is Japanese book of Chinese prose and poetry. It was compiled around the middle of the 11th century during the Heian period

Heian period

The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. The period is named after the capital city of Heian-kyō, or modern Kyōto. It is the period in Japanese history when Buddhism, Taoism and other Chinese influences were at their height...

 by Fujiwara no Akihira.

Composition

Honchō Monzui is 14 volumes in length and contains 432 entries from 69 people over a period of approximately 240 years. The purpose of the work was to create a model and reference for writers. Entries are divided into 39 sections. Divisions are based on Chinese

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 Wén Xuǎn

Wen Xuan

The Wen Xuan is one of the earliest existing collections of Chinese poetry, though the verse it contains is all from the Qin Dynasty, Han Dynasty, and later. It was compiled around AD 520 during the Southern Dynasty by Xiao Tong, the eldest son of Emperor Wu of Liang, and a group of scholars he...

 (文選) in which the two share 12 sections. During compilation, Akihira referenced many works, including Fusōshū

Fusoshu

is a mid-Heian period Japanese text of kanshi. It was compiled by Ki no Tadana between 995 and 999, just shortly before the turn of the millennium.-Contents:While originally sixteen volumes in length, only volumes seven and nine currently remain...

, , and .

Title

The word honchō means Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 and is used in opposition to China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

. When prefixed before a title, it expresses that something is a Japanese version based on a Chinese original. Honchō Monzui is modeled after Yáo Xuàn's (姚鉉) Táng Wén Cuì (唐文粋). (The Japanese reading of this title is Tō Monzui.)

The oldest reference to this book is found in an entry in (1150) in which it is referred to as "Monzui". While this shorter title can be found in several other works, it appears in as "Honchō Monzui" which is believed to have been the official title.

In place of "monzui", the reading "bunsui" is found in and . However, the commonly accepted reading is "monzui".

Influence

Honchō Monzui had wide range of influence on later literature. The classification system is seen works such as . It is often quoted in composition references such as and used as a model for writing.