Tan Xian was a Qing-dynasty ci poet and scholar of ci criticism, known to later generations chiefly for his work of ci criticism, Fuyang Cihua (Talks on Ci from the Fuyang Studio). Because public information is limited, details such as his birth and death dates, native place, official career and educational background cannot be reliably established, and the author information currently available remains brief. One work by him is included in the collection, Fuyang Cihua, generally classified under classical poetry and ci. The book comments in the form of cihua on ci poets and their works across the dynasties, touching also on tonal patterns, rhyme and the merits and failings of composition, and reflects Tan Xian's systematic thinking on the tradition and aesthetic orientation of the ci genre. His discussion values both the tonal and stylistic qualities of the works and the expression of feeling and artistic conception in ci, holding a certain reference value in Qing-dynasty ci criticism and offering useful material for the study of traditional ci scholarship.
