Ouyang Xiu

Ouyang Xiu (1007–1072), courtesy name Yongshu, styled Zuiweng and later Liuyi Jushi, was a native of Yongfeng in Jizhou (present-day Ji'an, Jiangxi). A statesman, man of letters and historian of the Northern Song dynasty, he was one of the Eight Great Prose Masters of the Tang and Song and a leader of the Northern Song movement to reform poetry and prose. He held that writing should illuminate the Way and serve practical ends, and his plain, natural style deeply influenced later prose. In historiography he was chief editor of the New Book of Tang and sole author of the New History of the Five Dynasties. He rose to Vice Privy Councillor and Assistant Administrator and received the posthumous title Wenzhong. The collection holds 30 of his works, including complete collections, poetry and prose anthologies, the notebook Guitian Lu and historical writings.