Hello everyone, this is the editor of History Encyclopedia. Today, I will tell you the story of Ouyang Xun. Welcome to follow us.
Ouyang Xun was a famous calligrapher of the Tang Dynasty, along with Yan Zhenqing and Liu Gongquan. Even today, their regular script remains a model of calligraphy. The standard regular script for modern printing or electronic displays is actually based on the European font as a template.
However, Ouyang Xun, who was remembered by later generations for his beauty in calligraphy, almost became a laughingstock during his lifetime due to his ugly appearance. At that time, the Grand Commandant of the court, Changsun Wuji, had a poem specifically for him: ‘Who said on the Lin Pavilion, draw this monkey?’. Mock him for being as ugly as a monkey.
The New Book of Tang records that Ouyang Xun only used the three words “appearance sleeping quarters” when it comes to appearance, but behind these few words, how many people feel embarrassed?
In the tenth year of the Zhenguan reign, Empress Dowager Taizong of Tang passed away. As part of the national mourning ceremony, all civil and military officials gathered together to pay their respects. Ouyang Xun was lost in grief when suddenly he burst out laughing. Everyone looked around and saw Xu Jingzong standing next to him, laughing heartily.
It turned out that when Xu Jingzong saw the ugly appearance of Ouyang Xun, his face twitched and cried like a monkey, and he couldn’t hold back his laughter.
The situation was very awkward. Ouyang Xun was also confused. He didn’t expect that he could suffer such an unfounded disaster just by focusing on mourning.
Although Xu Jingzong, who was talented but lacked virtue, was ultimately punished with rudeness by Li Shimin and demoted from official position. But as far as the current trend goes, it can be imagined that Ouyang Xun has become a laughingstock for others to make fun of in person, or a topic of conversation after meals, but it is inevitable and cannot be washed away.
This kind of mockery even expanded infinitely, to the point of tarnishing the arrangement of Ouyang Xun’s family background.
Legendary novels were popular in the Tang Dynasty.
And one of them, “Bu Jiang Zong Bai Yuan Ji”, arranged “Jiang Zong’s White Ape”, this story smears Ouyang Xun’s background:
Ouyang Xun’s father, when Nanliang was an official, joined the army to conquer the southwest, and he accompanied his beautiful wife. The general has many doubts and suggests that he do a good job of defense to avoid being taken advantage of.
But the more you worry, the more likely it will happen. One day, your wife suddenly disappeared without a trace. Ouyang He was extremely anxious and searched extensively for several months, but never found anything. Suddenly one day, Ouyang Xun found a place that was like a paradise on earth. There, I saw many beautiful women and enjoyed a wide range of delicious food and drinks, making it a great place to indulge in pleasure.
Originally, a white ape lived here and abducted many human women. These women told him that his wife has also been here for several months and is bedridden due to illness. Please ask Ouyang Xun to rescue them.
Set up a plan to suppress apes, cooperate with the women internally and externally, and lead the army to attack and eliminate the White Ape in one fell swoop. White Ape prayed on his deathbed: Your wife is pregnant, do not kill that child. He will encounter a wise monarch in the future, who will glorify your clan.
I had no child at all, but with another act of kindness, I kept this child. Later, Ouyang Mou rebelled and was executed, and the child born to Bai Yuan was adopted by Ouyang He’s friend Jiang Zong.
This story is a masterpiece of Tang Dynasty legend and fully embodies the modern definition of a novel. The description of the environment, battle details, and plot is as realistic as reality.
But deliberately slandering Ouyang Xun’s background, claiming that he was born of a monkey, is essentially due to the reality that Ouyang Xun’s appearance is not good. Three people make a tiger, because of his ugly appearance, everyone is saying that he looks like a monkey. So it seems reasonable that he eventually became ‘monkey born’.
The widespread dissemination of legends may make Ouyang Xun a joke in the eyes of the world.
However, in the face of this storm of public opinion, in fact, manpower is sometimes scarce. As modern people, we may have a better understanding of how violent speech can be and how powerless those who are subjected to it can be.
We don’t know what psychological activities Ouyang Xun had in the face of this situation before his death. I don’t know if he is holding back or indifferent, arguing with reason or pretending not to know. But what we know is that at least Ouyang Xun did not lose himself or give up his life because of this.
Ouyang Xun was deeply immersed in calligraphy throughout his life, and his achievements in calligraphy left a lasting impression in history, which in turn reminded future generations and only left a lasting impression on his generation of masters.
There is a feeling of turning the world around with some force.
Even the New Book of Tang records the biography of Ouyang Xun, which only uses three words to briefly describe his appearance. But perhaps it was Ouyang Xiu, the author of the New Book of Tang, who, due to the same surname, harbored deep emotions and couldn’t bear it?
In short, Ouyang Xun became a joke due to his ugly appearance, but in later generations, he reversed the situation and left a reputation as a calligraphy master due to his beautiful handwriting. I can’t help but say it’s a very inspirational life.
