Ouyang Xiu

Introduction

“Encircling Chu-zhou all around are mountains. The wooded gorges of the various peaks to the southwest are overwhelmingly lovely. The one that stands out in the view, rising thick with dense growth, is Lang-ya Mountain…As the path turns with the bend of the cliff, there is a pavilion, its wings outspread, standing beside the stream; and this is the Pavilion of the Drunken Old Man…

The pavilion of the Drunken Old Man

Who was it that gave the pavilion its name? This was the governor himself…when he had gotten a little drunk, he…gave himself the nickname “Drunken Old Man”. The Drunken Old Man’s interest was not in the wine itself but in being here amid the mountains and waters. The delight in mountains and waters was first found in the heart and then lodged temporarily in the wine… Then the evening sun is in the mountains…this is the governor going home and his guests following…The other people may experience the delight of coming to visit this place with the governor, but they do not experience the governor’s delight in their delight. The person who in drunkenness can share their delight and who, sobering up, can give an account of it in writing is the governor. And who is the governor? Ou Yang Xiu of Lu-ling.” [Owen 1996, pp 613-14]

Biographical Sketch

I am that drunken old man. In years to come, they would call me one of the most important people of China for my day. It didn't seem that way to me though. I didn't seek for power, wealth or fame. All I aimed for was to live a good life following the precepts of the one you call Confucius as best I could.

File:Ou Yang Xiu.jpg

Ou Yang Xiu

Let's start with a few basic facts.

I was born (yes- I was born, the same as any man) in 1007 AD, in Mian, Sichuan. My father died when I was young and my mother was left to raise me alone. I lived a fairly wild youth (you have a phase that describes well my goals of those years, Wine, Women and Song). I did not settle down until I was thirty. Such wisdom as I found in later years, brought me to regret the time I wasted in those early years. But when I was young, ah, then I had no regrets. I passed the jinshi exam at age 22. Yes, I was first that year, but it was my third try at the examination. I then went on to hold various offices until 1052, when I temporarily retired due to the death of my mother. After a suitable period of mourning, I returned to political offices until 1071 when I retired for real. I died the next year, 1072. This was my life, and for this they call me the “Dominant cultural figure and first representative of Song Literature” ? (Owen, 1996, pp 684)

I prefer the title of Drunken Old Man.

Public Life

In my public life, I was a historian, politician, antiquarian and epigrapher

In my more private moments, I was a literary critic and a writer- but I'll say more about that later.

Politician

My Career:

• I was first appointed as a Judge in Luoyang.
• Collector of Texts in Kaifeng in 1034.
• In 1041 I was assigned to catalog the Imperial Library.
• In 1043 I was demoted and served the next several years as a provincial magistrate.
• In 1049, I returned to the Capital as an adviser.
• My mother died in 1052. I temporarily retired to properly mourn her.
• I then returned to take up a post in the Hanlin Academy.
• In 1060, I was Vice Commissioner of Military Affairs, Vice Minister of Revenues, Assistant Chief Councilor, Song Ambassador to Liao, Examiner of the jinshi exam and I still held my post with the Hanlin Academy. (You know, now that I think about it, I guess I was one of the most powerful men in the Empire, for awhile anyway.)
• I retired from public service in 1071.

That's enough about my career. On to the stuff I really enjoyed doing!

Antiquarian and Epigrapher

I liked to collect things, especially books and bronze inscriptions. I had quite a collection. With regard to my collections, I once described myself as the “Resident of 6 Ones”. These “6 ones” were: My collection of 10,000 books

My collection of 1,000 Bronzes

My wine pot

My chess set

My Qin (an old stringed instrument- somewhat like a zither)

and- one old drunkard (myself)

(I'm told that my collection of inscriptions, and the attached colophons, became a foundation text for Chinese epigraphy. And here I thought I was just collecting stuff I liked.) (Owen, 1996: pp554)

Historian

If you would like to know where you are going, you must first know where you have been. Our dynasty, the Song, was still in its early years when I was asked to write the “New Tang History” (completed in 1060). Later I also wrote the "New History of Five Dynasties”.

I tried to write the best history I could. Before me, the histories were written by men who chose to just record what others had written before them. I looked beyond the usual government documents. I included works of fiction and historical anecdotes in my histories. I strove for precision in my words in order to convey moral meanings to those who would read the histories. (De Bary & Bloom,1999: pp652-53)

Private Life

I was a Literary Critic

I wrote a small book, “Remarks on Poetry”, and this started a new style of literary review. I also wrote my own commentary on the “Classic of Poetry”

I was also known for my writing- prose, poetry and song lyrics.

Sample of OuYang Xiu's calligraphy

Prose, Poetry and Song: I was a writer

The Introduction is an example of my prose.

Here is an sample of my poetry.

White Egret

Splashing on stones, the rapids’ sounds

are like the drums of battle,

a surface of waves that toss the sky

seem like silver hills.

When rapids leap and waves smash

in wind as well as rain,

it stands there alone with dignity

thoughts even more serene. (Owen, 1996: pp688)

And this is a sample of my songs-

to “Immortal by the River”

Beyond the willows soft thunder,

rain upon the pond,

and the sounds of rain as it splatters

lotuses to shreds

By the small tower’s west corner

a broken rainbow bright,

where we lean upon the railing

waiting for moonlight.

The swallows come in flying,

peer from rafters and beams,

from a jade hook dangles the curtain sash.

Motionless ripples of coolness,

the bedmat’s patterns flat.

There a pair of crystal pillows

and beside them, a fallen hairpin.(Owen, 1996: pp570)

In the words of one of my successors, nearly 500 years after I died, I was-

“…an ideal example of the scholar-official committed to both public service and literary art.” Li Dongyang (1447-1516) Highest official in the Hanlin Academy) (Chang & Owen, pp27)

That seems a bit excessive to me. I was far from "ideal". I'm somewhat surprised that they even remembered me 500 years after I died. All I wanted was to live a good, upright and moral life, and to help others desire to do the same. "Ideal"? Look to the ancients if you want "ideal" examples. I was just a plain old drunken man.

Works Cited

Chang, Kang-I & Owen, Stephen. "The Cambridge History of Chinese Literature Volume Two From 1375". New York, Cambridge University Press, 2010. De Barry, Theodore & Bloom, Irene. "Sources of Chinese Tradition From earliest times to 1600 Volume One". New York, Columbia University Press, 1999, 2d ed.

Ebrey, Patrica Buckley. "The Cambridge Illustrated History of China". New York, Cambridge University Press, 2010, 2d ed.

Owen, Stephen. "An anthology of Chinese Literature Beginnings to 1911". New York, W.W. Norton & Company, Inc, 1996.