The Humanistic Implication of OUYANG-xiu’s Amorous Ci Poems

The near 70 amorous ci poems written by OUYANG-xiu has led to a welter of conflicting opinions over the past thousand years, some trying to defend him by alleging that they were works of questionable authenticity and others devaluing him harshly by charging the poems with lewdness and salaciousness. Nevertheless, these ci poems of OUYANG xiu′s display another side of his inner world. They are of high historic factuality and considerable significance of folklore. These poems led a large group of ci poets to vie in patterning after him, thus a phenomenon of amorous ci poetry was formed, which ran through the Song Dynasty, and influenced later dynasties. The essence of amorous ci poems lies in advocating the significance of secular life and shaking off the fetters of feudal ethics. The poems may be considered to be an account of erotic life of scholar-officials in the Dynasty of Song and China′s Decamerons in the period of historical changes.