author
Xun Su
1009–1066
Known as one of the Eight Masters of the Tang and Song, this Northern Song essayist became famous not only for his own prose but also as part of the celebrated literary family known as the Three Su. His story is especially memorable because he turned seriously to study relatively late and still left a lasting mark on Chinese letters.
1 Audiobook
蘇洵集
by Xun Su
About the author
Su Xun (1009–1066) was a Chinese scholar, essayist, and thinker of the Northern Song dynasty. He was born in Meishan, in present-day Sichuan, and is remembered as one of the Eight Masters of the Tang and Song. He is also the father of the major writers Su Shi and Su Zhe; together, the three are known as the Three Su.
Accounts of his life often note that he did not devote himself fully to study until about age 27. He pursued the civil service examinations but did not succeed in the usual way, and his reputation instead grew through his writing. His essays were admired for their force, clarity, and practical political thinking, and works associated with him were later collected under the title Jiayou Ji.
What makes him stand out is the combination of late-blooming determination and long influence. He became a model of serious prose in the Song period, and his place in literary history is strengthened by the remarkable achievement of the whole Su family, whose writing remained central to the Chinese tradition for centuries.