Eight Immortals of Huainan

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This article is about the scholars of the Western Han. For other uses, see Eight Immortals (disambiguation).

The Eight Immortals of Huainan (淮南八仙; pinyin: Huáinán bāxiān), also known as the Eight Gentlemen (八公 bāgōng), were the eight scholars under the patronage of Liu An (劉安 Liú Ān), the prince of Huainan during the Western Han Dynasty. They are not deified in any religions and the xian "immortal" is used metaphorically to describe their talent. Together, they wrote the philosophical collection Huainanzi (淮南子, Huáinánzǐ, literally "The Philosophers of Huainan").

They are:

  • Jin Chang (晉昌 jǐn chāng),
  • Lei Bei (雷被 leí beì),
  • Li Shang (李尚 lǐ shàng),
  • Mao Bei (毛被 máo beì),
  • Su Fei (蘇非 sū feì),
  • Tian You (田由 tián yoú),
  • Wu Bei (伍被 wǔ beì), and
  • Zuo Wu (左吳 zǔo wú).

The "Bagong Mountain" ("Eight Gentlemen Mountain") in China is named after them.