也谈苏轼的幸与不幸

On SU Shi’s Fortunes and Misfortunes

苏轼有着大起大落的人生经历,人们或言其幸,或言其不幸。就其生活的宋朝而言,苏轼可谓躬逢其盛:他不仅是"科举社会"的成功者,而且是求仁得仁的党锢清流。苏轼的不幸,只不过是贬谪文化背景下士大夫遭际的一个样本:士大夫之被贬谪,不是自苏轼始,也不是至苏轼终;就士大夫受处罚的程度而言,苏轼既非空前,更非绝后。论及苏轼遭际,必须将其置于具体语境下,方能真切著明。立足于政治文化视野,进行"长时段"的考察,苏轼是幸运的。至于其跌落谷底的人生磨难,只不过是贬谪文化背景下士大夫遭际的常态而已,不宜诉诸道德主义情绪将其放大。

SU Shi’s life is full of ups and downs.Some think that he is fortunate,while others think that he is unfortunate.As for the Song Dynasty in which he lives in,he is a lucky dog: he is not only the winner of the"imperial examination",but also the honorable and renowned scholar official.In fact,his misfortune in the eyes of others is just a sample of scholar officials’ fortune in the context of relegate culture.Firstly,SU Shi is neither the first nor the last scholar official who is relegated.Secondly,the punishment that SU Shi has suffered from is not the most severe at all.Therefore,we should study his misfortune in the concrete context,and then we would gain profound and comprehensive understanding about SU Shi’s misfortunes.From the perspective of political and cultural environment,and through the investigation in "a long period of time",we find that SU Shi is lucky.As to his misfortune,it is just normalcy of scholar officials’ fortune in the context of relegate culture.Therefore,we should not exaggerate it by resorting to moralist emotion.