A Chinese Biographical Dictionary/Ou-yang Hsün

by Herbert A. Giles

1594 Ou-yang Hsün 歐陽询 (T. 信本). A.D. 557-645. A native of 臨湘 Lin-hsiang in Hunan, whose father was put to death for rebellion and who was brought up during his early youth in concealment. He was exceedingly clever, and possessed the useful faculty of being able to read several columns of a book at a glance. He entered the service of the Sui dynasty; and when the first Emperor of the T'ang dynasty, who had previously been a friend of his, came to the throne, he was at once promoted to be a Supervising Censor. Famous as a calligraphist, he began by imitating Wang Hsi-chih; but he soon formed a school of his own, and gained such reputation that envoys were sent from Korea to obtain specimens of his style. See Ou-yang T'ung.