Why doesn't Ouyang Xiu read more books as an old hand in literature?

Core Tip: After Ouyang Xiu became an official, he once went to the cabinet stacks and stumbled upon a bibliography of ancient books with more than 2,000 titles. He has never heard of it. On the one hand, Ouyang Xiu regrets that there are so many ancient books, but at the same time, he thinks that these lost books have no circulation value, which is also the reason why they were eliminated by the times. It can be seen that both reading and writing should be strict with material selection. Only by seeking depth, understanding and creating can we truly embody value. If you browse at will according to your interests, you will not be able to read intensively, and the result will only be flooding.

When Ouyang Xiu was in power, he sent someone to ask his friend Liu Chang for advice when he encountered problems he didn't understand. After receiving the letter, Liu Chang often wrote and replied letter after letter in front of the ambassador, and never opened the book. After being asked many questions, Liu Chang sometimes gets bored and complains, "It's a pity that I don't study!" He recognized Ouyang Xiu's way of being a man, but criticized his knowledge and accomplishment, thinking that he read too little.

Ouyang Xiu must be wronged for reading too little. Ouyang Xiu, as the first veteran of the literary world in the Northern Song Dynasty, an advocate of poetry innovation in the Song Dynasty, and an editor of the Book of the New Tang Dynasty and the History of the New Five Dynasties, naturally could not have done all this without profound knowledge. Liu Changhui has the impression that he doesn't study, because they study in a completely different way. Liu Chang is a man with a wide range of interests. He has a certain degree of research on classics, history, Buddhism, Taoism, epigraphy, divination, astronomy, prescription, mountain classics and local chronicles. He is famous for his extensive reading and profound knowledge. Of course, this extensive interest has also become a potential obstacle to some extent, which has prevented him from achieving great success in a certain knowledge. After all, it takes a lot of time and energy to study such a wide range of subjects. In the end, it will inevitably fall into the strange circle of "the whole body is a knife, and the handle is unfavorable".

Ouyang Xiu was born in a poor family. In his early years, in order to get ahead, he practiced ancient Chinese. First of all, he carefully studied Han Yu's articles and learned how to write ancient Chinese.

Later, I met the essayist Athena Chu in Luoyang. He humbly studied Athena Chu's concise and rigorous style of writing, and drew nutrition from it. After he became an official, Ouyang Xiu once went to the cabinet stacks and came across a bibliography of ancient books with more than 2,000 titles, which he had never heard of. On the one hand, Ouyang Xiu regrets that there are so many ancient books, but at the same time, he thinks that these lost books have no circulation value, which is also the reason why they were eliminated by the times. It can be seen that both reading and writing should be strict with material selection. Only by seeking depth, understanding and creating can we truly embody value. If you browse at will according to your interests, you will not be able to read intensively, and the result will only be flooding.

Therefore, Ouyang Xiu has always adhered to the rigorous style of study, that is, reading is an article, which is specialized and valuable. In his reply to Wu Chong's Scholar's Book, he said: "Words are words, hard work is gratifying and carefree. Scholars all over the world are often submerged in it. If you have a job, you will say, "I can learn enough." Even abandoning Pepsi has nothing to do with heart, saying, "I'm a scribe, I'm just a writer." "So fresh, because the emperor of Mencius wrote a book as busy as a bee, the cover of Xun Qing could. If Ziyun, Zhongyan and Fangmian speak in a mode, this mode is not enough but strong. "I think the language of the article is difficult to be exquisite and superb, but it is easy for the author to be complacent. Scholars in the world are often addicted to it, and as long as they make a little achievement, they think their knowledge is enough. Others are indifferent to the world and think that only writing articles is what they should do, and nothing else is important. This is also the reason why few people really succeed in writing.

Ouyang Xiu said that Mencius devoted his life to the study of righteousness and reason, and Xunzi did not publish his works until his later years. As for the works of Yang Xiong and Wang Tong, they imitate the language of their predecessors and have no innovation of their own. This is an example of poor academic ability but unwilling to write for words. It is intended to emphasize that reading must be thoroughly studied and mastered. Only by accumulating profound knowledge and self-cultivation, whether it is narrative reasoning or promising works, everything will come naturally.

Huang Tingjian's father-in-law asked Ouyang Xiu how to improve his knowledge. Ouyang Xiu said: "Nothing else, just study hard, do more things and work hard by yourself. The world suffers from talking less and being lazy to read. Every book published will

Ask for help. This is rare. Don't criticize other people's shortcomings, do more for yourself. According to his own experience, Ouyang Xiu summarized diligent reading and writing as the best way to improve his knowledge. At the same time, he pointed out that when writing, don't have stronger ideas than others. With this mentality, it is difficult to have a successful person. As long as you usually read and write more, after a long time, you will naturally find the shortcomings in your own articles and improve yourself.

Ouyang Xiu's way of studying lies in the word "expert". He won't be ashamed to ask questions when he meets questions he doesn't understand, and he will ask others for advice with an open mind, and he doesn't require himself to be a knowledgeable person. This is his reading strategy according to his own needs, and it is also the main reason for his outstanding achievements in China's ancient literature, history, poetry and other fields.