Artists › Painters and Calligraphers
Ouyang Xun
Early Tang calligrapher whose severe, angular regular script is seen in the Jiuchenggong Liquan stele, and co-editor of the encyclopedia Yiwen leiju
A desk holds an unrolled sheet bearing three bold black ink strokes, with a rack of many brushes above it, a stone ink slab and ink stick, a porcelain bowl, a red lacquer box, a dish of red seal paste and a paperweight; a small seated figure shows through a round window onto bamboo.
Also known as Zi Xinben · Ouyang Lugeng
Ouyang Xun, courtesy name Xinben, came from Linxiang in Tanzhou. His father, Ouyang He, governor of Guangzhou under the Chen, was executed for rebellion, and Ouyang Xun, who should have died with him, was spared and raised by his father's friend Jiang Zong, who taught him letters. Plain-featured but quick-witted and well read, he became an erudite of the Court of Sacrifices under the Sui, was friendly with Li Yuan, and served the new Tang as a supervising secretary. In 624 he, Pei Ju and Chen Shuda completed the hundred-juan encyclopedia Yiwen leiju by imperial order. His calligraphy grew from Wang Xizhi's models into a taut, angular style; Koguryo sent envoys to obtain his writing, and Emperor Gaozu marvelled that his fame had reached foreign lands. Under Taizong he became steward of the crown prince's household and a scholar of the Hongwen academy, and in 632 he wrote out Wei Zheng's text for the Jiuchenggong Liquan stele. He died in 641, past eighty.
Life and times
Dates c. 557 CE–641 CE