Quick Answer: What Is the Hanshu?
The Hanshu (汉书, Hànshū), usually called the Book of Han or History of the Former Han, is a dynastic history centered on the Western Han (西汉, Xī Hàn). Its narrative covers 206 BCE to 23 CE, including the rule and fall of Wang Mang (王莽, Wáng Mǎng).[1]
- Organization: One hundred traditional chapters, arranged as annals (纪, jì), tables (表, biǎo), treatises (志, zhì) and biographies (传, zhuàn).
- Range: Rulers and officials appear alongside institutions, economic affairs and the classification of books.
- Reading approach: Choose a question, locate the appropriate form and compare it with another section.[4][5][6]
Its historical period, its compilation and the later division of its chapters are separate questions.
The Book of Han is easier to navigate once you stop treating it as a continuous story. An emperor’s reign, the movement of resources and the contents of an imperial library belong to different sections, each offering a different route into the past.
Ban Gu and the Family Project
Ban Gu (班固, Bān Gù; 32–92 CE) was its principal author. He continued historical work begun by his father, Ban Biao (班彪, Bān Biāo), and developed it into a history with a defined Han focus. His biography records an accusation of privately rewriting national history, followed by imperial authorization to continue.[1][2]
The project outlasted him. His sister Ban Zhao (班昭, Bān Zhāo) was commissioned to continue unfinished work after his death. Her biography identifies the eight tables and the astronomical treatise as incomplete, and also records Ma Xu (马续, Mǎ Xù) being ordered to continue after her. “Written by Ban Gu” is useful shorthand, but conceals this extended process.[3]
Four Forms: Annals, Tables, Treatises and Biographies
The four forms answer different questions. Their chapter numbers provide a practical map:[2][4]
| 形式 | Chapters | What it helps you find |
|---|---|---|
| Annals (纪, jì) | 1–12; twelve chapters | Events arranged around rulers and their reigns. |
| Tables (表, biǎo) | 13–20; eight chapters | Chronological relationships among officeholders, titled families and other listed groups. |
| Treatises (志, zhì) | 21–30; ten chapters | Extended accounts of institutions and fields such as economy, geography and bibliography. |
| Biographies (传, zhuàn) | 31–100; seventy chapters | People and grouped subjects developed beyond the reign-by-reign framework. |
These total one hundred chapters. Received editions commonly divide longer chapters into upper, middle or lower parts, producing 120 juan (卷, juàn), or textual fascicles. That count does not mean 120 modern bound books. When citing a passage, retain the chapter number and any subdivision rather than relying on a publisher’s physical volume number.[4]
Two Treatises That Show the Book’s Range
Chapter 24, the Shihuozhi (食货志, Shíhuòzhì), is commonly understood as a treatise on food and goods. Its opening connects agriculture, clothing materials, currency and exchange with the resources needed to sustain people and government. This is economic history within an argument about political order, rather than a discussion of food alone.[5]
Notice how that opening invokes ancient exemplary rulers. The passage presents an ideal relationship among livelihood, distribution and moral instruction; its account should not be treated as independently verified evidence for every institution it attributes to remote antiquity.[5]
Chapter 30, the Yiwenzhi (艺文志, Yìwénzhì), is a bibliography of writings. Its introduction describes the editorial work of Liu Xiang (刘向, Liú Xiàng) and Liu Xin (刘歆, Liú Xīn), explaining that the chapter abridges earlier cataloguing. Its range includes philosophical, military and medical writings as well as classics and poetry. “Literature” in an English title can therefore be misleading if understood only as imaginative writing.[6]
Hanshu, Shiji and Hou Hanshu: Different Historical Frames
The Hanshu helped establish a model for later dynastic histories. The following comparison separates the three historical frames:[1]
| Work | Historical frame | 要留意的分別 |
|---|---|---|
| Shiji (史记, Shǐjì) | A long historical span ending in the early Han period. | Its organizing project extends across many ruling houses. |
| Hanshu | 206 BCE–23 CE, including Wang Mang’s Xin regime (新, Xīn). | The book’s endpoint extends beyond the Western Han government itself. |
| Hou Hanshu (后汉书, Hòu Hànshū) | Eastern Han (东汉, Dōng Hàn), 25–220 CE. | A separate work on the later Han period, not a revised edition of the Hanshu. |
Check both the Chinese title and the period covered when choosing an edition or tracing a citation.[1][7]
How to Begin Reading the Book of Han
- Choose one historical question: For a reign’s sequence of events, begin with an annal; for an institution, begin with its treatise. Record the chapter and subdivision.
- Read across forms: Place a relevant biography beside the annal, or connect an institutional discussion with its dated setting. Note what each form emphasizes or leaves outside its immediate focus.
- Separate evidence from framing: Distinguish a narrated event, a cited document and an explanatory judgment. Check whether an appeal to ancient precedent describes an ideal or a claim about past practice.
For English reading, Homer H. Dubs’s three-volume The History of the Former Han Dynasty, published in 1938–1955, translates the twelve imperial annals and the memoir of Wang Mang. It does not translate the entire hundred-chapter collection. A reader seeking the economic or bibliographical treatise must check a different edition’s contents rather than assume those chapters are included.[8]
FAQs About the Hanshu
Did Ban Zhao write the Hanshu?
She continued unfinished portions of the project after Ban Gu’s death; the received account also names Ma Xu among its later continuators.[3]
Why do editions say either 100 chapters or 120 juan?
The hundred-chapter organization and the later subdivision of long chapters count different textual units. Neither specifies the number of modern bindings.[4]
Is the Hanshu the same as the Hou Hanshu?
No. They concern different Han periods and are separate historical works.[7]
Does the Dubs translation cover the whole book?
No. Its three volumes contain the imperial annals and Wang Mang’s memoir, rather than all four divisions.[8]
資料來源
[1] Lei Yang, Wiley. Ban Gu
[2] Public-domain Chinese text. Hou Hanshu, chapter 40, first part: Ban Biao and Ban Gu
[3] Public-domain Chinese text. Hou Hanshu, chapter 84: Ban Zhao
[4] Public-domain Chinese text. Hanshu: contents and later bibliographical notice
[5] Public-domain Chinese text. Hanshu, chapter 24: Treatise on Food and Goods
[6] Public-domain Chinese text. Hanshu, chapter 30: Bibliographical Treatise
[7] National Diet Library, Japan. Hou Hanshu, 120 juan: catalogue description
[8] CiNii Books, National Institute of Informatics. The History of the Former Han Dynasty: Homer H. Dubs translation