Ouyang Zhan

Ouyang Zhan (; 758–801; courtesy name Xingzhou 行周) was a Chinese poet and politician of the late Tang dynasty. The account of his death from grief for a deceased lover gained great popularity in ninth-century China.

Life Ouyang was born in Panhu village , Chidian , Jinjiang, Fujian. His family had resided for several generations in the southeast and included magistrates and assistants in Quanzhou who came to service without examination.

Ouyang Zhan completed the jinshi degree in 792, alongside Han Yu and many other notable scholars in the year that came to known as the “list of tigers and dragons” .

Ouyang became assistant lecturer at the College of the Four Gates at the Imperial Academy in 799 When his official duties forced him to leave her, he promised to return.However, she was unable to muster the patience required and died of loneliness. When Ouyang heard the news, he too died of grief. This story was recounted in Meng Jian's (孟簡; jinshi 791) "Recounting Ouyang Xingzhou’s Affairs" , a work about Ouyang's relationship with the courtesan that led to both of their deaths. In addition, Han Yu's elegy for Ouyang became a famous historical homage.

Legacy Ouyang Zhan had three sons and is the first ancestor of all the majority of Ouyang surnames in Jinjiang.