Page:A Chinese Biographical Dictionary.djvu/625

606  Ou-yang Hsi 歐陽歙 (T. 正思). 1st cent. A.D. A native of 千乘 Ch'ien-ch'êng in Shantung, who came of a family of scholars and held office under Wang Mang the Usurper. Later on his fame as a philosopher and teacher attracted the notice of the first Emperor of the Han dynasty, and he was promoted to high office and ennobled. Howerer he became mixed up in some treasonable designs, and was thrown into prison, where he died.   Ou-yang Hsiu 歐陽修 (T. 永叔. H. 醉翁 and 六一居士). A.D. 1007—1072. A native of Lu-ling in Kiangsi; hence he is often called 廬陵先生. Losing his father at the age of four, he was brought up in narrow circumstances by his mother who tanght him to write with a reed. By the time he was fifteen he had already acquired some reputation, aided in part by the discovery in a box of waste paper of a bundle of Han Yü's drafts, upon which he formed his style. He could discuss history and politics with Yin Chu, and poetry with Mei Yao-ch'ên. Graduating first on the list of chin shih, he obtained employment in the capital; bnt his career was a chequered one, chiefly owing to the attitude he took up in favour of societies or associations of individuals for their common welfare, and to his spirited defence of Fan Chung-yen and others. After twelve years' service in the provinces he was entrusted with the preparation of the New History of the T'ang Dynasty, on the completion of which in 1060 he was appointed Vice President of the Board of Rites and a Chancellor in the Han-lin College, where he remained for eight years. In 1061 he became a State Counsellor and reformed the military administration, rising by 1065 to be President of the Board of War. Hostile to the innovations of Wang An-shih, in 1071 he obtained leave to retire, with the title of Junior Tutor of the Heir Apparent. Zealous for whatever he felt to be right, he never gave a thought to his own personal interests. Easy-going as an official, he was always ready 