Ouyang Xiu was the leader of the poetry innovation movement in the Northern Song Dynasty.
His literary achievements are highest and most influential in prose.
He inherited the spirit of Han Yu's ancient prose movement and put forward the idea that literature can clarify Tao in prose theory.
He adopted Han Yu's spirit of "writing according to order", vigorously advocated a simple, methodical, smooth and natural style of writing, and opposed embellished, eccentric and obscure writing styles.
Not only was he able to put forward plain prose theories based on reality, but he also set an example with his highly accomplished creative achievements.
Ouyang Xiu wrote more than 500 essays in his life, including political essays, historical essays, narrative essays, lyrical essays and notebooks, etc., all in various genres.
Most of his prose is rich in content and vigorous, with an artistic style that is easy, natural, smooth and tactful.
The narration is both euphemistic and concise; the discussion is slow but full of inherent logical power.
The legal structure is both flexible and very strict.
"On Clique", "New History of the Five Dynasties: Preface to the Biography of Lingguan", "Admonishment to Gao Si", "Drunkard Pavilion", "Fengle Pavilion", "Longgang Qianbiao" etc., are all masterpieces that have been passed down through the generations.
Ouyang Xiu also pioneered the creation of notebooks in the Song Dynasty, and his "Return to the Fields", "Bi Shuo", "Testing the Writing", etc. are all famous.
Ouyang Xiu's Fu is also very distinctive. The famous "Autumn Sound Fu" uses various metaphors to describe the invisible sound of autumn so vividly that it makes people seem to hear it.
This Fu changed the "regular style" since the Tang Dynasty to "San style", which is of pioneering significance for the development of Fu.
Ouyang Xiu's poetry creation is not as successful as his prose, but it is also very distinctive. Many of his poems reflect the suffering of the people and reveal the darkness of society; he also discusses current affairs in his poems and criticizes corrupt politics.
But what he wrote more and more successfully were poems that expressed personal feelings and landscapes.
His poetry was mainly influenced by Han Yu in art.
Generally speaking, the styles are diverse.
Ouyang Xiu was also good at discussing poetry. In the "Preface to the Collection of Poems by Mei Shengyu", he put forward the argument that poetry "comes from the poor and then works", developed the poetry theories of Du Fu and Bai Juyi, and exerted influence on the poetry creation at that time and in later generations. had a great impact.
His "June 1 Poetry Talk" is the first poetry talk in the history of Chinese literature. It comments on poetry in a casual and friendly way, becoming a new form of poetry discussion.
Ouyang Xiu is also good at writing lyrics. The main contents are still love and lovesickness, drunken songs, cherishing spring, flower appreciation, etc. He is especially good at describing scenes and expressing emotions with fresh and light brushwork.
There are also some erotic poems, although they are about men and women dating, they are also simple and vivid.
Ouyang Xiu has made achievements in classics, history, epigraphy and other fields.
He studied "Poetry", "Yi" and "Spring and Autumn" and was able to put forward his own original ideas without adhering to the opinions of his predecessors.
His historical attainments are deeper than Confucian classics. In addition to participating in the compilation of 250 volumes of "New Book of Tang", he also wrote "New History of the Five Dynasties", which summarizes the historical experience of the Five Dynasties and intends to draw lessons from it.
He was diligent in collecting, sorting out epigraphic artifacts, inscriptions and inscriptions from the Zhou Dynasty to the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and compiled it into a special collection of archaeological materials - "Collection of Ancient Records".
Ouyang Xiu plays an important role in the history of Chinese literature. He vigorously advocated the poetic innovation movement, reformed the literary style and poetic style from the late Tang Dynasty to the early Song Dynasty, and achieved remarkable results.
Due to his political status and great achievements in prose creation, his status in the Song Dynasty was similar to that of Han Yu in the Tang Dynasty.
He recommended and guided essayists such as Wang Anshi, Zeng Gong, Su Xun, Su Shi, and Su Che, and had a great influence on their prose creation.
His simple writing style has continued to influence the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties.
Ouyang Xiu's writings can be found in "The Complete Works of Ouyang Wenzhonggong". His life story is appended to the "Chronicle of Ouyang Wenzhonggong in Luling" written by Hu Ke of the Song Dynasty.
There are also "Annals of Ouyang Wenzhonggong" by Yang Ximin of the Qing Dynasty, and "Additional Chronicles of Ouyang Wenzhong" by Hua Ziheng.