Selected & Annotated by Liu Yangzhong 
Selected Poems of Ou Yangxiu — Series of Selected Classical Chinese Literature [EPUB ebook] 

Ouyang Xiu (1007-1072), whose courtesy name is Yongshu, was born in Yongfeng (now Jiangxi), Jizhou. In his later years, he styled his name as Liuyi Jushi. As the head of the Northern Song Dynasty’s literary field, Ouyang Xiu is a prime example of the Tang and Song Dynasties’ early prose movement. He has produced works of literature, poetry, and ci poetry with great accomplishments. Although Ouyang Xiu’s poetic style is varied, it generally demonstrates the propensity to "take literature as poetry". He thought highly of poet Han Yu’s poems in Tang Dynasty. In his own practice, he also had a style of "discussing as poetry" by Han Yu. Compared with his poems, Ouyang Xiu’s ci and poems are popular. His poetry is straightforward and lovely, with a close and friendly language, and a strong artistic quality that has been highly commended by subsequent generations of poets, in contrast to the preceding generation of poets. One could say that Ouyang Xiu’s poetry represents his "two sides". We can only fully comprehend Ouyang Xiu by connect poetry with poetry. Currently, in an effort to aid readers in better understanding Ouyang Xiu and his poetry, we choose the substance of his poetry, annotate and analyze it, and present his "two sides" to them.