Ouyang Xiu (Chinese: 歐陽脩; pinyin: Ōuyáng Xiū; Wade–Giles: Ou-Yang Hsiu; 1007 – 1072 CE),[1] courtesy name Yongshu, also known by his art names Zuiweng (醉翁) and Liu Yi Jushi (六一居士), was a Chinese historian, calligrapher, epigrapher, essayist, poet, and politician of the Song dynasty.

As a historian, he was put in charge by Emperor Renzong of Song of creating the New Book of Tang, which was completed in 1060 CE.

He also wrote in his spare time the Historical Records of the Five Dynasties, the only book in the Twenty-Four Histories to have been written in private by a single author.

Treatises from Ouyang's voluminous œuvre range from studies of flowers to literary criticism and political commentaries.

When lead reformer Fan Zhongyan fell from power in 1045 CE, Ouyang was also demoted to posts away from the capital.

[5] Military threats from the Liao dynasty and Xi Xia in the north in 1040 caused Fan Zhongyan to come back into favor.

[6] Upon his return to government service, he was appointed to the Hanlin Academy, charged with heading the commission compiling the New Book of Tang (1060).

[8] Around the time of the ascension of Emperor Shenzong of Song in 1067, Ouyang was charged with several crimes, including having sexual relations with his daughter-in-law.

While a magistrate in Shandong, he opposed and refused to carry out reforms advocated by Wang Anshi, particularly a system of low-interest loans to farmers.

While posted in Luoyang, Ouyang founded a group who made his “ancient prose” style a public cause.

The practice of calligraphy and the appreciation of associated art objects were integral to this Daoist-like transformation of intellectual life.

[13] The Ming dynasty writer Feng Menglong recorded a possibly apocryphal anecdote regarding Ouyang's writing style in his collection of short stories Gujin Tan'gai (古今譚概).

[14] As the story goes, during one of Ouyang's trips outside the Hanlin Academy with his associates, they witnessed an unusual event: a horse became spooked, galloped down a busy street, and kicked to death a dog sleeping there.

Ouyang teased his junior colleagues, "A history book in your hands would remain incomplete after ten thousand volumes."

When asked for his own rendering, Ouyang, replying with a smile, wrote: "A galloping horse killed a dog in its path."

[15] In particular, his series of ten poems entitled West Lake Is Good set to the tune Picking Mulberries helped to popularise the genre as a vehicle for serious poetry.

During the Ming dynasty, Li Dongyang, who rose to be the highest official in the Hanlin Academy, was an admirer of Ouyang Xiu, regarding him as "an ideal example of the scholar-official committed to both public service and literary art", and praising his writings for their tranquility and propriety.