The ''Dongguan Hanji'' () is a Chinese text that is a history of the

Eastern Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

. It was compiled in several stages by different people throughout the Eastern Han period. It was considered the standard history of the Eastern Han until the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

when it replaced by the ''

Book of the Later Han The ''Book of the Later Han'', also known as the ''History of the Later Han'' and by its Chinese name ''Hou Hanshu'' (), 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 Lat ...

''.

Compilation

The book started to be written in 72 CE, when

Emperor Ming of Han Emperor Ming of Han (15June 28 – 5September 75 AD), born and also known as and as , was the second Emperor of the Han dynasty#Eastern Han, Eastern Han dynasty. He was the fourth son and second crown prince of Emperor Guangwu of Han, Empero ...

ordered that a history be written of the reign of his father

Emperor Guangwu Emperor Guangwu of Han (; 15 January 5 BC29 March AD 57), born Liu Xiu (), courtesy name Wenshu (), was a Chinese monarch. He served as an emperor of the Han dynasty by restoring the dynasty in AD 25, thus founding the Eastern Han dynasty. He ...

Ban Gu Ban Gu (AD32–92) was a Chinese historian, poet, and politician best known for his part in compiling the ''Book of Han'', the second of China's 24 dynastic histories. He also wrote a number of '' fu'', a major literary form, part prose ...

, Chen Zong (陳宗), , Meng Ji (孟冀), , and were chosen to compile it. They worked on this project in the Orchid Terrace (''Lan tai'', 蘭臺), one of the libraries and archives in the Southern Palace complex in

Luoyang Luoyang ( zh, s=洛阳, t=洛陽, p=Luòyáng) is a city located in the confluence area of the Luo River and the Yellow River in the west of Henan province, China. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zheng ...

. The result was a 28-chapter book entitled ''Jianwu zhu ji'' (建武注記), covering the time from 22 to 57 CE. In 120 CE, Empress Dowager Deng Sui instructed , , , and to expand the ''Jianwu zhu ji''. They worked in the Eastern Lodge (''Dong guan'', 東觀), another library in the Southern Palace. Their completed work was entitled the ''Han ji'' (漢記), updating the text to cover the time from 58 to 106 CE. In 151 or 152 CE, Emperor Huan ordered the ''Han ji'' to be expanded, with Fu Wuji, Huang Jing (黃景), , , Cao Shou (曹壽), and expanding the text in the Eastern Lodge, bringing the ''Han ji'' to a total of 114 chapters. This expansion covered the time from 107 to 146 CE. Between 172 and 177 CE Emperor Ling ordered that the text be expanded again, with

Ma Midi Ma Midi (died 194), courtesy name Wengshu, was an official who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Life Ma Midi was from Maoling County (茂陵縣), Youfufeng Commandery (右扶風郡), which is located northeast of present-d ...

, ,

Cai Yong Cai Yong (132/133 – ), courtesy name Bojie, was a Chinese astronomer, calligrapher, historian, mathematician, musician, politician, and writer of the Eastern Han dynasty. He was well-versed in calligraphy, music, mathematics and astronomy. On ...

, Lu Zhi, and

Yang Biao Yang Biao (; 142–225), courtesy name Wenxian (文先), was a Chinese scholar and official who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty. Known for his moral rectitude and classical scholarship, he served as one of the Three Excellencies and hel ...

as compilers. At this point the text was renamed to the ''Dongguan hanji'' and it covered the time up to 167 CE. After the fall of the Eastern Han in 220, Yang Biao privately worked on the text before his death in 225 for a final round of revision and expansion. This brought the text to 143 volumes, with the text now covering the entire history of the Eastern Han up to its fall.

Later history

Until the seventh century, the ''Dongguan Hanji'' was considered the standard history of the Eastern Han. It was regularly grouped with the ''

Shiji The ''Shiji'', also known as ''Records of the Grand Historian'' or ''The Grand Scribe's Records'', is a Chinese historical text that is the first of the Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was written during the late 2nd and early 1st cen ...

'' and ''

Hanshu The ''Book of Han'' is a history of China finished in 111 CE, covering the Western, or Former Han dynasty from the first emperor in 206 BCE to the fall of Wang Mang in 23 CE. The work was composed by Ban Gu (32–92 CE), ...

'' as the "three histories" (''Sanshi'', 三史). The ''Dongguan Hanji'' was used as the main source for all subsequently compiled histories of the Eastern Han, including Fan Ye's ''

''. The ''Dongguan Hanji'' gradually faded in importance during the

, especially after Crown Prince Li Xian sponsored a commentary on the ''Book of the Later Han''. Once the ''Dongguan Hanji'' was replaced as a standard history, large parts of it began to be lost. The ''

Book of Sui The ''Book of Sui'' () is the official history of the Sui dynasty, which ruled China in the years AD 581–618. It ranks among the official Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was written by Yan Shigu, Kong Yingda, and Zhangsun Wuji, ...

'' lists the text as having the original 143 volumes. By the Tang, it had been reduced to 127 or 126 volumes. By the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...

, there were only 8 volumes remaining. By the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...

it had been largely lost as a separate complete work. The editors of the ''

Siku Quanshu The ''Siku Quanshu'', literally the ''Complete Library of the Four Treasuries'', is a Chinese encyclopedia commissioned during the Qing dynasty by the Qianlong Emperor. Commissioned in 1772 and completed in 1782, the ''Siku quanshu'' is the lar ...

'' recovered 24 volumes from the ''

Yongle Encyclopedia The ''Yongle Encyclopedia'' () or ''Yongle Dadian'' () is a Chinese ''leishu'' encyclopedia commissioned by the Yongle Emperor (1402–1424) of the Ming dynasty in 1403 and completed by 1408. It comprised 22,937 manuscript rolls in 11,095 vol ...

'' and other sources.

References

Bibliography

* * {{Cite book , last=Wilkinson , first=Endymion Porter , author-link=Endymion Wilkinson , title=Chinese History: A New Manual , publisher=

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is an academic publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University. It is a member of the Association of University Presses. Its director since 2017 is George Andreou. The pres ...

, year=2013 , isbn=9780674067158 History books about the Han dynasty 2nd-century history books 3rd-century history books