SOAS Research Online

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is twofold: to provide a preliminary study for a complete biography of the Sung writer and official Ou-yang Hsiu - a subject which has so far been neglected by Chinese and European scholars alike - and to investigate his relation to the establishment of Han Yu as China's greatest prose writer, and the development of the ku-wen movement - again a matter which has been for the most part neglected, and where considered at all presented in a very false perspective. This thesis is accordingly divided into two sections:- 1. Biographical. This contains details of the Ou-yang clan and of Hsiu's family in particular, the circumstances of his childhood, youth and early career, up to and including his thirtieth year, when he was dismissed from the capital to spend a period of exile in the provinces. The general historical end administrative background details of the incident which led to his dismissal and biographical details of his contemporaries are included only in so far as they affect Hsiu himself. 2. Literary. The beginning of Hsiu's official career raises the question of his position in the field of literature, which is reviewed in this section. A brief survey is given of the nature and development of the ku-wen movement up to the beginning of the Sung dynasty. Technical matter has been omitted as this is to be the subject of a separate article, now in the course of preparation. This is followed by a consideration of the Sung ku-wen writers prior to Ou-yang Hsiu. Thereafter the position of Ou-yang Hsiu is considered in relation to this background. Both the biographical and the literary sections extend to the year 1036, at which point the first period of Hsiu's career is brought to a close by his banishment. A thesis which covers, as this does, an extensive and neglected field inevitably raises many problems which fall outside its scope. Some of these are set out briefly in a final chapter, with suggestions of the lines along which further research into them might be pursued.