Book of the Later Han

The Book of the Later Han or the History of the Later Han (simplified Chinese: 后汉书; traditional Chinese: 後漢書; pinyin: hòuhànshū; Wade–Giles: Hou Han Shu) is one of the official Chinese 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.

The book is part of early four historiographies of the Twenty-Four Histories canon, together with the Records of the Grand Historian, Book of Han and Records of Three Kingdoms. Fan Ye used a number of earlier histories, including those accounts by Sima Qian and Ban Gu, 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 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 section on the Records of the Western Regions was based on a report composed by General Ban Yong (with a few later additions) and presented to the Emperor An about 125 CE. It presumably includes notes from his famous father, General Ban Chao. It forms the 88th chapter (or 118th chapter in some editions)^[1] of the Hou Hanshu, and is a key source for the cultural and socio-economic data on the Western Regions, including the earliest accounts of Da Qin (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 Da Qin in 166 CE.^[2]

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:

"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."^[3]

Footnotes

References

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 7, pp. 210–269.
• Chavannes, Édouard (1907). "Les pay d'occident d'après le Heou Han chou. T’oung pao 8. pp. 149-244.. 
• Hill, John E. (2009). Through the Jade Gate to Rome: A Study of the Silk Routes during the Later Han Dynasty, First to Second Centuries CE: An annotated translation of the Chronicle on the ‘Western Regions’ from the Hou Hanshu.. BookSurge. ISBN 978-1-4392-2134-1. 
• 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.

External links

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