the earth, everything has its own owner, and if it is not my property, I will not take any of it." Su Shi has been an official for more than 40 years, and he has always refrained from extravagance, advocating thrift, and being honest and self-sufficient.

He truly put the people first and shared the sufferings of the people. Everywhere he went, he left a reputation of integrity, diligence and love for the people, which has been praised by the local people for generations.

　　In the third year of Yuanfeng (1080), Su Shi was demoted to Huangzhou, which is now Huanggang City, Hubei Province.

Due to a lot of reduction in salary, he fell into the situation where "my husband has been so poor for many years that he asked people how he ever got begging for rice".

　　Fortunately, with the help of friends, Su Shi got a sloping land in the east of the city, and finally he was able to open up wasteland and farm by himself to solve the problem of food and clothing for the whole family.

Su Shi also named this land "Dongpo" and called himself "Dongpo Layman", so he was honored as "Su Dongpo" by later generations.

Drawing: Zhang Jianyuan

　　Su Shi, who was living in poverty at that time, in order not to waste a penny, he also implemented a strict planned expenditure: first divide all the money into 12 shares on average, and use one share every month; Take a small portion.

After all the money is divided, hang it on the beam of the house according to the share, and take out a bag every morning to use it as the living expenses of the whole day.

　　After getting the money that day, he has to carefully weigh it, and he will resolutely not buy what he can not buy, only the surplus is allowed, and no overspending is allowed.

And the accumulated money is put into a bamboo tube for emergencies.

　　Su Shi hated corruption very much. He once wrote a letter to persuade his friend Pu Zongmeng, who is famous for extravagance and believes that extravagance is "the way", "I heard that the income is very high, but I have two things to advise: one is kindness, and the other is frugality." He once When writing a preface to a poem written by a candidate, he revealed his attitude and principles of being an official: the purpose of "seeking an official" is to "get", and it is hypocritical to deny this, but there is a contradiction between "get" and "Tao" When you are young, don't give up the "Tao" you have learned in order to get a high official and generous salary.

　　Su Shi said so and did the same.

When he left Hangzhou, a close friend sent him 5 taels of gold and 150 taels of silver as gifts.

Su Shi had no choice but to accept the gift, but he didn't use it for private use but donated it to Anlefang to treat diseases for the poor.

　　Su Shi cared about the suffering of the people and worked for the welfare of the people. Anlefang was the "square cabin hospital" he built to fight the epidemic when he was the "mayor" of Hangzhou.

At that time, he raised 2,000 taels of silver, and took out 50 taels of gold from his own private money. After the completion of Anlefang, he could focus on the treatment of patients infected with the epidemic.

　　This free hospital named Anlefang obviously has the nature of public assistance and is an innovative move ahead of the times.

And Anlefang and its mode of operation also attracted great attention from the imperial court at that time.

In the first year of Chongning (1102), the imperial court began to set up Anji Fang in various places to treat diseases for the poor.

Soon, Anlefang was also renamed Anji by the imperial court, and it became a government office.

(Finish)