Chapter 347: Three Demotions, Three Rises

On the sky screen appeared the eternal masterpiece Su Shi wrote in Huangzhou—

【"Ding Feng Bo"】

【Don't listen to the sound of rain hitting the trees, why not chant and walk slowly.】

【Bamboo stick and straw sandals are lighter than a horse, who is afraid? A straw raincoat in the wind and rain for a lifetime.】

【The cold spring breeze wakes up the wine, slightly cold, the setting sun on the mountain welcomes me.】

【Looking back at the desolate place, going back, there is no wind and rain, no sunshine.】

Liu Bang read "A straw raincoat in the wind and rain for a lifetime" and savored the taste: "This sentence makes people let out a sigh of relief."

Liu Che said: "There is no wind and rain, no sunshine—"

"It's not that he hasn't experienced wind and rain, it's that he no longer takes wind and rain seriously."

Ying Zheng suddenly said: "How old was he when he wrote this poem?"

Gu Shanhe thought for a while: "Forty-something, half his life passed, experienced great ups and downs."

Ying Zheng nodded and didn't speak again.

Li Bai's comment drifted out—

【Comment from Li Bai, Tang Dynasty】

This person's heart is not inferior to my heroic spirit.

And he uses hardship to refine his poetic soul, which is not as easy as mine.

【Comment from Du Fu, Tang Dynasty】

In the mud, heart toward the light.

Dongpo's backbone is a model for scholars for ages.

【Comment from Xin Qiji, Song Dynasty】

After Dongpo, there is no Su Dongpo.

On the sky screen, the Yangtze River rolled eastward.

Su Shi stood by the river, looking at the surging river water, the wind blowing his clothes.

Night fell, the moon rose, and he picked up his brush and wrote—

【"Nian Nu Jiao · Reminiscing at Red Cliff" excerpt】

【The Great River flows east, waves wash away, thousands of years of romantic figures.】

【...】

【Mountains and rivers like a painting, how many heroes at one time.】

Liu Bang read "Three Kingdoms Zhou Lang Red Cliff" and turned to Liu Che: "Che'er, is this talking about what happened to you guys?"

Liu Che ignored him and stared at those lines:

"Jagged rocks pierce the sky, crashing waves hit the shore... this momentum, not like a lyric, like poetry. No, like a song."

Li Shimin said: "Lyrics were originally for singing small tunes, flowers before the moon, children's love."

"Su Shi wrote lyrics into the Great River flowing east, wrote them into mountains and rivers like a painting."

"He changed the status of lyrics."

Gu Shanhe nodded: "Before Su Shi, lyrics were 'poetry surplus,' and scholars were embarrassed to sign their full names."

"After Su Shi, lyrics and poetry were on equal footing."

Cao Cao's comment carried shock—

【Comment from Cao Cao, Three Kingdoms】

The Great River flows east... my Red Cliff, written by someone else.

Written well, written so that I, Cao Cao, am convinced.

【Comment from Zhou Yu, Three Kingdoms】

Gongjin burned Red Cliff back then, didn't expect to be written into an eternal masterpiece by a scholar a thousand years later.

【Comment from Zhuge Liang, Three Kingdoms】

Zhou Lang, your name "Zhou Lang Red Cliff" sounds quite intimate.

【Comment from Zhou Yu, Three Kingdoms】

Liang, if you don't speak, no one will treat you as a mute.

On the sky screen appeared another one—

【"Shui Diao Ge Tou · When Will the Moon Appear"】

【When will the bright moon appear? Holding wine, I ask the blue sky.】

【I don't know the palaces in the sky, what year is it tonight.】

【I want to ride the wind back, fearing the jade buildings in the high places, too cold to bear.】

【Dancing with the clear shadow, how is it like the human world.】

【Turning the red pavilion, low silk windows, shining on the sleepless.】

【Should not have hatred, why is it always round when separated?】

【People have joys and sorrows, parting and reunion, the moon has cloudy and clear, waxing and waning, this matter has been difficult to be complete since ancient times.】

【May people live long, sharing the beautiful moon from a thousand miles away.】

Liu Xiu read "May people live long, sharing the beautiful moon from a

"This line, I wish to have it carved onto a pillar."

Liu Che said: "Among poems about the Mid-Autumn Festival, this one ranks first."

"And no one will ever surpass it in the future."

Liu Bang said with rare seriousness: "I feel that this man's most impressive trait is that everything he writes is excellent."

"When he writes of sorrow, it is not dispiriting; when he writes of joy, it is not frivolous; when he writes of grief, it is not hopeless."

"How should I put it—it is simply comfortable."

Ying Zheng evaluated him in four characters: "A literary all-rounder."

The barrage of comments flooded the screen—

【Barrage · Modern Netizen 1】

'When will the moon appear! I raise my cup to ask the blue sky!' I can recite this for a lifetime!

【Barrage · Modern Netizen 2】

Su Shi's poetry is engraved in the DNA of the Chinese people.

【Barrage · Song Dynasty · Li Qingzhao】

Dongpo's poetry does not conform to musical rhythms, but its realm is so high that he is the only one in a thousand years.

On the sky screen, a map unfolded.

On the map of the Northern Song territory, three red lines extended outward from the capital, Bianliang—

The first reached Huangzhou, the second reached Huizhou, and the third reached Danzhou.

Each was further than the last, each more desolate than the last.

【Half a life of demotions: Successively demoted to Huangzhou, Huizhou, and Danzhou.

From the prosperous capital to the savage southern frontier, the further he was demoted, the more bitter his circumstances became.】

Li Shimin looked at the red line extending to Hainan Island: "Danzhou? Where is that?"

Gu Shanhe said: "Hainan Island."

"At that time, it was a savage land, a place for exiling criminal officials."

"Going there was basically equivalent to a death sentence."

Liu Che gasped: "From Bianliang to Hainan Island? How long would that take to travel?"

Gu Shanhe said: "Several months."

"And Su Shi was already sixty years old at the time."

Liu Bang fell silent.

Liu Xiu said softly: "Sixty years old, demoted to the ends of the earth; if it were anyone else, they would have collapsed long ago."

On the sky screen, the poems Su Shi wrote in Huizhou and Danzhou appeared—

【Eating three hundred lychees a day, I would not mind being a Lingnan man forever. — 'A Verse from Huizhou'】

【Who will write the gazetteer in years to come? Hainan, ten thousand miles away, is truly my home. — 'Farewell to the People of Hainan'】

Liu Che finished reading and smiled: "Demoted to Lingnan, he says the lychees are delicious and doesn't mind being a Lingnan man."

"Demoted to Hainan, he says it is his true home."

"This man... is this man's heart made of iron?"

Ying Zheng said: "It is not made of iron. It is something tougher than iron."

Li Shimin asked: "What is it?"

Ying Zheng was silent for two seconds: "Acceptance."

"He does not resist fate; he accepts fate."

"And within this acceptance, he finds a reason to go on living."

Liu Xiu nodded: "Acceptance is not admitting defeat."

"Acceptance is seeing through things, no longer struggling against them, yet still doing what must be done."

"When he arrived in Hainan, he still established schools and taught, educating the local people."

"This is the true strong man."

Liu Bei's barrage carried respect—

【Barrage · Three Kingdoms · Liu Bei】

Demoted three times and rising three times, wandering for half a life, his original intention never changed.

Su Shi's resilience—I, Bei, am ashamed to fall short.

【Barrage · Three Kingdoms · Zhuge Liang】

My Lord, you also fought repeatedly despite repeated defeats; you are the same type of person as Su Shi.

It is just that the battlefields are different.

【Barrage · Three Kingdoms · Cao Cao】

I, Cao Cao, am convinced.

If it were me, I would have turned against them after the first demotion.

He was demoted three times, each time more miserable than the last, yet each time he lived more freely than before.

This is no ordinary person.

On the sky screen, golden light flowed.

Su Shi's various achievements appeared one by one—

【Literary achievements: Over two thousand seven hundred poems preserved, the pinnacle of Song poetry;

Pioneered the bold and unconstrained school of Ci poetry, known alongside Xin Qiji as 'Su-Xin';

Prose ranked among the Eight Great Masters of Tang and Song, known alongside Ouyang Xiu as 'Ou-Su'.】

【Calligraphy and painting achievements: Head of the four great calligraphers of the Northern Song, 'Su, Huang, Mi, Cai', his calligraphy was rich and rhythmic; founder of literati painting, proposing that 'poetry and painting are governed by the same principles'.】

【Livelihood achievements: Built the Su Causeway, dredged the West Lake; managed water disasters, reduced taxes; established schools to educate, and civilized the savage lands.】

Liu Bang looked at the dense list of achievements and opened his mouth: "This... is this still a human?"

Liu Che said: "Poetry, Ci, prose, calligraphy, painting—all five are top-tier."

"I have never seen such a person in my life."

Liu Xiu added: "He could also manage water, run schools, farm, and cook."

"Dongpo Pork was invented by him."

Li Shimin looked at Gu Shanhe: "Immortal Master Gu, let me ask a question—in China's several thousand years, is there a second person like this?"

Gu Shanhe thought for a moment and shook his head: "No. Unprecedented in the past, and no one will come after."

"Some have better poetry than him, but their Ci is not as good;"

"Some have better Ci than him, but their prose is not as good;"

"Some have better prose than him, but their calligraphy is not as good."

"He is the only one who is all-around in all five."