The collective name for eight famous masters of prose from the Tang and Song dynasties, who were key figures in the Classical Prose Movement 古文运动 gǔ​wén​yùn​dòng. The group includes 韩愈 hán​yù and 柳宗元 liǔ​zōng​yuán from the Tang dynasty, and 欧阳修 ōu​yáng​xiū, 苏洵 sū​xún, 苏轼 sū​shì, 苏辙 sū​zhé, 王安石 wáng'ān​shí, and 曾巩 zēng​gǒng from the Song dynasty.