24 Facts About Ouyang Xiu

Ouyang Xiu, courtesy name Yongshu, known by his art names Zuiweng and Liu Yi Jushi, was a Chinese historian, calligrapher, epigrapher, essayist, poet, and politician of the Song dynasty.

Ouyang Xiu was a renowned writer among his contemporaries and is considered the central figure of the Eight Masters of the Tang and Song.

Ouyang Xiu revived the Classical Prose Movement and promoted it in imperial examinations, paving the way for future masters like Su Shi and Su Zhe.

Ouyang Xiu wrote in his spare time the Historical Records of the Five Dynasties, the only book in the Twenty-Four Histories to have been written in private by a single author.

Politically, Ouyang Xiu was one of the major proponents of the Qingli Reforms of the 1040s.

When lead reformer Fan Zhongyan fell from power in 1045 CE, Ouyang Xiu was demoted to posts away from the capital.

Ouyang Xiu returned to the central government only in 1054, and gradually moved up the bureaucratic ladder again, until in 1060 he was made the assistant councilor of the state.

Ouyang Xiu retired from politics in 1071, after vehemently opposing the New Policies of Wang Anshi, whose career he very much helped.

Ouyang Xiu was born in Sichuan, where his father was a judge, though his family came from present-day Jishui, Jiangxi.

Ouyang Xiu's family was relatively poor, not coming from one of the old great lineages of Chinese society.

Ouyang Xiu was unable to afford traditional tutoring and was largely self-taught.

Ouyang Xiu passed the jinshi degree exam in 1030 on his third attempt at the age of 22.

Ouyang Xiu was later demoted as well for his defense of Fan, an action that brought him to the attention of other reform-minded people.

Ouyang Xiu returned briefly to court in 1049 but was forced to serve a two-year sabbatical during the mourning period for his mother, who died in 1052.

Ouyang Xiu served as Song ambassador to the Liao on annual visits and served as examiner of the jinshi examinations, working on improving them in the process.

Ouyang Xiu is listed as one of the Eight Masters of the Tang and Song.

Ouyang Xiu led the commission compiling the New Book of Tang, which completed its work in 1060.

Ouyang Xiu wrote New History of the Five Dynasties on his own following his official service.

The Ming dynasty writer Feng Menglong recorded a possibly apocryphal anecdote regarding Ouyang Xiu's writing style in his collection of short stories Gujin Tan'gai.

Ouyang Xiu challenged his two associates to express this event in writing.

Ouyang Xiu's poems are generally relaxed, humorous and often self-deprecatory; he gave himself the title The Old Drunkard.

Ouyang Xiu's shi are stripped down to the essentials emphasised in the early Tang period, eschewing the ornate style of the late Tang.

Ouyang Xiu used an innovative style containing elements that he had learned from his prose writing.

Ouyang Xiu's influence was so great, even opponents like Wang Anshi wrote moving tributes on his behalf.