Han Yu, named by Su Shi as "the decline of eight generations of literature", was promoted by the Ming Dynasty to the top of the eight masters in Tang and Song Dynasties. He is known as a "great literary writer" and a "hundred-generation scholar". At the age of 20, he began to take the imperial examinations three times in a row, but when his well-written answer sheet reached the examiner, it was like a piece of waste paper.

In 787 AD, after obtaining the qualification of rural tribute, Han Yu went to Chang 'an again to take the Jinshi examination of the Ministry of Rites, but this time he failed. Then, he took two exams in Sun Shan and failed, which was a great blow to Han Yu. He is ashamed of his ancestors and family. Han Yu read through all the articles written by his predecessors, but his writing method didn't please the examiner. For example, the third time he took the Jinshi exam, the test question was "Don't be angry, don't make mistakes", to the effect that "if you are unhappy, don't transfer it to others and don't make the same mistake twice". After reading it, Han Yu immediately grasped the theme. He wrote in ancient prose instead of parallel prose, which was very fluent, but the examiner put the paper aside after reading it.

In 792 AD, Han Yu came to Chang 'an again and took the Jinshi exam for the fourth time. This time, the examiner is Premier Lu Zhi, and the exam questions are similar to those of last year. Without hesitation, Han Yu wrote last year's old work on paper word for word and handed it in soon. After reading it, Lu Zhi found the book familiar. He read it several times and thought to himself, "Good article! It's completely ancient prose style, with no parallel prose flavor. Why didn't you accept it last year? Almost buried talent! " In this way, Han Yu was admitted to Jinshi.