Abstract:

Writings on “rivers and lakes” are integral to classical Chinese literature. In general, “rivers and lakes” refer to the place where frustrated officials were exiled. Nevertheless, poetry written by SU Shi and SU Zhe deliberately constructed “rivers and lakes” into a poetic space abounded with cultural landscape. This was quite typical among poetry in the Song Dynasty. On the one hand, the SU Brothers described “rivers and lakes” as a place where fish and birds inhabited; it was full of mountains and waters, historical sites, as well as commemorations of kinship and friendship; and it was also a poetic place imprinted with lofty noblemen and recluse scholars, folk ethos and local customs, as well as the humanist tradition. On the other hand, their political careers also reminded them that “rivers and lakes” were used by the court to banish criminals, and power networks from the capital also stretched out all over this space, so that “rivers and lakes” were not a safe haven at all. This paradoxical understanding was coherent with Song political environments and the development of transportation, communication, and commodity economy. It is worth mentioning that SU Shi proposed a poetic idea about the interconnection between “rivers and lakes” and “the land of peach blossom spring” by emphasizing that the water of “rivers and lakes” originated from “the land of peach blossom”. From “the land of peach blossom” to “rivers and lakes” extended the spirit of humanism, which was in the opposite direction of power expansion.

Key words: SU Shi, SU Zhe, “rivers and lakes”, the land of peach blossom