Tang writer who led the 古文运动 back to plain classical prose and is named first of the 唐宋八大家. Chinese students learn his essay on teachers, 师说, in school.
On Teachers is one of Han Yu's most famous essays.
Tips
history
His memorial 论佛骨表 against the emperor's welcome of a Buddha relic got him banished in 819, as his poem puts it: 一封朝奏九重天，夕贬潮州路八千, 'one memorial at dawn, by dusk banished eight thousand li to Chaozhou'. Chaozhou renamed its river 韩江 in his honour.
culture
The best-known line of 师说 defines the job: 师者，所以传道授业解惑也, 'a teacher is one who passes on the Way, teaches skills and resolves doubts'. The phrase 传道授业解惑 is still the standard summary of what a teacher does.
