When it comes to Ouyang Xiu, we also know that he is a great essayist in Chinese history, the initiator and leader of the ancient prose movement, so you can imagine his strength. awesome awesome, but what you may not know is that all successful people have stories in their young lives. Ouyang Xiu is also a great essayist in Chinese history, so what is Ouyang Xiu’s story? Let’s continue to analyze and uncover the secrets below!
Ouyang Xiu, also known as Yongshu and Zuiweng, and later known as Liuyi Jushi, was a famous politician and literary figure of the Northern Song Dynasty. He was one of the Eight Great Masters of the Tang and Song dynasties, and along with Han Yu, Liu Zongyuan, and Su Shi, he was known by later generations as one of the “Four Great Masters of Ancient Literature”.
In the fourth year of Jingde (1007), Ouyang Xiu was born in Mianzhou (now Mianyang, Sichuan). His father served as a military officer in Mianzhou and passed away when he was three years old. Mother Zheng had to take him to Suizhou, Hubei to seek refuge with her uncle. Uncle’s family was not wealthy either, so his mother used reeds to teach Ouyang Xiu how to read and write on the sandy land.
Although living in poverty, under the guidance of his mother, Ouyang Xiu has enjoyed reading since childhood. There are no books at home, so he often borrows books from a family surnamed Li in the south of the city and reads while copying. He is smart and diligent, so he is often able to recite a book before he finishes copying it. At the age of ten, he read the six volume “Collected Works of Mr. Changli” and became fond of Han Yu’s articles, laying a solid foundation for his future leadership of the Northern Song poetry and literature reform movement.
Ouyang Xiu’s poetry and prose works were quite sophisticated when he was young. After reading them, his uncle once said to his mother, “Sister in law, don’t worry about your family being poor and your child being young. You are a genius! One day, you will surely be able to honor your ancestors and become famous all over the world
Despite his outstanding talent, Ouyang Xiu’s path to the imperial examination was not very smooth. In the first year of the Tian Sheng era (1023) and the fourth year of the Tian Sheng era (1026), he took the imperial examination twice but failed both times.
In the seventh year of the Tian Sheng era (1029), Ouyang Xiu entered the highest academic institution of the court, the Guozijian, and achieved first place in the imperial examination. In the second year, he won first place again in the provincial examination of the Ministry of Rites and became a provincial official. This greatly boosted Ouyang Xiu’s confidence. He believed that he would definitely win the top spot in the upcoming palace examination, so he specially made a new outfit to wear when the time came. He has a classmate named Wang Gongchen at the Guangwen Museum, who is only nineteen years old and has also qualified for this palace examination. One night, Wang Gongchen mischievously put on Ouyang Xiu’s new clothes and laughed proudly, saying, “I’m wearing the top scholar robe
Unexpectedly, during the palace examination, Wang Gongchen really won the first place, and Ouyang Xiu ranked fourteenth. The chief examiner Yan Shu later told people that Ouyang Xiu failed to win first place because he was too sharp and the examiners wanted to dampen his spirit.
Although I didn’t win the top spot, being able to make it to the imperial examination is a great joy. Immediately afterwards, he welcomed another great joy in his life. In the Song Dynasty, there was a custom of “selecting a son-in-law from the ranks”, and high-ranking officials in the court liked to choose a son-in-law who could take advantage of the new imperial examination. Therefore, Ouyang Xiu’s former mentor Xu Yan chose this student as his son-in-law.
Unfortunately, Lady Xu passed away shortly after her wedding. Later, Ouyang Xiu remarried the second daughter of the late prime minister Xue Kui. Interestingly, Xue Kui’s eldest son-in-law is none other than Wang Gongchen, who participated in the palace examination together and won the top scholar. Later, Wang Gongchen’s wife passed away and he married Xue Kui’s third daughter. Ouyang Xiu joked with him, “The old son-in-law is the new son-in-law, and the big uncle is the little uncle
Of course, these are all later words. At this moment, Ouyang Xiu was full of pride and ambition. Soon after, the court appointed him as a general official, a provincial school secretary, and a left behind official in the Western Capital (Luoyang).
In March of the ninth year of the Tian Sheng era (1031 AD), Ouyang Xiu arrived in Luoyang. Soon, he became close friends with his colleagues Mei Yaochen, Yin Zhu, and others, often exchanging poems and essays together.
At that time, their superior was Qian Weiyan, who stayed behind in Xijing. Qian Weiyan is also a famous literati. He admires these talented young people and not only rarely lets them take on trivial administrative tasks, but also openly supports them in drinking and composing poetry. Ouyang Xiu and his friends got what they wanted, and became even more unrestrained.
Once, Ouyang Xiu and his colleagues were on a trip to Mount Song when they were about to descend in the evening when suddenly it started snowing. They were worried about how to get back, but Qian Weiyan’s envoy arrived. He not only brought the best chef and geisha in the mansion, but also conveyed, “There’s nothing urgent in the mansion. You don’t have to hurry back. Enjoy the snow in Mount Song
Life in Luoyang is so beautiful, Ouyang Xiu can enjoy playing, drinking, and composing poetry and essays to his heart’s content. As a young and charming man, he also met many beautiful courtesans and wrote many famous poems for them. For example, this song ‘Butterfly Lovers’:
The courtyard is deep, with willows and smoke piled up, and curtains of no weight. At the Yule Diaojian Youye location, there is no Zhangtai Road visible from the height of the building.
The rain and wind are raging in the evening of March, the door covers the dusk, and there is no plan to stay in spring. Tears streaming down her face, Hua Hua remained silent as she flew wildly across the swing.
This poem blends emotions and scenery, with a profound artistic conception, especially the last two sentences, which have always been praised. Wang Guowei believed in “The Words of the Human World” that this is a kind of “self realm”, which means “seeing things from me, so everything is colored by me”.
One afternoon, Qian Weiyan and his subordinates were having a banquet in the backyard. Mei Yaochen and others arrived early, but only Ouyang Xiu and an official prostitute arrived after a long time. Everyone looked at them, and Qian Weiyan asked the official prostitute, “Why did you come so late?” The woman replied, “The weather was too hot. I went to the cooling hall to take a nap, but when I woke up, I couldn’t find the golden hairpin. I searched for a long time but couldn’t find it, so I came late
The light thunderstorm outside the willow pond is raining, and the sound of raindrops shattering the lotus. The west corner of the small building is broken by a rainbow. Resting in a daze, waiting for the moon and Watson.
Swallows fly over to peek at the painting house, and jade hooks hang down from the curtains. The cool waves do not move and the wrinkles are flat. Water essence double pillow, with a fallen hairpin beside it horizontally.
The phrase ‘Water essence double pillows, with fallen hairpin beside’ evokes imagination and is praised by the entire audience. Qian Weiyan also said it was a good word, so he asked the woman to pour a large cup of wine to reward Ouyang Xiu and gave her a golden hairpin.
Of course, young talents like Ouyang Xiu are not just about eating, drinking, and having fun. With the support of Qian Weiyan, they had ample time to ponder over their articles, striving to break the outdated literary style of the time and promote “classical literature”. This was the beginning of the flourishing period of ancient Chinese literature creation in the Song Dynasty.
However, good days cannot last forever. Qian Weiyan has resigned and can only leave Luoyang. Ouyang Xiu and others tearfully bid farewell to Qian Weiyan.
The successor is the former prime minister Wang Shu, who is over seventy years old. Wang Shu is upright and very strict with his subordinates. He was very dissatisfied when he saw young people like Ouyang Xiu wandering around the mountains, playing in the water, drinking and reciting poetry all day long. One day, he gathered Ouyang Xiu and others together and sternly admonished them, saying, “Look at people like Kou Laigong (Kou Zhun) who have been demoted for indulging in pleasure, let alone those of you who cannot compare to Kou Laigong in talent. How dare you do this?” After hearing this lesson, everyone dared not speak up. Only Ouyang Xiu, who was young and full of energy, immediately retorted, “The reason why Kou Laigong was demoted in his later years was not because he indulged in pleasure, but because he was too old to know how to retire.” Wang Shu was choked and speechless.
In an instant, Ouyang Xiu’s three-year term had expired and he was about to leave Luoyang and return to the capital. At the farewell banquet, he wrote this poem ‘Spring in the Jade Tower’, which condensed the infinite attachment at the moment of departure into his writing:
Zunqian planned to announce his return date, but he wanted to speak to Chunrong before swallowing it harshly. Life is full of infatuation, and this hatred is not related to wind and moon.
Let’s leave the song and not make any new changes, a song can teach our intestines to form knots. It is easy to part ways with the spring breeze when you have seen all the flowers of Los Angeles.
This poem contains a heavy sense of sorrow amidst its grandeur and boldness. When Wang Guowei mentioned this poem in his book “The Words of the Human World,” he said that it “has a calm demeanor amidst boldness, so it is particularly high.
The years of living in Luoyang not only laid the literary foundation for Ouyang Xiu’s life, but also became the most beautiful memory of Ouyang Xiu’s life. He has been reminiscing about his life in Luoyang in his poetry, and even when he was later demoted, he still wrote affectionately: “Once a guest of Luoyang flowers, Ye Fang didn’t need to sigh even though she was late
