In 557, Ou Yangxun was born in Hengzhou. His grandfather Ouyang was a general separated from Nanliang, and his father Ouyang Yang was a general of Guangzhou. Ou Yangxun lost his father at an early age and was adopted by his father's friends.
He is clever and diligent, and reads several lines at the same time. When he was a teenager, he was proficient in Historical Records, Han Shu, Dong Guan Han Ji, especially calligraphy, almost to the point of obsession.
Ou Yangxun first imitated Wang Xizhi when practicing calligraphy. He bought the Mo Bao study of Wang Xizhi's father and son.
One day, he saw the map of Gui Zhi that Wang Xizhi taught Wang Xianzhi. He bought it at a high price and kept it at home to watch and learn every day. He is often too happy to sleep all night. He studied it for a whole month until he understood the essence of Gui Zhi's diagram.
It is said that Ou Yangxun once came back from missionary work, rode through a wild field, and found a stone tablet written by Suo Jing, a calligrapher of the Western Jin Dynasty, in the grass. He stopped to watch for a long time, unwilling to leave. After a few miles, I came back, dismounted and sat in front of the tablet to watch carefully, and realized the beauty of Suo Jing's cursive script.
That night, he returned to his residence and stayed up all night thinking about the stone tablet he saw during the day. The next day, at dawn, he rode to the stone tablet again, trying to figure it out again and again, spreading out the papers and copying them one by one. In this way, he kept by the monument for three days and three nights, and he was glad to leave until Suo Jing's cursive script was comprehensive and clear.
Later, Ou Yangxun finally found his own way. In particular, his bold and vigorous block letters and rigorous statutes were regarded as the standard by later calligraphers and handed down as "European style".
In the Tang Dynasty, Shu Duan, a Calligraphy Criticism Book, said:
Seek the best, the pen is strong and dangerous. Seal script is particularly refined, flying white crown, superior to the ancients. Disturbed the image of the dragon and snake fighting, the cloud is as light as a cage, just like a god. The book of true behavior is out of order and incomplete. As dense as an armory spear and halberd, Shen Feng is stricter than wise and brave, not as good as Shinan. His cursive script has been circulated repeatedly and can be regarded as two kings. But he was surprised and did not avoid danger, and was hurt by Qing.
Xuanhe Pu Shu in Song Dynasty also praised Ou Yangxun's regular script as "the crown of calligraphy".
According to historical records, Ou Yangxun is ugly, but his calligraphy is world-famous. People are scrambling to get his handwritten letters, and once they get them, they will regard them as treasures and take them as their examples.
During the Tang Wude period, North Korea sent envoys to Chang 'an to ask for Ou Yangxun's calligraphy. Tang Gaozu Tang Gaozu sighed: "I didn't expect Ou Yangxun's reputation to be so great that even Yidi in the distance knew it. When they see Ou Yangxun's handwriting, they must think he is a big man! "
Ou Yangxun is not only a great calligrapher, but also a calligraphy theorist. In the long-term practice of calligraphy, he summed up eight methods of practicing and learning Chinese characters:
Such as falling rocks on the peak, crescent moon in the sky, thousands of miles of clouds, long-lived vines, pine trees, cliffs, crossbows, sharp swords breaking rhinoceros horns, and writing.
Ou Yangxun's Tactics of Teaching Calligraphy, Theory of Using Calligraphy, Eight Methods and Thirty-six Methods are all summaries of his own experience in learning calligraphy, which specifically summarize the formal skills and aesthetic requirements of calligraphy, such as using calligraphy, structure and composition, and are valuable heritages of calligraphy theory.
The full name of Huangfushengchen Tablet is Huangfushengchen Tablet, which was written by Dr. Zuo Guanglu of Sui Dynasty. Also known as Huangfujun tablet. This is the work of Ou Yangxun when he was young. There is no date when the monument will be erected. Later, this monument has been hidden in Chang 'an, Tang Dou.
The representative work of Ou Yangxun's inscription in regular script is Wei Zheng's Inscription of Liquan in Jiucheng Palace, which was built in 623. Calligraphy is rigorous and vigorous, and does not take a posture.
The full name of the inscription in the regular script "Yugong Gongbei" is "Tang Gu devoted himself to the right servant of Shangshu to shoot Yugong's official document Gongbei", also known as "Wenyan Bobei". Ou Yangxun was 80 years old when he wrote this inscription. The monument was built in 637. In addition, there is the full name of the inscription on the pagoda of Huadu Temple, which is the inscription on the Buddhist pagoda of Huadu Temple.
In addition to the inscription, Ou Yangxun's "Zhang Hansi's Habitat Column" is 25.5 cm long and 33 cm wide. This post, also known as Ying Ji Post, is a short biography written by Ou Yangxun for Hans Zhang. It belongs to the running script, *** 10 lines, each line is 9 to 1 1 word. The font is slender and rigorous, the pen is stiff and straight, and the style is flat and steep. It is a masterpiece in European books.
After this post, there are inscriptions by Song Huizong and Evonne, which were hidden in Xuanhe Neifu in the Northern Song Dynasty, Neifu in the Southern Song Dynasty and Neifu in the Qing Dynasty. See the descriptions in Xuanhe Pu Shu, Mohuan Guan Hui and Daguanlu. During the reign of Emperor Qianlong of Qing Dynasty, the Fa Tie of Sanxitang was engraved, showing its preciousness.
Ou Yangxun's "Zhong Ni Monti Tie" is known as "the first regular script in China" and is listed as one of the top ten famous posts handed down from generation to generation in China.
Ou Yangxun's Shang Bo Post, a paper book, is 25.2cm high and16.5cm horizontal, with 6 lines of running script and 53 words. There is a seal of Xuanhe Neifu, on which there is a thin gold word: "In my later years, I was vigorous in writing and had the wind of law enforcement. I rose from the lonely peak and was cut on all sides, which lived up to my reputation."
Shang Bo is a disciple of Confucius. His name is Xia Zi. He defended the country in the Spring and Autumn Period. He studied under Confucius, and there were always questions and answers between teachers and students, which was very philosophical.
The Shang Bo Post is full of color, vitality and sharp writing. The thinness and elegance in Ou Yangxun's regular script is transformed into sharp brushstrokes here, and it seems that there is also Fang Bi in northern calligraphy. However, the pen and ink are fresh, the brushwork is full and plump, and the style of writing is simple and graceful, which is very different from that of Wang Xizhi or Wang Xianzhi, who was popular at that time. As the A Qing poet Wu Sheng wrote in the postscript of Daguanlu: "The brushwork is vigorous, and the pen and ink are fresh and moist."
This post was hidden in the royal family of Xuanhe, Song Huizong in the Song Dynasty, and was owned by Angie in the Qing Dynasty. Later, it became the treasure of emperor Qianlong's imperial palace and was compiled into the book "Grand View of Law Books".
In Ou Yangxun's view, everything should be elegant and solemn, and all changes should fully, solidly and completely conform to the written law, and tend to be perfect. Therefore, even if he is bold and unrestrained occasionally, such as his "Thousands of Characters in Running Script" and "Thousands of Characters in Cursive Script", he still maintains a statute of no more than one millimeter.
Ouyang Tong, a master of words. His fourth son, his father died when he was very young, and his mother Xu taught him to learn to inherit his father's calligraphy.
Afraid of her son being lazy, she refused to learn calligraphy, so she often gave Ouyang Tong some money to buy the ink left by her father. After Ouyang Tong bought the ink, he studied the copy carefully like a treasure, and made up his mind that his own words could also be bought and collected like his father.
After years of hard study, Ouyang Tong really inherited his father's calligraphy, and people called their father and son's calligraphy "big and small Ouyang style".