The statement of "Eight Masters in Tang and Song Dynasties" comes from Selected Poems of Tang and Song Dynasties compiled by Mao Kun in Ming Dynasty, which is called "Notes of Eight Masters in Tang and Song Dynasties" and contains important prose works of eight masters in Tang and Song Dynasties.
First, "Liu Han" in the Tang Dynasty
Liu Zongyuan is as famous as Han Yu. They all launched the "ancient prose movement", known as "Liu Han" in the history of literature.
The so-called "ancient prose movement" is a movement to reform literary genre represented by Liu Han. They opposed the splendid parallel prose since the Six Dynasties (referring to the three kingdoms Wu, the Eastern Jin, the Southern Song, Qi, Liang and Chen, whose capital was built in Jiankang) and advocated the restoration of ancient prose. Ancient prose refers to prose, which is relative to parallel prose. In fact, it is to return to the natural and smooth tradition of pre-Qin prose.
They wrote many excellent essays, such as Ma Shuo and the World by Han Yu, Donkey of Money by Liu Zongyuan, and The Story of a Small Stone Pond.
Second, the "Three Sows" in the Northern Song Dynasty
Su Xun and his two sons, Su Shi and Su Zhe, were famous for their literature in the Northern Song Dynasty, also known as the "Three Sus".
"Su San" was called "three outstanding writers" and "three great writers" by later generations, and its * * feature was that its prose (called "ancient prose" at that time) made remarkable achievements, and it was listed as one of the "eight great writers in Tang and Song Dynasties" by later generations.
As a literary family, the Su family can have such achievements and influence, which is unique and unparalleled in the Northern Song Dynasty, and is extremely rare in the long history of China.
In his hometown of Meishan, Sichuan, there is now a "Su San Temple", which was built for Su San and his son.
Su Xun, with her own name, and her name and behavior were written into "Saint Amethyst" by later generations, that is, the sentence "Sue, at the age of 27, began to get angry and study", which became a model for later generations to learn inspirational. Su Xun is good at prose creation, especially at political theory.
Comparatively speaking, Su Shi's overall achievement is higher than that of his father and brother. Su Zhe's achievements are slightly inferior to those of Su Shi.
Su Xun's Six Kingdoms, Su Shi's Biography of Shi Zhongshan, Fu's Red Cliff Fu, Su Zhe's Hanshu Taiwei, etc. , have been selected into the Chinese textbook.
Su Shi has made the greatest achievements in poetry, especially in Song Ci, and is regarded as one of the representatives of the "uninhibited school" in Song Ci.
In calligraphy, Su Zhencheng has also made important achievements. He once came across a poem about calligraphy: "I am not good at books, but I know books like me." Dignified and smooth, vigorous and graceful. "
Su Shi's greatest achievement is closely related to his bumpy officialdom experience. As a result of tempering, I formed a personality of a senior official, and I enjoyed it. When I arrived in Hainan, "300 lychees a day" and claimed that "I don't want to be a Lingnan person". In Rome, he did as the Romans do and ate mice like the locals.
His free and easy, optimistic attitude towards life is reflected in his relationship with Fo Yin, and there are many jokes between them. For example, Su Shi wrote a poem, including a sentence "Eight winds can't be blown" and gave it to Fo Yin. But Fo Yin was rated as "fart". Su Shi crossed the river to find Fo Yin Theory. When I arrived at Fo Yin's door, I saw a couplet on the door, which said, "Eight winds can't blow, but a fart crosses the river.". As soon as Su Shi saw the couplets, he suddenly realized. This seems to show that Su Shi is narrow-minded, but in fact it shows that Su Shi gradually became enlightened in his contacts with Fo Yin and found spiritual sustenance in the frustration of officialdom.
Third, Ouyang Xiu, Wang Anshi and Ceng Gong in the Northern Song Dynasty.
Ouyang Xiu is the leader of the ancient prose movement. After the ancient prose movement in the Tang Dynasty, Ouyang Xiu and his students Ceng Gong, Wang Anshi, Su Xun, Su Shi and Su Zhe started the ancient prose movement again in the Song Dynasty. Ouyang Xiu inherited the past and the future, and his poetry innovation theory came down in one continuous line with Han Yu, leading the ancient prose movement in the Northern Song Dynasty to achieve brilliant achievements. His representative works include Ode to Autumn Sound and Drunken Pavilion.
Wang Anshi's prose is famous for his political theory. Most of his essays expounded his political opinions on carrying out the new law, such as Answering Sima Shu, and answered Sima Guang's various criticisms of the new law. Reading the Biography of Meng Changjun is a famous essay.
Ceng Gong was also a famous litterateur in the Northern Song Dynasty, and was highly respected by Wang Anshi. Ceng Gong's Mo Chi Collection was also selected into the textbook.