Generally speaking, the traditional intellectuals in China must be sad and frustrated when their official career is not smooth, they are demoted and have no talent, especially when they are demoted and framed for exile. Although Su Shi's temperament is bold and unrestrained, it is reasonable that he was demoted to Huangzhou because of the five disasters, and his official duties were unfinished and he was depressed. Coupled with the illness of "getting sick" (edema in his left hand), he may be too ill to heal himself, or seek the cure of ordinary doctors, so he went to Maqiao to find a local famous doctor Pang Anchang for treatment.
Pang Anchang, whose real name is Anshi, is a famous doctor of Maqiao, and has many medical works handed down from generation to generation. There are two references to him in the "Technology" section of the third volume of Dongpo Zhi Lin. One is "Pang An will always be a doctor, but he is not interested in making profits. He learned good books and ancient paintings, and he overreached himself. " It is said that "those who come to Huangzhou and live in the neighboring city often hear about medical skills, and the medical skills are mainly embarrassing (famous doctors, Shu people are embarrassed), and acupuncture is excellent. However, if you are deaf, you can't heal yourself. On the contrary, the more people are sick, the more they look like gods. Did this ancient man care so much about his eyes? Xiang and An Chang are not worried about bribery, but also quite familiar with ancient and modern times, so they are outstanding. In March of the fifth year of Yuanfeng, his left hand was swollen and he was cured by frequent injections. Let's talk about it. "
In You Sha Hu, the author didn't write Pang Anchang's character of "not taking bribes as the top priority" and his brilliant idea of "treating people's diseases", but only wrote their "alien" characteristics of "taking hands as their mouths" and "taking eyes as their ears" respectively. This kind of pen and ink is not only humorous and interesting, but also contains a hidden feeling and emotion.
It can be said that Su Pang and his wife met because of illness, and then became close friends, as can be seen from the word "play" in the text. Su Shi can often tell jokes with Pang An, and what he says is no ordinary joke. He often puts a hat on himself and Pang An-"One moment is a strange man". From this joke, we can realize the deep sadness and helplessness between the lines of the author. Why did Su Shi call himself a "stranger"? What is different about him? If Pang An is often a "stranger": he is good at medical skills but deaf, but his medical skills are superb and his understanding is unique-this is somewhat the performance and characteristics of a "stranger", which is convincing. So is Shi's "mouth and hand" a "stranger"? This is just a way to communicate with Pang Anchang. Because Pang An is often deaf, he can only communicate with his hands as his mouth and his eyes as his ears. This is a normal way, no different from ordinary people. But why did Su Shi insist that they were "temporarily different people"?
In fact, Su Shi said that he and Pang An often corresponded in this way, which was a temporary stranger, with feelings, secrets and strong irony.
Su Shi was dismissed from office and exiled because of Wutai poetry case, and was accused of being dissatisfied with the court and slandering the New Deal. Wutai Poetry Case happened in Xining, Song Shenzong (1068- 1077), and Zongshen used Wang Anshi to reform. The reform failed, and the reform was carried out in Yuanfeng (1078-1085). At the turning point from political reform to system reform, that is, in the second year of Yuanfeng (1079), there was a literary prison. In the Imperial History, Shu Qi, and other people extracted relevant sentences from Su Shi's Huzhou Xieshangbiao and some previous poems, and arrested Su Shi for slandering the New Deal. The case was first reported by the censor and then tried in the censor's prison, which lasted for four months. Every day, those officials forced Su Shi to explain the source of his previous poems and the source of allusions in his words and expressions, threatening and enticing him to die. Finally, due to the practice of not killing scholar-officials in Song Dynasty, Su Shi was saved from death, but was demoted to Huangzhou League. In January the following year, he was demoted to Huangzhou.
Readers all know that these trumped-up charges were deliberately distorted after being taken out of context by people at Yushitai and forcibly pieced together from Su Shi's poems. This is tantamount to asking people not to write poems, not to talk, and not to talk nonsense. In other words, you can only play dumb like Pang Anchang, so that you can compromise and save yourself. In this way, "taking hands as the mouth and eyes as the ears" is the best way to survive and preserve. Su Shi's Joking is full of grief and helplessness, but he is helpless. He can only sigh, feel sorry for himself, laugh at himself and justify himself. In fact, he and An Chang are both normal people, doing normal things and using their own skills to benefit the people. One is "Cai Xiang" who is brilliant and dedicated to serving the country, and the other is a "famous doctor" who can save lives. From this perspective, it is indeed a rare "temporary stranger." Unfortunately, they are all unfortunate, and they all have bumpy fates and sad experiences. One was exiled and became a sinner, and the other lived in a corner and became a township doctor. Su Shi can't and won't be indifferent to this unwarranted, unfair and fair encounter. But what can I do with my brother and sister? In addition to complaining and talking about the grievances in your heart, you can only use travel to dispel your inner anger. Let's look at a poem by Su Shi: "People adopt sons and hope to be smart. I have been delayed by cleverness all my life. I only hope that this son is honest and honest and will not bring disasters and difficulties to the public. " This poem was written by Yuan Feng in the second year of his sixth year in Huangzhou. ) In connection with the above, this poem seems to contain the following meaning: No matter how smart a person is, if he was born in an unfortunate time, he might as well be dumb with his hands as his mouth and deaf with his eyes as his ears, or he might as well be a "stupid and honest" fool. Another example is his poem "First Arriving in Huangzhou", in which there is a sentence "I laughed for my mouth all my life, and the old things turned ridiculous". The word "busy for one's mouth" has double meanings: busy for one's livelihood and disaster coming from one's mouth. Su Shi caused a lot of trouble and suffered a lot because he thanked his watch and wrote poems. How can he not feel wronged? From this perspective, Being a Stranger in a while is as painful as these poems!
On the other hand, he said such a thing is also a strong irony and counterattack against those stupid officials and bureaucrats in Yushitai. They criticize for no reason, find fault in eggs, and their words and deeds are extremely abnormal. They are "strangers" of this era. Therefore, Su Shi's "every man has his time" is really a pun, and there is some truth in this meaning. It is humorous to read, but it is sad and heartbreaking.
Of course, Su Shineng and Pang An often talk about this kind of "joke", which shows the deep friendship between them. Perhaps Anchang is an expert in understanding others and can "deeply understand people's feelings" from others' "books don't count", so it is reasonable to treat Su Shi for a long time, not only knowing Su Shi's hand disease, but also being familiar with Su Shi's heart disease, so they got to know each other and became bosom friends.