The Huajian Faction ({{zh, s=花间派, t=花間派, p=Huājiān Pài, l=In the Flowers Faction) is a faction of Ci poetry. It comprises Ci poets whose works were collected in the anthology ''Huajian Ji'', including,

Wen Tingyun Wen Tingyun (; 812–870) born Wen Qi (), courtesy name Feiqing () was a Chinese poet. He was an important Chinese lyricist of the late Tang Dynasty. He was born in Qi, Shanxi province, China. Over his literary career, Wen became regarded ...

Wei Zhuang Wei Zhuang (, 836?See, e.g.Mao Lanqiu, ''The Continued Study of the Birth Year Given in Xia Chengtao's ''the Chronicles of Wei Zhuang–910''Spring and Autumn Annals of the Ten Kingdoms'' (十國春秋)vol. 40), style name Duanyi (), was a Ch ...

and Zhang Mi. It is widely agreed that the faction was formed by

during the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

, and become popular during the

Later Shu Shu (referred to as Later Shu () to differentiate it from Former Shu, other states named Shu in Chinese history), also known as Meng Shu (), was one of the Ten Kingdoms during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period in China. It was located ...

of the

Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period The Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period (), from 907 to 979, was an era of political upheaval and division in 10th-century Imperial China. Five dynastic states quickly succeeded one another in the Central Plain, and more than a dozen conc ...

Features

Most of the works of the faction have topics about love between young people, the sadness of farewell and boudoir complaints (in ancient China, unmarried young women were locked in a room), with no more than 58 characters and no titles. The style is mainly gentle, graceful and subtle, but there are also simple ones. The faction had already laid the foundation for later Ci during the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

, however, the artistic achievements of the faction were for a long time considered by academia to be less than

Song Ci Song Ci (; 1186–1249) was a Chinese physician, judge, forensic medical scientist, anthropologist, and writer of the Southern Song dynasty. He is most well known for being the world's first forensic entomologist, having recorded his experienc ...

. The faction influenced the writing style of Feng Yansi and Li Yu

Huajian Ji

''Huajian Ji'' (Chinese 花间集/花間集) was arranged by Zhao Chongzuo, who lived in the

. This anthology, which was finished in 940 A.D., contains over 500 works by ten poets. It was part of the Complete Library of the Four Treasuries, in the Collections (Chinese: 集, ''Jí'') section. This ''ji'' contains 74 kinds of '' cipai'' (Chinese 词牌cípái, a particular title of ci). ''Huanxisha'' (浣溪沙), ''Pusaman'' (菩萨蛮), ''Linjiangxian'' (临江仙) and Jiuquanzi (酒泉子) are often used as ''cipai'' in this ''ji''. ''Huajian Ji'' had a great influence upon later ci.

Lu You Lu You (; 1125–1210) was a Chinese historian and poet of the Southern Song Dynasty (南宋). Career Early life and marriage Lu You was born on a boat floating in the Wei River early on a rainy morning, November 13, 1125. At the time of his b ...

consider it to be "the most simple and quaint works" (简古之致). Chinese poetry Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms literature