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Renzong Tiansheng eight years (1030), Jinshi. The following year, he was appointed as an official of Xijing (now Luoyang) and became a close friend of Mei He, exchanging poems with

Renzong Tiansheng eight years (1030), Jinshi. The following year, he was appointed as an official of Xijing (now Luoyang) and became a close friend of Mei He, exchanging poems with each other.

Ouyang Xiu's early political thoughts reflected the interests of the small and medium-sized landlord class and had a clear understanding of the serious economic, political and military crisis at that time. He advocated eliminating accumulated disadvantages, being generous and frugal, and seeking innovation with Fan Zhongyan and others. In his later years, with the improvement of social status, his thoughts gradually became conservative, and he resisted and ridiculed some new laws of Wang Anshi. But more realistically, Sima Guang and others have different attitudes.

Ouyang Xiu plays an important role in the history of China literature. He inherited the spirit of Han Yu's ancient prose movement. As the leader of the poetry innovation movement in Song Dynasty, his literary theory and creative achievements had a great influence on that time and later generations.

In the early Song Dynasty, in the temporarily peaceful social environment, the poetic style advocated by the aristocratic literati group flooded the literary world, which was flashy and meaningless, but it was all the rage. In order to correct the shortcomings of Quincy's style, Ouyang Xiu strongly advocated ancient Chinese prose. He loved reading Han Yu's collected works since he was a child. After he became an official, he personally revised Korean and published it all over the world.

He studied Han Yu's literary view and advocated Ming Dow's practical application. He emphasized the decisive role of Tao in writing and believed that Tao was the content, essence, form and tool of writing. Pay special attention to the cultivation of Taoism, and put forward that "Tao wins, literature is not difficult to come" (answer Wu Chong's Book of Scholars), "The purity of Tao is full of the truth of China people, and the enrichment of China people is the glory of writers" (answer the Choice of Ancestors), "Scholars should learn from the classics", so that teachers can enrich themselves with "Tao". But he also corrected some of Han Yu's prejudices. In his interpretation of Tao, he regards "things" in reality as the concrete content of Tao. He believes that the reason why learning Tao can't be done is because "indifferent to abandon Pepsi" (Answer to Scholar Wu Chong). He opposes "high words but fresh words" (the same book as Zhang Xiucai). Regarding the relationship between "Tao" and "Wen", he advocated that both "Tao" and "Wen" should be attached to "Tao", rather than "a virtuous person must have words", and cited many examples to illustrate that "a man should not be a man who speaks in poetry and books", pointing out that "words and deeds can be seen in the world." The so-called "keeping your word" means that the content should be true, the language should be literary, and the content and form should be unified. This is Ouyang Xiu's basic argument about creation.

He adopted the spirit of Han Yu's Preface to Literature, strongly advocated simple, neat, smooth and natural writing, and opposed flashy carving and eccentricity. He not only set out from reality, but also set an example with his outstanding creative achievements.

His idea was warmly endorsed by others, such as Mei and others. Later, in the official exam (invigilator), candidates were encouraged to write simple and fluent ancient Chinese. Anything that is empty, flashy or wins by strangeness is excluded. At the same time, he promoted and trained Wang Anshi, Ceng Gong, Su Shi, Su Zhe and other new writers. In this way, the poetry innovation movement he advocated won a decisive victory.

Ouyang Xiu plays an important role in the history of China literature. He vigorously advocated the poetry innovation movement, reformed the formalism style of writing and poetry from the late Tang Dynasty to the early Song Dynasty, and achieved remarkable results. Because of his great achievements in political status and prose creation, his position in the Song Dynasty was similar to that of Han Yu in the Tang Dynasty, and he was "respected by all the scholars in the world" (Su Shi's Tales of Vulgarians). He recommended and guided Wang Anshi, Ceng Gong, Su Xun, Su Shi, Su Zhe and other essayists, which had a great influence on their prose creation. Among them, Su Shi's inheritance and development of the literary style he created is the most brilliant. After the Northern Song Dynasty and the Southern Song Dynasty, many scholars praised his simple prose style. His writing style has always influenced the Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties.