At 29 he was demoted and sent off to a post in the hinterlands. There he sired eight boys and three girls with his third wife, cleaned up his living habits, and started to concentrate on his scholarship.
直到二十九歲時被貶到一個窮僻小縣，第三任妻子才為他生養了八男三女，而歐陽修也收拾起狂放的生活，開始專心做學問。