王后卢前 — Chinese Idiom

During the early Tang Dynasty, poetry and prose flourished, and among the most celebrated literary figures were the 'Four Paragons of the Early Tang': Wang Bo, Yang Jiong, Lu Zhaolin, and Luo Binwang. Their works were renowned far and wide.

It is said that when people attempted to rank these talented writers, Yang Jiong humbly remarked, 'I would be ashamed to be placed before Lu Zhaolin, and it would be a disgrace to be ranked after Wang Bo.' This statement acknowledged the exceptional and often comparable talents of Wang Bo and Lu Zhaolin, signifying their esteemed positions in the literary world.

People generally accepted this assessment as a fair reflection of their respective literary prowess, hence the idiom 'Wang Hou Lu Qian' (Wang after, Lu before) came to represent individuals of equally outstanding literary fame and talent.