Misplaced Pages

Book of the Later Han

First page of the book
Author	Fan Ye et al
Original title	後漢書
Language	Classical Chinese
Subject	Ancient Chinese history (Han dynasty)
Publication date	5th century
Publication place	China

The Book of the Later Han, also known as the History of the Later Han and by its Chinese name Hou Hanshu (Chinese: 後漢書), is one of the Twenty-Four Histories and covers the history of the Han dynasty from 6 to 189 CE, a period known as the Later or Eastern Han. The book was compiled by Fan Ye and others in the 5th century during the Liu Song dynasty, using a number of earlier histories and documents as sources.

Background

In 23 CE, Han dynasty official Wang Mang was overthrown by a peasants' revolt known as the Red Eyebrows. His fall separates the Early (or Western) Han dynasty from the Later (or Eastern) Han dynasty.

As an orthodox history, the book is unusual in being completed over two hundred years after the fall of the dynasty. Fan Ye's primary source was the Dongguan Hanji (東觀漢記; "Han Records of the Eastern Lodge"), which was written during the Han dynasty itself.

Contents

The book is part of four early historiographies of the Twenty-Four Histories canon, together with the Records of the Grand Historian, Book of Han and Records of the Three Kingdoms. Fan Ye used earlier histories, including accounts by Sima Qian and Ban Gu, along with many others (some had similar names, such as the Han Records of the Eastern Lodge by various contemporaries throughout the 2nd century, and the Records of Later Han by Yuan Hong from the 4th century), most of which did not survive intact.

The section on the Treatise on the Western Regions was based on a report composed by Ban Yong (with a few later additions) and presented to Emperor An of Han in around 125. It presumably includes notes from his father Ban Chao. It forms the 88th chapter (or 118th chapter in some editions) of the Book of the Later Han, and is a key source for the cultural and socio-economic data on the Western Regions, including the earliest accounts of Daqin (the Roman Empire), and some of the most detailed early reports on India and Central Asia. It contains a few references to events occurring after the death of Emperor An, including a brief account of the arrival of the first official envoys from Rome in 166.

Fan Ye, himself, clearly says that the new information contained in this section on the Western Regions, is largely based on information from the report of Ban Yong:

"Ban Gu has recorded in detail the local conditions and customs of each kingdom in the former book . Now, the reports of the Jianwu period onwards recorded in this 'Chapter on the Western Regions' differ from the earlier ; they are from Ban Yong's report at the end of Emperor An , and so on."

Annals (紀)

Biographies (列傳)

Records (志)

References

Citations

1. Tignor, R. L.; Adelman, J.; Aron, S.; Brown, P.; Elman, B. A.; Liu, X.; Pittman, H. (24 October 2013). Worlds Together, Worlds Apart (Fourth edition,  ed.). New York: W.W. Norton. ISBN 978-0393922080. OCLC 870312289.
2. Durrant, Stephen (2017). "Chapter 13: Histories (Shi 史)". The Oxford Handbook of Classical Chinese Literature (1000 BCE-900CE) (e-book ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. pp. 195–196.
3. Hill (2015) Vol. I, pp. xvi - xviii.
4. Hill (2015) Vol. I, pp. 11; 13; 27; 181; Vol. II, pp. 202-203.
5. Hill (2015), Vol. I, p. 13.

Sources

General

• Chavannes, Édouard (1906). "Trois généraux chinois de la dynastie des Han orientaux. Pan Tch’ao (32-102 p.C.); – son fils Pan Yong; – Leang K’in (112 p.C.). Chapitre LXXVII du Heou Han chou." T'oung Pao, Série II, Vol. 7, pp. 210–269.
• Chavannes, Édouard (1907). "Les pays d'occident d'après le Heou Han chou". T'oung Pao (8): 149–244. doi:10.1163/156853207X00111.
• Hill, John (2015). Through the Jade Gate - China to Rome: A Study of the Silk Routes 1st to 2nd Centuries CE. Volumes I & II. CreateSpace.
• Yu, Taishan. 2004. A History of the Relationships between the Western and Eastern Han, Wei, Jin, Northern and Southern Dynasties and the Western Regions. Sino-Platonic Papers No. 131 March, 2004. Dept. of East Asian Languages and Civilizations, University of Pennsylvania.
• Tan, Jiajian, Hou Hanshu (Book of Later Han). Encyclopedia of China (Chinese Literature Edition), 1st ed.
• Wylie, Alexander (1882). "Ethnography of the After Han Dynasty". Revue d'Extrême-Orient. 1. Paris: Ernest Leroux: 52–83, 198–246, 423–478. hdl:2027/mdp.39015011559534. Contains Wylie's English translation of Volumes 85 (History of the Eastern Barbarians), 86 (History of the Southern and South-Western Barbarians) and 87 (History of the Western Keang) of the Book of the Later Han.

Further reading

• Yap, Joseph P. (2019). The Western Regions, Xiongnu and Han, from the Shiji, Hanshu and Hou Hanshu. ISBN 978-1792829154.

External links

• Silk Road Seattle - University of Washington (The Silk Road Seattle website contains many useful resources including a number of full-text historical works, maps, photos, etc.)
• Hou Han Shu
• Book of Later Han 《後漢書》 Chinese text with matching English vocabulary

v t e Han dynasty topics
History	Chu–Han Contention (Feast at Swan Goose Gate) Lü Clan disturbance Rebellion of the Seven States Han dynasty in Inner Asia Han–Xiongnu Wars War of the Heavenly Horses Han conquest of Gojoseon Four Commanderies Southward expansion (Han–Minyue War Han conquest of Nanyue Han conquest of Dian First Chinese domination of Vietnam Trung sisters' rebellion Second Chinese domination of Vietnam) Xin dynasty Red Eyebrows and Lulin Chengjia Disasters of the Partisan Prohibitions Way of the Five Pecks of Rice Yellow Turban Rebellion End of the Han dynasty Battle of Red Cliffs
Society and culture	Ban Gu Sima Qian Records of the Grand Historian Book of Han Book of the Later Han Records of the Three Kingdoms Flying Horse of Gansu Huainanzi Eight Immortals of Huainan Mawangdui Silk Texts Luxuriant Dew of the Spring and Autumn Annals Yiwu Zhi Old Texts Han poetry Fu Eastern Han Chinese
Government and military	Ban Chao Ma Yuan Emperor list Family tree Three Lords and Nine Ministers Nine Ministers Three Ducal Ministers Kings Provinces and commanderies Protectorate of the Western Regions (Chief Official) Translation of government titles
Economy	Coinage Ancient Chinese coinage Silk Road Sino-Roman relations
Science and technology	Cai Lun Cai Yong Ding Huan Du Shi Hua Tuo Liu An Liu Xiang Liu Xin Luoxia Hong Sima Tan Wang Chong Zhang Heng Zhang Zhongjing
Texts	Balanced Discourse Book of Origins Book on Numbers and Computation Fangyan Essential Prescriptions from the Golden Cabinet The Nine Chapters on the Mathematical Art Huangdi Neijing Shuowen Jiezi Treatise on Cold Injury and Miscellaneous Disorders Zhoubi Suanjing

• Twenty-Four Histories
• 5th-century history books
• History books about the Han dynasty
• Liu Song dynasty
• 5th-century Chinese books