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
The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by th ...
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
Song, known as Liu Song (), Former Song (前宋) or Song of (the) Southern Dynasty (南朝宋) in historiography, was an imperial dynasty of China and the first of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties
...
, using a number of earlier histories and documents as sources.
Background
In 23 CE, Han dynasty official
Wang Mang
Wang Mang () (c. 45 – 6 October 23 CE), courtesy name Jujun (), was the founder and the only emperor of the short-lived Chinese Xin dynasty. He was originally an official and consort kin of the Han dynasty and later seized the th ...
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 Han Ji'' (東觀漢記; "Han Records of the Eastern Lodge"), which was written during the Han dynasty itself.
Contents
References
Citations
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
''T’oung Pao'' (; ), founded in 1890, is a Dutch journal and the oldest international journal of sinology. It is published by the publisher E. J. Brill.
''T'oung Paos original full title was ''T’oung Pao ou Archives pour servir à l’étud ...
'', Série II, Vol. 7, pp. 210–269.
*
*
* 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
''Sino-Platonic Papers'' is a scholarly monographic series published by the University of Pennsylvania. The chief focus of the series is on the intercultural relations of China and Central Asia with other peoples. The journal was established in ...
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.
* 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
The Xiongnu (, ) were a tribal confederation of nomadic peoples who, according to ancient Chinese sources, inhabited the eastern Eurasian Steppe from the 3rd century BC to the late 1st century AD. Modu Chanyu, the supreme leader after 20 ...
and Han, from the Shiji,
Hanshu and
Hou Hanshu''. .
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 ShuChinese text with matching English vocabulary
{{Han dynasty topics
Twenty-Four Histories
5th-century history books
History books about the Han dynasty
Liu Song dynasty
5th-century Chinese books