Han Shu Stories (Volume 1 and Volume 2)

Author: Zhang Weijun
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2005-01-01
Features: After Sima Qian wrote Records of the Grand Historian, Ban Gu wrote The Book of Han. Ban Gu, styled Mengjian, was a native of Anling in Fufeng during the Eastern Han Dynasty, born in the eighth year of the Jianwu era under Emperor Guangwu. His father, Ban Biao, was a historian who wrote sixty-five chapters of The Post-Historian to supplement Records of the Grand Historian. The Book of Han was completed based on The Post-Historian. In the first year of the Yongyuan era under Emperor Huandi, Ban Gu accompanied the cavalry general Dou Xian in an expedition against the Xiongnu and participated in strategic discussions. Later, he was imprisoned and died in custody in the fourth year of the Yongyuan era. At that time, eight tables and the Astronomical Treatise of The Book of Han were still unfinished. Emperor Huandi asked Ban Gu's sister, Ban Zhao, to complete them, with Ma Xun assisting her in writing the Astronomical Treatise. Ban Zhao is the only female author among the "Twenty-Four Histories." The Book of Han includes twelve Biographies, eight Tables, ten Treatises, and seventy Biographies of the Notable, totaling one hundred chapters, which were later divided into one hundred and twenty volumes. Its narrative begins in the first year of Emperor Gaozu of Han (Liu Bang) and ends in the fourth year of Emperor Wang Mang's Dìhuáng era. Compared to Records of the Grand Historian, the style of The Book of Han has changed. Records of the Grand Historian is a comprehensive history, while The Book of Han is a dynastic history. The Book of Han shortened the "Biographies" of Records of the Grand Historian to "Biographies," the "Notables" to "Biographies," and changed "Treatises" to "Treatises," while abolishing the "Households" and incorporating the regulations of Han dynasty meritorious families into the "Biographies." These changes were later adopted by some subsequent histories. The era covered by The Book of Han overlaps with that of Records of the Grand Historian. Both books record the history of Western Han before the mid-reign of Emperor Wu of Han. In this part, The Book of Han often borrows from Records of the Grand Historian. However, due to differences in the authors' ideological perspectives and criteria for selecting materials, the borrowed sections were often modified and expanded. The Book of Han introduced new Treatises such as the Treatise on Criminal Law, the Treatise on the Five Elements, the Treatise on Geography, and the Treatise on Literary Works. The Treatise on Criminal Law systematically describes the evolution of legal systems and specific regulations. The Treatise on Geography records the administrative divisions, historical changes, and population figures of the various commanderies and kingdoms, with particular attention to the records of local products, economic development, and customs. The Treatise on Literary Works examines the origins of various schools of thought and lists extant books, making it the earliest existing catalog of Chinese literature. The Treatise on Food and Wealth evolved from The Balance of the Market, but its content is richer. It is divided into two volumes: the upper volume discusses "food," or agricultural economic conditions, while the lower volume discusses "wealth," or commercial and monetary matters, serving as a dedicated economic treatise for the time. One of the eight Tables in The Book of Han is the Table of People from Antiquity to the Present, which lists figures from the Taihao Emperor to Wu Guang, with "antiquity" but no "present," earning ridicule from later scholars. Later generations highly praised the Table of Officials and Ministers, which first describes the division of labor and ranks in the Qin and Han dynasties, including the authority and salaries of various positions. It then uses a concise table divided into fourteen levels and thirty-four official categories to record the promotions, demotions, and dismissals of Han dynasty officials and ministers. Despite its brevity, it clearly presents the bureaucratic system and its evolution. In terms of ideological content, The Book of Han is inferior to Records of the Grand Historian. Ban Gu once criticized Sima Qian for "often being at odds with the sages in his judgments." This reflects the ideological divergence between the two. The "sages" refer to Confucius. Sima Qian's willingness to judge based on Confucian thought is commendable, while Ban Gu's insights were inferior to Sima Qian's. This shift from Sima Qian to Ban Gu reflects the establishment of Confucian thought as the orthodox ideology of feudalism in the field of historiography during the Eastern Han Dynasty. The Book of Han frequently uses archaic characters and terms, making it relatively difficult to read.