One of the 唐宋八大家, who championed younger writers, above all 苏轼. Pupils learn his 醉翁亭记, source of 醉翁之意不在酒, 'the old drunkard's mind is not on the wine'.
Ouyang Xiu called himself 'the Old Drunkard', and he also wrote 'The Old Drunkard's Pavilion'.
Tips
culture
He ran the 1057 civil exams and used them to reward plain classical prose. After reading 苏轼, who passed that year, he wrote to a friend that he would step aside and let him 出一头地, the origin of 出人头地 'to stand out above others'.
history
As a historian he wrote the annals, treatises and tables of the 《新唐书》, leaving the biographies to 宋祁, and compiled the 《新五代史》 privately on his own.
