Prose writer in northern song dynasty. Together with his sons Su Shi and Su Zhe, they are called "Three Sus", and they are all included in the "Eight Masters of Tang and Song Dynasties". The word Ming Yun is called Lao Quan. Meizhou Meishan (now Sichuan) people. It is said that I didn't study until I was 27. After studying hard behind closed doors for more than ten years, I have made great progress in my studies. In the first year of Ren Zongjia (1056), he led Su Shi and Su Zhe to Bianjing and called Ouyang Xiu, a bachelor of Hanlin. Ouyang Xiu admired his works, such as Power, Balance and Tactics, and thought that they could be comparable to Jia Yi and Liu Xiang, so he recommended them to the court. At that time, officials and scholars rushed to tell stories, and the literary name flourished. In the third year of Jia's reign, Renzong called him to the Scheeren Hospital to take the exam, but he pleaded that he was ill and refused to reply. Jia five years, as the secretary of the provincial school book lang. Later, he wrote "Tai Chang Li" with Yao He, the magistrate of Xiangcheng County. Soon after writing, he died and was posthumously awarded as Guanglu Temple Cheng.
Su Xun is a man with political ambitions. He said that the main purpose of his composition is to "speak the important words of the moment" and "apply them to the present". In some important argumentative papers, such as Lun Heng and Shang Shu, he put forward a set of ideas of political innovation. He believes that to govern the country well, it is necessary to "assess the situation" and "set the situation." He advocated "respecting prestige", strengthened official management, broke the laziness, inspired the enterprising spirit of the world and revitalized the Song Dynasty. Because Su Xun has a good understanding of social reality, is good at summing up historical experience and lessons, and takes history as a mirror, although his political essays inevitably have some pedantic and biased views, many of his views are still to the point.
Ceng Gong said that Su Xun was "easy to talk and easy to fight". Su Xun's 65,438+00 books, Tactics, Counting the Enemy, Balance of Power, Secret Books of Shang Dynasty, Enemy System and Book of Shang Emperor, all discuss military issues. In the famous Six Kingdoms, he believed that the downfall of the Six Kingdoms was to bribe the State of Qin. In fact, it is a mockery of the past and accuses the humiliating policy of the Song Dynasty. The investigation of the enemy further reveals that the essence of this policy of bribing the enemy is to cripple the people. The Military System puts forward the idea of reforming the military system, restoring military morality and credibility. The Bill of Rights systematically studies the strategic and tactical issues. In Ji Xiang, he pointed out the strategic mistake that Ji Xiang could not attack Xianyang. He also emphasized the strategic and tactical principles of avoiding reality, attacking the weak with strong force, making good use of surprise soldiers, suspecting soldiers, making a quick decision and winning by surprise.
Su Xun's lyric prose is not much, but there are also many wonderful chapters. In "Sending Stone to the North", he hoped that Shi, a friend of Qidan, would not be afraid of violence, write lightly and have momentum. The Portrait of Zhang Yizhou describes Zhang's deeds of governing Yizhou, and creates an image of a feudal official who is lenient and loves the people. The Story of the Wooden Rockery expresses feelings with things, praising a spirit of self-reliance and integrity.
Su Xun's prose has distinct arguments, strong arguments, sharp language and strong persuasiveness. Ouyang Xiu praised him for his "excellent eloquence", saying that "going up and down, rushing in and out, must be built deep and then stop" ("Epitaph of the Soviet Union in the Lord's Book of Wen 'an County, Bazhou"); Ceng Gong also commented on his articles "Pointing at things, saying things with an introduction" and "Worry must not be chaotic, the boss must not flow" ("Mourning for Su Mingyun"), both of which are more pertinent. The artistic style is magnificent and varied. Some articles are also good at twists and turns. In Shu Mi Shu, Su Xun also commented on his articles as "the poet's softness, the poet's simplicity, the softness of Meng Han, and the simplicity of Sun Wu". The language of his article is concise, concise and meaningful; But sometimes, he can be on a par with others, and he is especially good at making vivid and wonderful metaphors, such as "The Story of Brother Zhong Fu Ziwen", which uses geomantic omen as a metaphor and makes a natural description, which is an example.
Su Xun's paper is also full of penetrating insights. He opposes flashy and weird prose and advocates learning ancient prose; Emphasize that articles should be "sincerely convinced" and write "from the heart"; It is advocated that articles should be "made for things" and "words must be in the present". He also discussed different styles of * * * and different writing methods. He is especially good at evaluating the styles and artistic features of various essays from comparison. For example, the first book "The Connotation of Shang Ouyang" commented well on the articles of Mencius, Han Yu and Ouyang Xiu.
Su Xun doesn't write many poems, but he is good at writing five ancient poems, which are simple and vigorous. Ye Mengde, a poet in the Song Dynasty, commented that his poems were "profound and tasteful, just like their prose" (Shi Lin Shi Hua). His two poems by Ouyang Yongshu, White Rabbit, Seeing the Mountain off, Yan Shu, Answering Two Covenants and Waiting for Wu, are excellent, but their overall achievements are far less than those of prose.
Su Xun's works were popular in various versions in the Song Dynasty, and most of them had been lost. Today, there is a remnant of the Collected Works of Lao Su in the Northern Song Dynasty. Popular books are Tetralogy, Shadow Copy of Song Dynasty, and Jiaji, Volume 15.