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The Book of the Later Han is one of the official Chinese
China

China is a Culture of China, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
 historical works which was compiled by Fan Ye in the 5th century, using a number of earlier histories and documents as sources. It covers the history of Eastern Han from 25 to 220 CE
Common Era

Common Era, abbreviated as CE, is a designation for the calendar system most commonly used in the Western world, and also internationally, for numbering the year part of the calendar date....
.

The book is part of early four historiographies of the Twenty-Four Histories
Twenty-Four Histories

The Twenty-Four Histories is a collection of China historical books covering a period of history from 3000 BC to the Ming Dynasty in the 17th century....
 canon, together with the Records of the Grand Historian
Records of the Grand Historian

The Records of the Grand Historian, also known in English language by the Chinese name Shiji , written from 109 BC to 91 BC, was the magnum opus of Sima Qian, in which he recounted China history from the time of the Yellow Emperor until his own time....
, Book of Han
Book of Han

The Book of Han is a classic History of China historical writing completed in 111 CE, covering the history of Western Han from 206 BCE to 25 CE....
 and Records of Three Kingdoms
Records of Three Kingdoms

The Records of Three Kingdoms , is the official and authoritative historical text on the period of Three Kingdoms covering from 189 to 280, that was written by Chen Shou in the 3rd century....
. Fan Ye used a number of earlier histories, including those accounts by Sima Qian
Sima Qian

Sima Qian was a Prefect of the Grand Scribes of the Han Dynasty. He is regarded as the father of Chinese historiography because of his highly praised work, Records of the Grand Historian , an overview of the history of China covering more than two thousand years from the Yellow Emperor to Emperor Wu of Han China ....
 and Ban Gu
Ban Gu

Ban Gu , courtesy name Mengjian , was a 1st century China historian best known for his part in compiling the Book of Han....
, plus many others (some that were also entitled name resemble to the work, such as the Han Records of the Eastern Lodge by various contemporaries throughout the 2nd century or the Records of Later Han by Yuan Hong
Yuan Hong

Yuan Hong , his courtesy name is Yanbo, was a scholar, historian and politician from the J?n Dynasty . He was born in Zhoukou, and served as an advisor to generals Xie Shang and Huan Wen on a number of military campaigns....
 from the 4th century) most of which have not survived intact.






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The Book of the Later Han is one of the official Chinese
China

China is a Culture of China, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
 historical works which was compiled by Fan Ye in the 5th century, using a number of earlier histories and documents as sources. It covers the history of Eastern Han from 25 to 220 CE
Common Era

Common Era, abbreviated as CE, is a designation for the calendar system most commonly used in the Western world, and also internationally, for numbering the year part of the calendar date....
.

The book is part of early four historiographies of the Twenty-Four Histories
Twenty-Four Histories

The Twenty-Four Histories is a collection of China historical books covering a period of history from 3000 BC to the Ming Dynasty in the 17th century....
 canon, together with the Records of the Grand Historian
Records of the Grand Historian

The Records of the Grand Historian, also known in English language by the Chinese name Shiji , written from 109 BC to 91 BC, was the magnum opus of Sima Qian, in which he recounted China history from the time of the Yellow Emperor until his own time....
, Book of Han
Book of Han

The Book of Han is a classic History of China historical writing completed in 111 CE, covering the history of Western Han from 206 BCE to 25 CE....
 and Records of Three Kingdoms
Records of Three Kingdoms

The Records of Three Kingdoms , is the official and authoritative historical text on the period of Three Kingdoms covering from 189 to 280, that was written by Chen Shou in the 3rd century....
. Fan Ye used a number of earlier histories, including those accounts by Sima Qian
Sima Qian

Sima Qian was a Prefect of the Grand Scribes of the Han Dynasty. He is regarded as the father of Chinese historiography because of his highly praised work, Records of the Grand Historian , an overview of the history of China covering more than two thousand years from the Yellow Emperor to Emperor Wu of Han China ....
 and Ban Gu
Ban Gu

Ban Gu , courtesy name Mengjian , was a 1st century China historian best known for his part in compiling the Book of Han....
, plus many others (some that were also entitled name resemble to the work, such as the Han Records of the Eastern Lodge by various contemporaries throughout the 2nd century or the Records of Later Han by Yuan Hong
Yuan Hong

Yuan Hong , his courtesy name is Yanbo, was a scholar, historian and politician from the J?n Dynasty . He was born in Zhoukou, and served as an advisor to generals Xie Shang and Huan Wen on a number of military campaigns....
 from the 4th century) most of which have not survived intact. The final 30 volumes of the book or the 8 treatises on law, rituals, sacrifices, astronomy, five elements, geography, officials, chariots and garments taken from the Sequel of the Book of Han, a work composed by Sima Biao in the 3rd century were added in the 6th century by Liu Zhao during his annotation.

The Records of the Western Regions are based on a report composed by General Ban Yong and presented to the Emperor about 125, probably included notes by his famous father, General Ban Chao
Ban Chao

Ban Chao , born in Xianyang, Shaanxi, was a Han Dynasty general and cavalry commander in charge of the administration of the "Western Regions" during the Eastern Han dynasty....
. It forms the 88th volume of the Hou Hanshu and is a key source for the cultural and socio-economic data on the Western Regions
Western Regions

The Western Regions or Xiyu was a historical name specified in the Chinese chronicles between the 3rd century BC to 8th century that referred to the regions west of Jade Gate, most often Central Asia ....
, including the earliest accounts of Da Qin (the Roman Empire
Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the Roman Republic phase of the Ancient Rome, characterised by an autocracy form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
).

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 General Ban Yong to the Emperor c. 125 CE.

"Ban Gu has recorded in detail the local conditions and customs of each kingdom in the former book [Hanshu or 'History of the Former Han Dynasty']. Now, the reports of the Jianwu period [25-56 CE] onwards recorded in this 'Chapter on the Western Regions' differ from the earlier [ones by Ban Gu]; they are from Ban Yong’s report [presented] at the end of [the reign of] Emperor An [107-125 CE], and so on."


External links

  • (The Silk Road Seattle website contains many useful resources including a number of full-text historical works, maps, photos, etc.)