Chapter 2 Section 2 The Dating History of the First Biography——"Han Shu"

The main author of "Han Shu" is Ban Gu.Ban Gu, courtesy name Meng Jian, was born in Fufeng Anling (now Xianyang City, Shaanxi).Born in the eighth year of Jianwu (AD 32) of Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty, and died in the fourth year of Emperor Yongyuan (AD 92).He was born in a family of historians, and his great-grandfather was once a noble family favored by the royal family.Emperor Cheng of the Han Dynasty gave the Ban family a copy of the complete set of royal collections, including "Historical Records".This was a very rare treatment at the time. Banjia became a large library, and many scholars went to Banjia to read books, and Yang Xiong was one of them.His father, Ban Biao, read a lot of books in such an environment and had contact with many scholars.In the late Western Han Dynasty, more than 10 people continued to supplement "Historical Records", and there were many sequels.Ban Biao thought that these books were not good enough. He collected materials by himself and wrote 65 chapters of "Hou Zhuan". These "Hou Zhuan" became the basis for Ban Gu to write "Han Shu".Ban Gu studied with his father in Luoyang, Kyoto when he was young. He was very clever. He could compose articles and read poems and Fu at the age of nine, and entered Taixue at the age of 16.He has read a lot of books, exhaustively studied the words of nine streams and hundreds of schools, learned the teacher of impermanence, and did not stick to the exegesis of words and sentences, but paid attention to the main idea.He is generous and tolerant, and he is not proud of his talents.After studying in Taixue for seven years, his father died, and he returned to Anling with his coffin.In the first year of Emperor Ming Yongping (AD 58), he began to supplement and revise his father's book at home. He felt that "Hou Zhuan" was not detailed enough, so he devoted himself to research and collected historical materials, intending to write a relatively complete book.Unexpectedly, he was falsely accused of "rewriting the history of the country privately" and was arrested and imprisoned.His younger brother Ban Chao rushed to Luoyang, the capital city, and wrote a letter to Emperor Ming. He was summoned by Emperor Ming and explained the whole story. The local officials also sent the manuscript to Luoyang and showed it to Emperor Ming. The local place) Lingshi is the official who manages the books, and together with others compiled the Chronicle of Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty, and was later promoted to be the secretary of the school, the secretary of the school, and wrote 28 biographies and records of the deeds of heroes.In the seventh year of Yongping (AD 64), Emperor Ming asked Ban Gu to continue writing "Han Shu".Lantai is the place where the royal books are collected. Ban Gu can read and refer to them at will, extract the essence and use the macro, which greatly facilitates the writing of "Han Shu".By the seventh year of Emperor Zhang Jianchu (82 A.D.), the "Han Shu" was roughly completed.Ban Gu had a very good personal relationship with Dou Xian, a foreign relative who was in power at that time. He once served as a military adviser for Dou Xian and worked as a secretary.Later, in the struggle for power and profit among the ruling class, Dou Xian fell out of favor and committed suicide. Ban Gu was also implicated, arrested and died in prison, and his manuscripts were also severely damaged.At that time, there were still eight tables in "Hanshu" and "Tianwenzhi" had not been written.Later, Emperor He ordered Ban Zhao, Ban Gu's younger sister (the wife of Uncle Cao Shi, known as "Master Cao" in history) to sort out the manuscripts.Influenced by her family since she was a child, Ban Zhao was erudite and well-educated. She referred to the imperial collections. In addition to sorting out and supplementing the original manuscripts, she continued to write eight tables. Ma Xu also assisted in compiling "Astronomical Records", so that "Hanshu" was completed. Book.Ban Zhao is the first female historian in our country, and she is also the only female among the twenty-four histories authors. Her contribution to "Han Shu" will be recorded in the annals of history forever.

The content of "Han Shu" started from the first year of Han Gaozu (206 BC) and ended in the fourth year of Wang Mang Dihuang (23 AD), a total of 230 years.The style basically follows the "Historical Records", with "Ji" and "Biography" as the main body, only changing "Ben Ji" to "Ji", canceling "Shijia", and incorporating it into "Biography", because the Han Dynasty actually did not exist. , so there is no such thing as "The Family", which is the result of historical development. "Hanshu" was changed to "Zhi" to avoid duplication with the word "Book" in "Hanshu". "Han Shu" includes 12 Ji, 8 Table, 10 Zhi, 70 Biography, a total of 100, and later generations are divided into 120 volumes.

"Hanshu" is Ban Gu's original idea. By doing so, the documents of a dynasty can be completely preserved, and it also reflects the purpose of carrying forward the merits of the dynasty, which has a great influence on future generations.The subsequent official histories all use the "Hanshu" as a model, and the history is based on the dynasties, and the names were often called "books" at first. "Han Shu" is my country's first biographical dating history. "Hanshu" (Figure 3) has 800,000 characters, and the historical materials are very rich and detailed.Although most of the parts before Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty were written according to "Historical Records", there were also additions, deletions, and changes.Either newly established biography, or added facts, and most of them transcribed several important historical documents.For example, "Jia Yi Zhuan" added "Policies for Public Security" and other memorials, and "Chao Cuo Zhuan" included "Countermeasures for Juxianliang", "Book of Yan Bing Shi", "Jiao Taizi Shu", etc., in addition to "Historical Records", there are also Provided a lot of new historical materials.In the later part of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, in addition to using Ban Biao's suicide note as the basis and referring to more than a dozen books that continued the "Historical Records", a large number of edicts, memorials, poems, astronomical calendars, etc. were also used, as well as the records of the historians of the Han Dynasty. As well as the information that the Ban family heard and witnessed.In the past, some people ridiculed Ban Gu for transcribing too many original materials from a literary point of view, but from a historical point of view, this is one of the great advantages of "Han Shu", and objective and complete first-hand materials are a reliable basis for historical research. Most of the original works of the large amount of historical documents quoted in the "Hanshu" have been lost in later generations, but fortunately the "Hanshu" has preserved them for us.

"Hanshu" has newly added "Criminal Law Records", "Five Elements Records", "Geography Records", and "Yiwenzhi". For the first time, "Criminal Law Records" systematically described the evolution of the legal system and some specific legal provisions. "Geography" records the administrative divisions, historical evolution and household registration numbers of the county at that time, as well as the products, economic development status, folk customs and so on.No one has written about China's frontiers before this.Ban Gu wrote 103 counties and the household registration of each county, how many counties there are in each county, which rivers, which mountains, etc., which are very valuable and have preserved a lot of information for the study of regional geography.

In particular, "Yiwenzhi" is a shortened compilation of Liu Xin's "Seven Strategies". It has verified the origins of various academic schools, the content of works, and the situation of surviving and lost books. It has recorded and classified the books that existed at that time. . "Seven Strategies" has long been lost, thanks to "Yiwenzhi" for preserving precious materials for us. "Hanshu·Yiwenzhi" is the earliest existing catalog in our country, which enables us to know the relevant situation of a large number of books after the Warring States period.Most of the later official histories imitated it and wrote this part.

"Shihuo Zhi" evolved from "Ping Zhun Shu" in "Historical Records", but it has developed greatly and its content has become more abundant.It is divided into two parts. The first part talks about "food", that is, the agricultural economic situation; the second part discusses "goods", that is, the situation of commerce and currency. "Hanshu" also created the "Ancient and Modern People's Table" and "Hundred Officials, Gongqing Table" for the first time. "Ancient and Modern People's List" complements "Historical Records", and the characters included are from Taihao in the legendary era to Wu Guang in the late Qin Dynasty, and are divided into nine grades according to evaluation.It does not rank by status, but by character, reflecting the rule of Confucianism. The "Hundred Officials and Officials Table" is highly appreciated by later generations. It first records the situation of the division of officials in the Qin and Han Dynasties, the authority of various official positions and the amount of salary, and then uses a summary table divided into 14 levels and 34 official ranks to record The promotion and dismissal of ministers and ministers in the Han Dynasty.The space used is not much, but it allows people to understand at a glance the bureaucratic system and bureaucratic changes at that time.

"Hanshu" is particularly rigorous in its narration, paying attention to the system and completeness of historical events, and strives to have a beginning and an end in everything.The description is clear and tidy, the writing is elegant and concise, full of the charm of Fu, and it also occupies an important position in language and literature. Some famous articles in "Han Shu", such as "Su Wu Biography", describe the fact that Su Wu, an envoy of the Han Dynasty, was imprisoned by the Huns for 19 years and shepherded the North Sea. A symbol of unyielding, the narrative is wonderful, vivid and touching. "Huo Guang's Biography", "Zhang Yu's Biography" and "Zhu Maichen's Biography" are also written in detail and vividly, vividly and vividly, showing a high literary level.

From the perspective of ideological content, "Hanshu" is not as good as "Historical Records".Sima Qian did not completely use Confucius' Confucianism as the criterion for judging right from wrong, which is his preciousness.However, Ban Gu emphasized feudal orthodoxy, preached that the Han dynasty would "inherit Yao's fortune" and that the king's power was bestowed by gods, and emphasized that people should maintain the feudal hierarchy. Be content with yourself and don't make trouble.This reflects that Confucianism, as the feudal orthodoxy in the Eastern Han Dynasty, had already dominated the field of historiography.This is also inseparable from Ban Gu's personal family background, experience and education. The orthodoxy of "Hanshu" has always influenced the later official history of our country.

"Hanshu" likes to use ancient characters and ancient words, which are relatively difficult to read.People in the Eastern Han Dynasty could not understand many places. The famous Confucian scholar Ma Rong went to Ban Zhao to study "Han Shu" when he was young.Therefore, at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, Fuqian and Ying Shao had annotated the "Han Shu".In the Tang Dynasty, Yan Shigu collected the annotations of 23 predecessors, corrected errors and filled in gaps, and completed a new annotation of "Hanshu" (Figure 4).At the end of the Qing Dynasty, Wang Xianqian compiled more than 40 research results after the Tang Dynasty and Yan Shigu's annotations, and compiled them into "Hanshu Supplementary Notes".These annotations can help us understand the pronunciation, meaning and some historical facts in "Hanshu", and are important reference books for reading "Hanshu".At present, the best book for reading "Hanshu" is the collation and punctuation edition of "Hanshu" published by Zhonghua Book Company. The Qianlong Wuyingdian edition and the Tongzhi Jinling Bookstore edition, drawing on the achievements of predecessors, are carefully collated by experts and scholars, and punctuated for them, making it easier to read.