韦庄

Wei Zhuang was an important ci poet of the late Tang and Five Dynasties period, though reliable public sources provide very limited detail about his life; his birth and death years, native place, and official career are all undocumented. The collection contains twelve of his works, including editions related to Huajian ji, Lidai Mingjia Ciji, and the two-volume Classical Poetry's Mood and Rhyme: Xiaoshan Ci + Huajian ji, indicating a close connection between his writing and the compilation of ci anthologies and books of poetic appreciation. Other titles such as Xin Chou Nian, Fan Poyang Hu, Qi Cai Jian Ge, and Ku Ma Chushi touch on dating and reflection, travel scenery, literati life, and mourning a friend, showing considerable thematic range. Overall, Wei Zhuang's writing is chiefly poetry and ci, marked by clear and natural language and restrained, deeply felt emotion; he often lodges profound feelings in ordinary scenes and personal experience, and his influence on later ci composition and the literati style has been lasting.