Selected Reviews of the History of the Later Han

Author: Zhang Yihé
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-12-01
Features: The "Zhi" (Treatises) in the current edition of the Book of the Later Han are relocated from the Continuation of the Han Dynasty by Sima Biao of the Jin Dynasty. However, Fan Ye originally planned to write his own "Zhi," but he was executed in mid-life and never completed it. There have been two differing views on whether Fan Ye actually wrote the "Zhi." One suggests that he was unable to finish it due to his execution, leaving it as a regrettable unfinished work. The other claims that Fan Ye entrusted the writing of the "Zhi" to Xie Yan, stating, "The compilation was nearly complete when Fan Ye was defeated, and the manuscripts were all burned to cover his tracks" (as cited in the Biography of Empresses in the Book of the Later Han by Li Xian in his annotation of Shen Yue's Biography of Xie Yan). Regardless of which account is accurate, it remains a regrettable matter. This book selects twenty-three chapters from the Biographies and Genealogies of the Book of the Later Han, including emperors and empresses, founding heroes, frontier builders, defeated and rebellious ministers, as well as scholars, honest officials, and recluses. These chapters reflect the characteristics of the Book of the Later Han and also portray the life scenes and spiritual outlook of various social strata in the Eastern Han Dynasty.