Ouyang Xun (557--641) was born in Linxiang, Tanzhou (now Changsha, Hunan). Dr. Taichang, an official in the Sui Dynasty, was granted the title of Prince Shugengling in the Tang Dynasty, also known as "Ouyang Shugeng". Because his son Ouyang Tong was also good at calligraphy, he was also called "Da Ou". In the Sui Dynasty, Ouyang Xun's calligraphy enjoyed a high reputation. In the Tang Dynasty, Ouyang Xun, who was nearly seventy years old, was still teaching calligraphy at the "Hongwen Museum". Ouyang Xun's eight styles of calligraphy are exquisite, his regular calligraphy is rigorous, and his writing power is unparalleled in the world. He is called the best regular calligraphy among the Tang Dynasty people. He and Yu Shinan were both famous for their calligraphy in the early Tang Dynasty, and they were both called "Ou Yu".
It is recorded in historical records that Xun learned calligraphy for the first time, but he passed it by a steep margin. Legend has it that Ouyang Xun once paid a lot of money to buy the "Zhigui Tu" used by Wang Xizhi to teach his children to practice calligraphy, and he copied and studied it day and night. Another time when he went out with Yu Shinan, he saw a stele written by Suo Jing, a calligrapher of the Jin Dynasty. He sat on the ground and carefully observed, traced and studied next to the stele for three days. This shows Ouyang Xun's deep interest in calligraphy. Later, he extensively studied the tablets and stone carvings of the Northern Dynasties. At the same time, he absorbed the strengths of some local calligraphers, and then integrated them into the writing style of official script, forming a calligraphy style of "vigorous, dangerous, and strict". Later generations used the book to find out the dangers in the ordinary, and it was the easiest for beginners to learn, so it was named "European style" (also known as "Shuigeng style"). His "Jiucheng Palace Liquan Inscription" can be said to be the pinnacle of European regular script; his major works include "Inscription on the Yong Zen Master's Pagoda in Huadu Temple", "Yu Gonggong Wen Yanbo's Monument", "Huangfu's Birthday Monument", "Dream Ceremony Calligraphy","Jiucheng Palace Liquan Inscription"Let's be famous in the world.
Ouyang Xun's calligraphy combines the characteristics of Han Li and Jin Dynasty regular scripts, and also incorporates the six dynasties' inscriptions. It can be said that Ouyang Xun's calligraphy draws on the strengths of each calligraphy school. The main characteristics of Ouyang Xun's calligraphy style are rigorous and neat, upright and vigorous. Although the font is slightly longer, the intervals are white, neat and rigorous, the middle palace is tight, and the main stroke is elongated, which makes it appear vigorous and unrestrained, sparse and dense, all sides are well prepared, eight sides are exquisite, the charm is vivid and just right. The combination of stipples and the structural arrangement are flat in the center but steep and strong. Most of the fonts expand to the right, but the center of gravity is still very stable and there is no sense of inclination, so it has the interest of combining danger with uprightness.
