Ban Gu

Abstract

If Sima Qian (?145–?86 bce ) functions as the Herodotus of Chinese history, then Ban Gu (32–92 ce ) is Thucydides. Devoted to only a single dynasty, Ban Gu's Hanshu (History of the Han Dynasty) is the most influential of all dynastic histories. The Han dynasty (202 bce –220 ce ) consisted of two periods: the Western Han (202 bce –8 ce ) and the Eastern Han (25–220 ce ), also known as the Former Han and the Latter Han, respectively. Starting with the dawn of the Western Han and concluding after its collapse, Hanshu recounts historical events between 206 bce and 23 ce . This seminal text is therefore also known as the Qianhanshu (History of the Former Han Dynasty). Completed around 80 ce , this book uses more than 800,000 Chinese characters across a hundred chapters to cover 230 years. While inheriting many features from Sima Qian's universal history Shiji (Records of the Historian), Hanshu differs in significant ways, serving as an alternative model for later official dynastic histories all the way up until the early twentieth century.