Ban Gu (班固) | 24 Histories

Overview

Ban Gu was an Eastern Han historian, poet, and principal author of the Book of Han.

Other names

Type	English	Chinese	Pinyin
Courtesy name	Mengjian	孟堅	Mèngjiān
Alternate name	Master Ban	班氏	Bān Shì

Life and dates

Birth

AD 32 班固（historical identification）
Strongly inferred · Book of Song 69, passage 385

Death

AD 92 班固（historical identification）
Strongly inferred · Book of Song 69, passages 385, 391

Age

20
Reckoning capping age 弱冠
Directly stated · Book of Han 117, passage 158

Attested activity

AD 32 to AD 92 AD 32-92
Dated from the passage context · Book of Southern Qi 48, passage 18
AD 32 to AD 92 Ban Gu, author of the table
Strongly inferred · Book of Later Han 125, passage 10
AD 75 to AD 86 令班固為文薦夷吾
Dated from the passage context · Book of Later Han 92, passage 161
AD 54 to AD 55 作幽通賦
Dated from the passage context · Book of Han 117, passages 158-160
AD 84 to AD 87 元和中
Dated from the passage context · Book of Later Han 31, passage 83
AD 80 史論引用班固
Strongly inferred · History of Liao 71, passage 6

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AD 76 to AD 84 建初中校书
Directly stated · Book of Later Han 89, passage 190
AD 54 弱冠而孤
Dated from the passage context · Book of Han 117, passage 158
AD 54 to AD 92 東漢著史表人
Strongly inferred · History of Yuan 174, passage 42
AD 89 永元 Dou Xian staff
Directly stated · Book of Later Han 89, passage 195
AD 58 to AD 75 永平中
Dated from the passage context · Book of Han 117, passages 224-225, 227
AD 80 漢史記傳時代
Strongly inferred · History of Liao 110, passage 3
c. AD 60 to AD 92 班作古今人表
Dated from the passage context · Book of Han 22, passages 19, 25
AD 32 to AD 92 班史 / 古今人表
Dated from the passage context · Book of Han 20, passages 18, 20
AD 80 班史
Directly stated · Book of Wei 111, passage 7
AD 32 to AD 92 班固
Strongly inferred · History of Liao 104, passage 91
AD 32 to AD 92 班固之世
Directly stated · Book of Liang 43, passage 95
AD 62 to AD 92 班固修史
Strongly inferred · History of Song 436, passage 260
AD 80 班固時代
Strongly inferred · History of Liao 116, passage 1
c. AD 92 班固有曰
Directly stated · History of Yuan 191, passage 2
AD 62 to AD 92 班固真本
Strongly inferred · Book of Liang 26, passage 140
AD 54 to AD 92 班固著史時代
Strongly inferred · Book of Southern Qi 19, passage 118
AD 70 to AD 83 班固見而稱曰
Strongly inferred · Book of Later Han 39, passage 71
AD 80 班固記溝洫
Strongly inferred · History of Yuan 66, passage 18
AD 32 to AD 92 班氏最有高名
Strongly inferred · Book of Song 69, passage 385
AD 92 竇氏之難
Dated from the passage context · Book of Han 22, passage 25
AD 87 章和元年正月
Dated from the passage context · Book of Later Han 40, passages 132, 137

Family

Immediate relationships attested in the translated histories.

Descendant of Ancestress of Ban (妣)
ancestress 妣 · paternal line
Strongly inferred · Book of Han 117, passages 195, 224
Child of Ban Biao (班彪)
son 子
Directly stated · Book of Han 117, passage 158

Kinship Role forebears · Quantity unspecified
Directly stated · Book of Han 117, passage 162

Key source chapters

Origins and identity

Lineage dark lineage of Gaoxuan 高頊之玄冑 · Ancestor Person Id Gaoxuan (高頊)
Directly stated · Book of Han 117, passage 160

Career and standing

authorship / writing as vocation 以著述為業
Directly stated · Book of Han 117, passage 224
broad learning 博學
Directly stated · Book of Han 117, passage 224
historian compiling graded roster of men 表古今人物
Directly stated · History of Yuan 174, passage 42
court gentleman 郎
AD 58 to AD 75 永平中 · Appointed
Dated from the passage context · Book of Han 117, passage 224
collator of the palace secretariat books 典校祕書
AD 58 to AD 75 永平中 · Held
Dated from the passage context · Book of Han 117, passage 224
Central Protector 中护军
Held
Directly stated · Book of Later Han 89, passage 195

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marshal of the Black Tortoise 玄武司馬
Held
Directly stated · Book of Later Han 40, passage 132
Became
Orphaned
Directly stated · Book of Han 117, passage 158
Held
AD 58 to AD 75 永平中（賓語） · Court attire wearer
Dated from the passage context · Book of Han 117, passage 231

Places and affiliations

Polity Eastern Han 東漢 · Relation Lived under
Strongly inferred · Book of Liang 26, passage 140; Book of Southern Qi 19, passage 118
Polity Eastern Han 東漢 · Relation Served
Directly stated · Book of Later Han 40, passage 132
Polity Eastern Han 東漢 · Relation Served
Strongly inferred · History of Song 436, passage 260
Polity Han 漢 · Relation Served
Directly stated · Book of Han 117, passage 224

Works and attributed material

Rhapsody on Communicating with the Hidden 幽通賦
Relation Author
Directly stated · Book of Han 117, passage 158
Table of Prominent People Ancient and Modern 古今人表
Relation Author
Directly stated · Book of Han 22, passages 19, 25
Table of Officials and Nobles 百官公卿表
Directly stated · Book of Later Han 125, passage 10
Ban Gu's History / Hanshu 班史
Relation Author
Strongly inferred · Book of Wei 111, passage 7
Ban's history (Hanshu) 班史
Relation Author
Directly stated · Book of Han 20, passage 20; Book of Han 22, passage 28
biographies of flatterers and harsh officials 佞幸、酷吏傳
Relation Author
Directly stated · History of Liao 110, passage 3

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Book of Han 漢書
Relation Author
Directly stated · Book of Liang 26, passages 139-140
historical writings 史
Relation Author
Directly stated · History of Liao 116, passage 1
recommendation memorial for Xie Yiwu 薦夷吾文
Relation Author
Directly stated · Book of Later Han 92, passage 161
Rhapsody on Communicating with the Hidden 幽通賦
Relation Author
Directly stated · Book of Han 117, passages 158-159
statement on early Han governance
Relation Author
Directly stated · History of Yuan 191, passage 2
Table of Ancient and Modern Persons 古今人表
Relation Author
Directly stated · Book of Han 20, passage 18
Table of Officials and Nobles 百官公卿表
Relation Author
Directly stated · Book of Later Han 125, passage 10
treatise on irrigation ditches 溝洫
Relation Author
Directly stated · History of Yuan 66, passage 18
Book of Han 漢書
Relation Authored
Strongly inferred · Book of Song 69, passages 385, 391
The Way of the Zither 琴道
Relation Editor
Directly stated · Book of Later Han 31, passage 83
Shusun Tong's Han yi in twelve chapters 叔孫通漢儀十二篇
Relation Submitter
Directly stated · Book of Later Han 40, passage 137
案《易》雞屬《巽》，今以羽蟲之孽類是也，依歆說附《視傳》
Commentary · Author · Mode named-source-report Source Person Id Ban Gu (班固)
Directly stated · Book of Southern Qi 19, passage 118
Dialogue · Addressee · With Guest (賓) · Direct quotation · Mode quotation Speaker Guest (賓)
Directly stated · Book of Han 117, passages 227-236
Historical judgment · Author · Mode quotation Speaker Ban Gu (班固)
Directly stated · History of Yuan 191, passages 2-3
Memorial · Author · With Xie Yiwu (謝夷吾)
Directly stated · Book of Later Han 92, passages 161-162, 183
Narrative · Author · Mode historian-judgment Speaker Ban Gu (班固)
Directly stated · Book of Han 22, passages 3-4, 19
Rhapsody on Communicating with the Hidden 幽通賦
Rhapsody · Author · Direct quotation
Directly stated · Book of Han 117, passages 159-191
Speech · Speaker · Direct quotation · With Liang Song (梁竦)
Directly stated · Book of Later Han 39, passage 71
Speech · Speaker · With Emperor Zhang (肅宗) · Direct quotation · Mode quoted-speech Speaker Ban Gu (班固)
Directly stated · Book of Later Han 40, passage 133
Table compilation · Author
Strongly inferred · Book of Han 20, passage 18

Events and relationships

Advised broadly summoning capital scholars to debate ritual revision
Scholarly · Advisor · With Emperor Zhang (肅宗)
Directly stated · Book of Later Han 40, passages 132-133
Answered critics with guest host rhapsody
Literary · Author
Directly stated · Book of Han 117, passages 225-226
Arranged nine grades
Scholarly · Author
Directly stated · Book of Han 20, passage 18
Caught in Dou clan calamity
AD 92 竇氏之難 · Political · Victim · Outcome Project left unfinished
Directly stated · Book of Han 22, passage 25
Compiled nine rank table
Scholarly · Author · Outcome Arranged nine grade sequence of ancient and later figures
Directly stated · Book of Han 22, passage 19
Devoted self to learning and writing
AD 58 to AD 75 永平中 · Scholarly · Subject
Dated from the passage context · Book of Han 117, passage 224

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Met dou family disaster work unfinished
Personal · Subject · Mode named-source-report Source Person Id Zhang Yan (張晏)
Directly stated · Book of Han 20, passage 19
Suffered calamity
Calamity · Victim · Mode quotation Speaker Yelu Mengjian (耶律孟簡)
Directly stated · History of Liao 104, passage 91
Relation Followed explanation of · Person Liu Xin (劉歆)
Directly stated · Book of Southern Qi 19, passage 118
Relation Colleague of · Person Fu Yi (傅毅)
Directly stated · Book of Later Han 89, passages 190, 195
Relation Consulted by · Person Emperor Zhang (肅宗)
Directly stated · Book of Later Han 40, passage 132

Assessments and attributes

Assessment has long enjoyed an age of emperors yet fails to rise from obscurity into meritorious action; bookish withdrawal yields no rank · Mode quotation Speaker Guest (賓)
Directly stated · Book of Han 117, passages 231-236
Assessment ranged alone across millennia surveying the masters; undertaking unfinished because of the Dou-clan disaster · Mode commentator-judgment Speaker Zhang Yan (張晏)
Directly stated · Book of Han 22, passage 25
Assessment ridiculed for lacking achievement · Mode named-source-report
Directly stated · Book of Han 117, passage 225
Assessment somewhat orderly account focused on Emperor Wu's era and incomplete on office duties · Mode historian-judgment
Directly stated · Book of Later Han 125, passages 10-11
Assessment Three Metropolises elders transmitted that the Ordered Biographies manuscript was Ban Gu's authentic text · Mode named-source-report Source Work Three Metropolises elders' tradition 三輔舊老相傳
Directly stated · Book of Liang 26, passage 140

Source notes

Historicity historical
Directly stated · Book of Later Han 39, passage 71; Book of Later Han 40, passage 132

References in the histories

Search passages

History

29 passages

Book of Han, Chapter 20Table of Ancient and Modern Persons · 1 passage

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師古曰：「六家之論，輕重不同；百行所存，趣拾難壹。張氏輒申所見，掎摭班史，然其所論，又自差錯。且年代乆遠，墳典隟亡，學者舛駮，師論分異，是以表載古人名氏，或與諸書不同。今則特有發明，用暢厥旨。自女媧以下，帝鴻以前，諸子傳記，互有舛駮，敘說不同，無所取正，大要知其古帝之號而已。諸人士見於史傳，彰灼可知者，無待解釋，其間幽昧者，時復及焉。」 Yan Shigu said, "The six schools' doctrines differ in what they value; the conduct preserved across the hundred practices is hard to gather into one standard. Master Zhang then set forth his own views, picking at Ban Gu's history—yet his arguments are themselves mistaken. Moreover, the ages are distant, canonical texts have gaps and losses, scholars contradict one another, and teachers' explanations diverge; for this reason the names recorded in the table may differ from other books. Here I add explanations of my own to make the meaning clear. From Nüwa down to before Emperor Hong, the various masters' records conflict and their accounts differ, with no way to decide which is right; in general one need only know the designations of the ancient emperors. Persons who appear in historical records and are plainly identifiable need no commentary; where matters are obscure, I sometimes explain them."

Book of Han, Chapter 22Volume 20: Prominent People from the Past Until the Present · 1 passage

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張氏輒申所見，掎摭班史，然其所論，又自差錯。 Zhang simply advanced his own opinions and faulted Ban Gu's history, but his own arguments were themselves inconsistent.

Book of Han, Chapter 117Volume 100a: Afterword and Family History 1 · 3 passages

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有子曰固，弱冠而孤，作幽通之賦，以致命遂志。 His son Ban Gu, orphaned at twenty, wrote the Rhapsody on Communicating with the Hidden to set his life on record.

賓戲主人曰：「蓋聞聖人有壹定之論，列士有不易之分，亦云名而已矣。 The guest said to the host, "Sages hold one steady teaching, steadfast men one fixed portion, and fame is said to crown the whole affair.

今吾子幸游帝王之世，躬帶冕之服，浮英華，湛道德，矕龍虎之文，舊矣。 You live under an enlightened throne, wear court regalia, swim in culture and soak in the Way, and have long feasted your eyes on imperial portents.

Book of Later Han, Chapter 31Volume 28a: Biographies of Huan Tan; Feng Yan · 1 passage

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《琴道》一篇未成，肅宗使班固續成之。 The essay The Way of the Zither was unfinished; Emperor Zhang told Ban Gu to complete it.

Book of Later Han, Chapter 39Volume 34: Biography of Liang Tong · 1 passage

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班固見而稱曰：『孔子著《春秋》而亂臣賊子懼，梁竦作《七序》而竊位素餐者慚。』 Ban Gu said, 'Confucius's Spring and Autumn struck fear into traitors; Liang Song's Seven Prefaces shames office-holders who steal pay.'

Book of Later Han, Chapter 40Volume 35: Biographies of Zhang, Cao, Zheng · 3 passages

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拜褒侍中，從駕南巡，既還，以事下三公，未及奏，詔召玄武司馬班固，問改定禮制之宜。 He was made palace attendant and joined the southern tour; on return the case went to the three dukes, but before they reported the emperor called in Ban Gu of the Black Tortoise office to ask how ritual ought to be revised.

固曰：『京師諸儒，多能說禮，宜廣招集，共議得失。』 Ban Gu said: "Capital scholars mostly know ritual—call a wide conference and thrash out the pros and cons."

章和元年正月，乃召褒詣嘉德門，令小黃門持班固所上叔孫通《漢儀》十二篇，敕褒曰：『此制散略，多不合經，今宜依禮條正，使可族行。 In Zhanghe 1, first month, he called Cao Bao to the Gate of Virtuous Blessing, had a junior eunuch hand him the twelve-fascicle Han ceremonies of Shusun Tong that Ban Gu had submitted, and ordered: "This draft is loose and often uncanonical—revise it by the classics so it can be enforced everywhere.

Book of Later Han, Chapter 89Volume 80a: Biographies of Writers 1 · 2 passages

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建初中，肃宗博召文学之士，以毅为兰台令史，拜郎中，与班固、贾逵共典校书。 Midway through Jianchu, Emperor Zhang called literati widely—named Fu Yi to the Orchid Terrace, made him a gentleman, and paired him with Ban Gu and Jia Kui to collate the canon.

及宪迁大将军，复以毅为司马，班固为中护军。 When Dou rose to Grand General, Fu Yi returned as army major while Ban Gu guarded headquarters.

Book of Later Han, Chapter 92Volume 82a: Biographies of Alchemists 1 · 1 passage

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及倫作司徒，令班固為文薦夷吾曰： When Diwu Lun became minister of education he told Ban Gu to draft a memorial praising Xie Yiwu:

Book of Later Han, Chapter 125Volume 114: Officials Part One · 1 passage

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唯班固著《百官公卿表》，记汉承秦置官本末，讫于王莽，差有条贯； Only Ban Gu's Table of Officials and Nobles traced how Han took over Qin offices from start to finish, down to Wang Mang, with something like a clear thread;

Book of Liang, Chapter 26Volume 26: Fan Xiu; Fu Zhao; Fu Ying; Xiao Chen; Lu Gao · 1 passage

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僧曰：「三輔舊老相傳，以爲班固真本。」 The monk said, “Elders of the Three Metropolises have handed down that this is Ban Gu’s authentic text.”

Book of Liang, Chapter 43Volume 43: Wei Can; Jiang Ziyi; Jiang Zisi; Jiang Ziwu; Zhang Sheng; Shen Jun; Liu Jingli · 1 passage

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子一續《黃圖》及班固「九品」，並辭賦文筆數十篇，行於世。 Ziyi continued the Yellow Chart and Ban Gu's "Nine Ranks," and several tens of rhapsodies and prose pieces, which circulated in the world.

History of Liao, Chapter 71Volume 71 Biographies 1: Empresses and Consorts · 1 passage

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班固因之，而傳元后於外戚之後； Ban Gu followed his lead but relegated Empress Yuan to a biography after the consort-kin section;

History of Liao, Chapter 104Volume 104 Biographies 34: Literature 2 · 1 passage

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故左氏、司馬遷、班固、范曄俱罹殃禍，可不慎歟！」 Therefore Zuo Qiuming, Sima Qian, Ban Gu, and Fan Ye all suffered calamity—is caution not required!"

History of Liao, Chapter 110Volume 110 Biographies 40: Treacherous Ministers 1 · 1 passage

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故遷、固傳佞幸、酷吏，歐陽修則並奸臣錄之，將俾為君者知所鑒，為臣者知所戒。 That is why Sima Qian and Ban Gu devoted biographies to flatterers and harsh officials, and why Ouyang Xiu added treacherous ministers as well—so that rulers would know what to heed and ministers what to fear.

History of Liao, Chapter 116Volume 116: Explanation of State Language · 1 passage

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史自遷、固，以迄晉、唐，其為書雄深浩博，讀者未能盡曉。 From Sima Qian and Ban Gu through the Jin and Tang dynasties, the histories they wrote are vast and profound — so much so that readers cannot fully grasp them on their own.

Book of Southern Qi, Chapter 19Volume 19 Treatises 11: Five Elements · 1 passage

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班固案《易》雞屬《巽》，今以羽蟲之孽類是也，依歆說附《視傳》云。 Ban Gu notes that in the Changes the chicken belongs to Xun, Wind; feathered portents are classed likewise. Following Liu Xin, appended to the Treatise on Appearances:

Book of Southern Qi, Chapter 48Volume 48 Biographies 29: Yuan Tuan, Kong Zhigui, Liu Hui · 1 passage

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今栖遁之士，排斥皇王，陵轢將相，此偏介之行，不可長風移俗，故遷書未傳，班史莫編。 The recluses of today reject the throne and trample on generals and ministers—such eccentric conduct cannot be held up to reshape custom, which is why Sima Qian's history did not pass their lives down and Ban Gu's did not compile them.

History of Song, Chapter 436Volume 436 Biographies 195: Confucian Scholars 6: Chen Liang, Zheng Qiaolinting, Li Daochuan · 1 passage

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以侍講王綸、賀允中薦，得召對，因言班固以來歷代為史之非。 Recommended by Academician Wang Lun and He Yunzhong, he was called to court and denounced the flaws of official histories since Ban Gu.

Book of Song, Chapter 69Volume 69 Biographies 29: Liu Zhan, Fan Ye · 2 passages

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班氏最有高名，既任情無例，不可甲乙辨。 Ban Gu's history enjoys the highest reputation, yet it follows personal inclination without a consistent method, making its merits impossible to rank clearly.

嘗共比方班氏所作，非但不愧之而已。 I once compared them with Ban Gu's work and found that mine did more than merely hold its own.

Book of Wei, Chapter 111Volume 105a Treatise 1: Celestial Phenomena 1 · 1 passage

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班史以日暈五星之屬列天文志，薄蝕彗孛之比入五行說。 Ban Gu's History put solar halos and the five planets in the Astronomical Treatise, but eclipses, comets, and similar phenomena in the discourse on the Five Phases.

History of Yuan, Chapter 66Volume 66 Treatises 19: Rivers and Canals 3 · 1 passage

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玄既為河平之碑，又自以為司馬遷、班固記河渠溝洫，僅載治水之道，不言其方，使後世任斯事者無所考則，乃從魯訪問方略，及詢過客，質吏牘，作《至正河防記》，欲使來世罹河患者按而求之。 After composing the pacification stele, Ouyang Xuan reflected that Sima Qian and Ban Gu, in their treatises on rivers and canals, recorded only general principles of water control, not the practical methods—leaving later engineers nothing concrete to follow. He therefore interviewed Jia Lu about his methods, questioned travelers who had witnessed the work, checked official records, and wrote the Record of Zhizheng River Control so that future generations facing river disasters might find actionable guidance within it.

History of Yuan, Chapter 174Volume 174 Biographies 61: Yao Sui, Guo Guan, Jia Guzhiqi, Liu Geng, Ye Luyoushang, Hao Tianting, Zhang Kongsun · 1 passage

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彼復有班孟堅者出，表古今人物，九品中必以一等置歐陽子，則為去聖賢也有級而不遠，其文雖無謝、尹之知，不害於行後。 If another Ban Gu should compile a roster of men through the ages, he would surely place Master Ouyang in the top grade; though that sets him below the sages, the distance would not be vast, and though his prose lacked admirers like Xie and Yin, it would not keep him from a place among the great writers of later ages.

History of Yuan, Chapter 191Volume 191 Biographies 78: Virtuous Officials 1 · 1 passage

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班固有曰：「漢興，與民休息，凡事簡易，禁罔疏闊，以寬厚清靜為天下先，故文、景以後，循吏輩出。」 Ban Gu once wrote: "At the founding of the Han, the dynasty let the people recover from war; government was kept simple, legal restraints were broad and sparse, and the realm was led by clemency and restraint. After Emperors Wen and Jing, capable and honest administrators appeared in succession."