Ouyang Xun

Ouyang Xun (557 to 641) was a Chinese calligrapher, politician and writer of the early Tang dynasty, born into an official family in Changsha. He served as an imperial doctor under the Sui dynasty before moving into the Tang administration, holding posts including censor and scholar at the Hongwen Academy, and he is counted among the Four Great Calligraphers of the Early Tang alongside Yu Shinan, Xue Ji and Chu Suiliang for his mastery of regular script. His major surviving works include the inscription on the Stele in Jiucheng Palace and the calligraphy used on the Kaiyuan Tongbao coin, an influential design across East and Central Asia; his style was later echoed in the masthead of the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun.