I. Introduction to the author
Ouyang Xiu was a writer, politician and calligrapher in the Northern Song Dynasty. He was born in poverty, but with the spirit of being diligent and eager to learn, he became famous at a young age. Literary creation involves many genres, such as prose, poetry and ci-fu, among which prose is the most outstanding achievement. The prose style is simple and natural, and the argument is sharp, so it is called one of the "Eight Masters in Tang and Song Dynasties" by later generations.
He is also a famous calligrapher, good at regular script and running script, and his calligraphy works are widely praised. Ouyang Xiu's political career was also quite successful. He used to be an official of the Prime Minister and was famous for his honesty and integrity. He is also a famous cultural protector, who presided over the compilation of the Book of the New Tang Dynasty and the History of the New Five Dynasties, which provided valuable information for the cultural research of later generations.
Second, the story of the oil seller.
It tells the story of an old man who is good at pouring oil. With his skill and wisdom, he showed his talent by pouring oil. In the story, the old man took out a gourd, put it on the ground, took out a copper coin from his wallet, cocked his mouth and poured oil into the gourd.
Skilled technique, oil flows out from the mouth of the gourd, but money is not wet. This performance shows the superb skills and wisdom of the old man. The theme of the story is "Practice makes perfect", which emphasizes that mastery can only be achieved through constant practice and hard work. This story also tells us that even in an ordinary post, you can make extraordinary achievements as long as you work hard.
Ouyang Xiu's Historical Position and Representative Works
I. Historical position
Ouyang Xiu is an important figure in the literary history of the Song Dynasty. He has high attainments in poetry, prose, calligraphy and painting. Poetry is famous for its freshness, elegance and femininity, while prose is famous for its grandeur and freedom.
In the literary history of Song Dynasty, Ouyang Xiu had a high historical position. He is not only a literary leader, but also a politician and reformer. He actively participated in politics and advocated reform, which made important contributions to the development of the Song Dynasty.
Second, representative works
Ouyang Xiu has many representative works, such as Zuiwengting Ji, Qiusheng Fu, Raw Tea Son, Oil Man and so on.
Zuiweng Pavilion is one of Ouyang Xiu's representative works. It's a narrative, describing the interesting things that happened when he and his friends stayed at Zuiweng Pavilion. Through the description of characters, environment and other details, the author's superb literary skills and profound humanistic feelings are displayed.
Ode to Autumn Sound is an essay by Ouyang Xiu. Through the description of autumn, it shows the author's feelings about nature and his thinking about life.
Raw Tea Son is an essay by Ouyang Xiu, which tells his childhood memories and youth experiences, and reflects the social ills and people's hard life in the Northern Song Dynasty. This is a literary work full of life and emotion.