生平

欧阳询生于557年（南朝梁梁敬帝太平二年），是陈朝大司空欧阳頠的孙子。13岁那年，任广州刺史的父亲欧阳纥举兵反陈，失败被杀，全家为此而受到株连。欧阳询因年幼而幸免于难，被他父亲的旧友中书令江总收养，并督教他经史、书法。欧阳询聪敏勤学，读书数行同尽，少年时就博览古今，精通《史记》、《汉书》和《东观汉记》三史。后出仕隋太常博士。唐高祖李渊未显贵时，多次交游。李渊称帝后，升迁为给事中。

欧阳询的书法最初仿效王羲之，但不囿于一家：据说有一次欧阳询骑马外出，偶然在道旁看到晋代书法名家索靖所写的石碑。他骑在马上仔细观看了一阵才离开，但刚走几步又忍不住再返回下马观赏，赞叹多次，而不愿离去，便乾脆铺上毡子坐下反覆揣摩，最后竟在碑旁一连坐卧了3天才离去。欧阳询笃好书法达到痴迷的程度，由于勤学苦练，故能独辟蹊径自成一家。

欧阳询的形貌很丑陋，一如弥猴，但他的书法却誉满天下，人们都争著想得到他亲笔书写的尺牍文字，一旦得到就视作瑰宝，作为自己习字的范本。唐武德（618－624）年间，高句丽特地派使者来长安求取欧阳询的书法。唐高祖李渊感叹地说：「没想到欧阳询的名声竟大到连远方的夷狄都知道。他们看到欧阳询的笔迹，一定以为他是位形貌魁梧的人物吧。」

武德七年，欧阳询奉诏与裴矩、陈叔达修撰《艺文类聚》100卷。书成后，得到赏赐帛二百段。唐太宗贞观初年，欧阳询升为太子率更令（因而又被称为欧阳率更），弘文馆学士，封渤海县男。八十五岁时辞世。

家庭

夫人徐氏，生四子：长卿、肃、伦、通。《唐书》有传。

• 长子欧阳长卿，因武则天乱逃往岭南，改名为区恺。

• 四子欧阳通，母徐氏，欧阳通亦是书法名家。

• 女儿

• 小女儿嫁隋尚药奉御、唐秦王祭酒、中散大夫、尚药奉御、永安县开国男吴景达，生子武周承奉郎吴续。

书法作品和艺术

欧阳询的书法学自王羲之父子，参以隶法，劲险刻厉，于平正中见险绝，自成面目，世称「欧体」。

唐张彦远《法书要录》辑唐张怀瓘所著《书断》称：「询八体尽能，笔力劲险。篆体尤精，飞白冠绝，峻于古人，扰龙蛇战斗之象，云雾轻笼之势，几旋雷激，操举若神。真行之书，出于太令，别成一体，森森焉若武库矛戟，风神严于智永，润色寡于虞世南。其草书迭荡流通，视之二王，可为动色；然惊其跳骏，不避危险，伤于清雅之致。」

所创「欧阳询八诀」书法理论，具有独到见解。对明代人李淳的八十四法，清代人黄自元结构92法的著述，均有启示。其「八决」为：（点）如高峰坠石；（横戈）如长空之新月；（横）如千里之阵云；（竖）如万岁之枯藤；（坚戈）如劲松倒折，落挂石崖；（折）如万钧之弩发；（撇）如利剑断犀象之角牙；（捺）一波常三过笔。

常见欧书碑刻有：

《九成宫醴泉铭》：楷书，是欧阳询的代表作，学欧书多以此为范本，魏徵撰文，唐太宗贞观六年。公元632年）立碑。书法严谨峭劲，不取姿媚之态。

《虞恭公碑》全称《唐故特进尚书右仆射上柱国虞恭公温公碑》，也称《温彦博碑》：楷书，书此碑文时，已80高龄。唐大宗贞观十一年（公元637年）立碑。为唐太宗昭陵诸碑之一，碑文三十六行，每行七十七字，清楚的字约有八百多字。

《皇甫诞碑》全称《隋柱国左光禄大夫宏议明公皇甫府君之碑》，也称《皇甫君碑》：楷书，是欧阳询年轻时的作品，无立碑年月，碑藏于陕西西安。

《化度寺塔铭》全称《化度寺故僧邕禅师舍利塔铭》：楷书，是欧阳询得意的作品，唐贞观五年（公元631年）立。

诗歌作品

《全唐诗》录欧阳询诗三首：其一为：

道失

已惑孔贵嫔，又被辞人侮。花笺一何荣，七字谁曾许。不下结绮阁，空迷江令语。雕戈动地来，误杀陈后主。

第二首：嘲萧瑀射

急风吹缓箭，弱手驭强弓。欲高翻复下，应西还更东。十回俱著地，两手并擎空。借问谁为此，乃应是宋公。

据《太平广记》：「唐宋国公萧瑀不解射，九月九日赐射，瑀箭俱不著垛，一无所获。欧阳询作诗嘲讽。」

第三首，《与欧阳询互嘲（无忌嘲询）》，起因是长孙无忌先作诗嘲笑欧阳询瘦（或丑）：

　 　耸膊成山字，埋肩不出头。谁家麟阁上，画此一猕猴。

欧阳询反唇相讥：《与欧阳询互嘲（询嘲无忌）》

　　 索头连背暖，漫裆畏肚寒。只因心浑浑，所以面团团。

因欧阳询的「只因心浑浑」攻击太过，引起唐太宗不悦，制止道：「询岂不惧皇后闻耶？」

注释

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.

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, 补江总白猿传). It tells how the beautiful young wife of General Ouyang He (欧阳纥, 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 (, 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 fall 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.