Ouyang Xiu's Historial Characteristics of Monumental Writings

With his reliable fact-seeking materials, simple and skillful method and a plain and terse style of language, his writings were firmly believed to be the quint essence of historical and biographical literature. The figures depicted in his monumental writings were out standing, and the narrations were real and trust worthy, which were often citeel by later generations in their historical books. They possessed high literary and historical value as the unity of literature and history.