Su Shih, one of China's most significant scholars, lived his life under the shadow of two mutually opposing unfulfilled ambitions: to serve actively in the highest levels of central government, and to lead a life of quiet spiritual and physical cultivation with his brother, Su Ch'e. This tension is a major component in most of Su Shih's greatest literary writings, and is central to our understanding of the person and his works, and by extension, of the mid-Northern Sung political world. This paper follows the development of Su Shih's awareness, interpretation, and public expression of the details and implications of a dream he had in the last few month s of 1091, and the great impact it had on him in his later years. By observing the poet as he eventually works through this particular dream, it is possible to follow the development of an idea, along with its outward expression, of which at first even the poet himself may not have been aware. Such analysis can provide glimpses into hitherto unrevealed intimated levels of his mind. We are then able to observe firsthand the process of one of China's foremost thinkers as he resolves the pivotal, paradoxical problem of his life, which manifested itself in some of the greatest pieces of Chinese traditional literature. We see Su Shih gradually accept his inability to fulfill his political ambition, and finally embrace his goal of leading a secluded life of idyllic simplicity, and spiritual and physical cultivation.

　　　　　蘇軾是中國文學、政治及藝術史上的一個要人物，常以豪放、開闊、曠達知名，而他一生大半都是在充滿著矛盾的心情中渡過的。他一心想在朝廷壇上有所貢獻，而另一方面又欲與其弟蘇轍共退隱，一起過著農樸的日子。這兩個志向的互相矛盾，成為其許多偉大文學作的啟發點。因而，在了解蘇軾此位重要學者之前，必先了解他如何解決其心靈的矛盾。元祐六年（１０９１），蘇軾知穎州時，夢見他置身於一個寧靜美好之處，名叫仇池。他當時沒有提到他所做的這場夢，但數年後，這場夢對他的內心思想演變的影響，變得愈來愈重要。此篇論文將由他的詩中，觀察蘇軾如何藉此場夢解決他的內心矛盾，捨其政治之途而追求精神自由的過程。