Ouyang Xiu died at the age of four, and his mother Zheng personally taught Ouyang Xiu to study. Because my family is poor, I can only use reeds as pens and write in school. In his early years, Ouyang Xiu was brilliant and never forgets his reading. He is straightforward and brave by nature, even if he knows there is an ambush ahead, he has no scruples to expose it. His official career was not smooth, and he was exiled many times, and his ambition to be an official remained the same. After he was demoted to Yiling, there was no way to kill time, so he repeatedly checked the old case and found countless unjust, false and wrong cases, so he sighed and said, "This is a desolate and remote town. Even so, the world situation could have been known. " From then on, I dare not neglect anything. In all the counties he governed, he did not see severe measures, and he did not seek fame. He is tolerant and simple, and does not disturb the people, so the people in the place where he comes have convenient life. Someone asked: "governance is tolerant and simple, but the office is not lax." Why? " The answer is: "indulgence is tolerance, neglect is simplicity, then political affairs will be abandoned and the people will be adversely affected." When I say tolerance, I mean that there is no sense of urgency when taxing, and simplicity is to get rid of cumbersome forms. "
Ouyang Xiu's articles are brilliant, concise and fluent, and the number of words is just right. On the argument, it is simple, clear, accurate and reasonable, good at analyzing different problems in connection with things, expounding profound truth and refuting its mistakes, which is very convincing. His extraordinary originality and unconstrained style are unmatched by others, so everyone in the world follows his example and respects him. He is afraid of falling behind, and most of the people he appreciates and recommends have become world celebrities. Su Shi and Su Zhe, sons of Ceng Gong, Wang Anshi, Su Xun and Su Xun, are all unknown, so Ouyang Xiu hyped up his fame and thought that he would be famous in the future. Commenting on his article, Su Shi said: "His argument is similar to that of Han Yu, and his discussion on political affairs can be compared with that of Lu Zhi. His narrative of historical facts is like Sima Qian, and his poems can be compared with Li Bai. " Learned people think this sentence is very wise.
I translated it myself, which may be inaccurate. Please give me more advice.