Eight Masters of the Tang and Song
The Eight Great Prose Masters of the Tang and Song (Chinese: 唐宋八大家; pinyin: Táng Sòng Bā Dàjiā) refers to a group of prominent prose writers during the Tang and Song dynasties. Nearly all of these masters were also accomplished in various aspects of politics and culture during their time. Two of the writers, Han Yu and Liu Zongyuan, were from the Tang dynasty, while the remaining six were from the Song dynasty.
The list of the eight writers was first compiled in the Ming dynasty by Zhu You, an early Ming scholar who initially collected their essays. It was the late Ming scholar Mao Kun who coined the name in a compilation he curated, titled Selected Works of the Eight Great Prose Masters of the Tang and Song. The subsequent popularity of this book solidified their status as masters of Chinese prose.
During the Qing dynasty, Wei Yuan had eight volumes on the Eight Prose Masters (《纂评唐宋八大家文读本》).