[8] According to a folklore legend, the huadian in floral shape originated in the Southern dynasty period;[3] its creation is attributed to Princess Shouyang,[9][6] a daughter of Emperor Wu of Liu Song (420 – 479 AD).

[8] The huadian come in various different shapes and patterns,[1] including flowers, plum blossoms, butterfly, coins, peaches, birds, phoenixes and other animals.

[3] The customs of applying early prototypes of the huadian can be traced back to the Pre-Qin period;[10] for examples, female figurines unearthed from the tomb of Chu dating to the Warring States period in Changsha, Hunan province, have decorative shapes or patterns painted on their face, which shows that the prototypes of the huadian already existed much earlier than the folk legends.

[11][2] According to a legend, the huadian in floral design originated in the Southern dynasty period when a plum blossom was blown on the forehead of Princess Shouyang (a daughter of Song Wudi[4]) when she was taking a walk in the palace in early spring.

[14] According to the Youyang zazu (酉陽雜俎), women in the Tang dynasty painted huazi (Chinese: 花子) on their face, which originated from Shangguan Wan'er.

[11] According to the Chinese folk legend, the red plum blossom huadian became popular in the Tang dynasty under the influence of Shangguan Wan'er.

Shangguan Wan'er had her face ruined by Wu Zetian with a scar on the forehead, and as a result, she tattooed a red plum blossom around her scar and dyed it red taking inspiration to the plum blossom makeup created by Princess Shouyang.

In the Tang dynasty, the huadian could also be painted or made of tiny pieces of metal,[6] such as gold or silver foil.