Su Xun

Su Xun (; 22 May 1009 – 21 May 1066) was a Chinese writer during the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

, best known for his essays. He is considered one of the

Eight Masters of the Tang and Song The Eight Great Prose Masters of the Tang and Song () refers to a grouping of prose writers, during the Tang and Song Dynasties, who were renowned for their prose writing, mostly in the essay form. Almost all of the eight masters are also accomplis ...

, along with his sons

Su Shi Su Shi (; 8 January 1037 – 24 August 1101), courtesy name Zizhan (), art name Dongpo (), was a Chinese calligrapher, essayist, gastronomer, pharmacologist, poet, politician, and travel writer during the Song dynasty. A major personality of ...

and

Su Zhe Su Zhe (; 1039–1112), or Su Che, courtesy names Ziyou and Tongshu , was a Chinese essayist, historian, poet, and politician from Meishan, located in modern-day Sichuan Province, China. Su was highly honored as a politician and essayist in t ...

. A famous story (popularized by the 13th-century children's text ''

Three Character Classic The ''Three Character Classic'' (), commonly known as ''San Zi Jing'', also translated as ''Trimetric Classic'', is one of the Chinese classic texts. It was probably written in the 13th century and is mainly attributed to Wang Yinglin (王應麟 ...

'') relates how Su Xun (also known as Su Laoquan) did not begin to seriously study until he was 27, an age considered too old to start learning. Su Xun persevered and became a highly respected writer. 1009 births 1066 deaths Chinese essayists Su Shi {{China-writer-stub