Ouyang Xun
Ouyang Xun (Chinese: 歐陽詢; pinyin: Ōuyáng Xún; Wade–Giles: Ou-yang Hsün; 557–641), courtesy name Xinben (Chinese: 信本; pinyin: Xìn běn; Wade–Giles: Hsin-pên), was a Chinese calligrapher, politician, and writer of the early Tang dynasty. He was born in Changsha to a family of government officials and died in modern Anhui province.
Also recorded as Jun Ōyō · Ou-yang Hsun · Xinben Ouyang · Ouyang
Ouyang Xun

Ouyang Xun · http: topic=421 show=0 man=%D3%FD%C7%E0 · Public domain
- Born
- 557. · Changsha.
- Died
- 641. · Anhui.
- Nationality
- Sui dynasty and Tang dynasty.
- Occupation
- politician, calligrapher, academic and poet.
- Languages
- Chinese.
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
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Documentary summary
Ouyang Xun (Chinese: 歐陽詢; pinyin: Ōuyáng Xún; Wade–Giles: Ou-yang Hsün; 557–641), courtesy name Xinben (Chinese: 信本; pinyin: Xìn běn; Wade–Giles: Hsin-pên), was a Chinese calligrapher, politician, and writer of the early Tang dynasty. He was born in Changsha to a family of government officials and died in modern Anhui province.
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Evidence Panel
wikipedia incomplete · checked 25 September 2026
- Identity
- resolved
- Independent source families
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Authority files
getty · 500323562 · gnd · 1023325667 · wikidata · Q1207679 · wikipedia · Ouyang Xun
In this article
Achievements
Achievements
He was a talented student who read widely in the classics. He served under the Sui dynasty in 611 as Imperial Doctor. He served under the Tang dynasty as censor and scholar at the Hongwen Academy. There he taught calligraphy. He was a principal contributor to the Yiwen Leiju. He became the Imperial Calligrapher and inscribed several major imperial steles. He was good at regular script and his most famous work is the Stele in the Jiucheng Palace. He was considered a cultured scholar and a government official. Along with Yu Shinan, Xue Ji, and Chu Suiliang he became known as one of the Four Great Calligraphers of the Early Tang. He notably wrote the inscription of the Kaiyuan Tongbao cash coin which became one of the most influential coins in Chinese history, this coin also influenced the calligraphic styles of other coinages in Japan, Sogdia, and Vietnam. The words in the logo of the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun was extracted from Ouyang's work Zongsheng Temple Inscription.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
Explore 557–1995
The full dated record · 3 entries
557
Ouyang Xun born at Changsha.
641
Ouyang Xun died at Anhui.
1995
Ouyang Xun kai shu tie (1995) is digitised and catalogued by Internet Archive.
Places
Named by the record
Places
Only places the record itself states, plotted where the house gazetteer settles their coordinates. Nothing is inferred from a name or a nationality.
Changsha.
Birth place
Anhui.
Death place
Primary material
Documents and archives
reference work
- “Ouyang Xun”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q1207679: Ouyang Xun
Reputable secondary · Wikimedia Foundation
authority file
- Gemeinsame Normdatei 1023325667, Ouyang, Xun.
Unverified · Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
- Getty Union List of Artist Names 500323562, Ouyang Xun.
Unverified · The Getty Research Institute
scholarly publication
Allusion in literature
Ouyang was historically known for his legendary monkey-like ugliness and almost supernatural intellect. These attributes were lampooned in an anonymous late 7th-century tale called “A Supplement to Jiang Zong’s Biography of a White Ape” (Bu Jiang Zong Baiyuan Zhuan, 補江總白猿傳). It tells how the beautiful young wife of General Ouyang He (歐陽紇, 538–570), Ouyang Xun's historical father, is kidnapped by a seemingly invisible force while he is engaged in conquering minority groups of the south lands. The general and his men scour the surrounding area for hundreds of miles before discovering a mountain where she and other women are being kept by a magic white ape (baiyuan, 白猿). The captives caution that his soldiers are no match for the powerful primate, and so the ladies devise a plan to get him drunk and incapacitate him long enough for a killing blow to be dealt. With their help, the general manages to fell the beast with a well-placed sword strike below the navel, his only weak spot. Before dying, the ape reveals the general's wife is pregnant and begs him not to kill the child. Ouyang subsequently returns to the north with his wife, the other women, and the monster's priceless treasures. The tale ends with the birth of an unnamed son a year later, thus implying Ouyang Xun was the unnatural offspring of the general's wife and the magic white ape.
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.Chinese coins – 中國錢幣 § Tang Dynasty (618-907). Gary Ashkenazy / גארי אשכנזי (Primaltrek – a journey through Chinese culture). 16 November 2016.
- 2.Hartill, David (September 22, 2005). Cast Chinese Coins. Trafford, United Kingdom: Trafford Publishing. .
- 3.Japan Mint History of Japanese Coins (for kids). Retrieved: 06 June 2018.
- 4.Samarqand’s Cast Coinage of the Early 7th–Mid-8th Centuries AD: Assessment based on Chinese sources and numismatic evidence. Andrew Reinhard (Pocket Change – The blog of the American Numismatic Society). 12 August 2016.
- 5.Soghdian Kai Yuans (lectured at the Dutch 1994-ONS meeting). T.D. Yih and J. de Kreek (hosted on the Chinese Coinage Website). 1994.
- 6.The Asian Numismatic Museum (Sudokuone.com) Vietnamese Thien Tu and Kai Yuan Style - Thiên Tư Nguyên Bảo 天資元寶 Thư pháp, viết theo phong cách, Trung Quốc Kai Yuan by Dr. R. Allan Barker. Retrieved: 07 June 2018.
- 7.Ouyang Xun – Early Tang Calligraphy Master - Ink & Brush. ink-and-brush.com. 20 July 2023.
- 8.Jue Chen, "A Supplement to Jiang Zong’s Biography of a White Ape," Renditions, 49 (1998): 77-78
- 9.Chen, "A Supplement to Jiang Zong’s Biography of a White Ape," 80-85
References
Citations
References
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scholarly publication
A formal analysis of the regular scripts by the calligrapher Ouyang Xun (557-641) = Ouyang Xun (557-641) kai shu xing ti yan jiuCrossref registry
Verifiedreference work
Partially resolvedauthority file
Gemeinsame Normdatei 1023325667, Ouyang, Xun.Deutsche Nationalbibliothek
Partially resolvedauthority file
Getty Union List of Artist Names 500323562, Ouyang Xun.The Getty Research Institute
Partially resolvedreference work
Wikidata, structured authority record Q1207679: Ouyang XunWikimedia Foundation
Partially resolved
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
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