The Book of Later Han (Chinese: 後漢書; pinyin: hòu hàn shū) is one of the official Chinese historical works which was compiled by Fan Ye (Traditional Chinese: 范瞱; Simplified Chinese: 范晔; 398-445), using a number of earlier histories and documents as sources. It covers the history of the Eastern Han Dynasty (25-220). Pinyin (拼音, pÄ«nyÄ«n) literally means join (together) sounds (a less literal translation being phoneticize, spell or transcription) in Chinese and usually refers to HànyÇ” PÄ«nyÄ«n (汉语拼音, literal meaning: Han language pinyin), which is a system of romanization (phonemic notation and transcription to Roman script) for Standard Mandarin. ... Traditional Chinese characters are one of two standard character sets of printed contemporary Chinese written language. ... Simplified Chinese characters (Simplified Chinese: 简体字; Traditional Chinese: 簡體字; pinyin: jiǎntǐzì; also called 简化字/簡化字, jiǎnhuàzì) are one of two standard character sets of printed contemporary Chinese written language. ... Events John Chrysostom becomes bishop of Constantinople. ... Events Attila murders his brother and co-king Bleda. ... The Han Dynasty (Traditional Chinese characters: 漢朝, Simplified Chinese characters: 汉朝, pinyin Hàncháo 202 BC - AD 220) followed the Qin Dynasty and preceded the Three Kingdoms in China. ... For other uses, see number 25. ... Events Han Xiandi abdicates his throne to Cao Pi, symbolizing the end of the Han Dynasty and the beginning of the Three Kingdoms period in China. ...

The Book of Later Han is part of the Four Early Histories, together with:

• Shiji (Book of the Great Historian) by Sima Qian
• Hanshu (漢書, Book of Han) by Ban Gu (and completed by his sister Ban Zhao)
• Sanguo Zhi (三國志, "Records of the Three Kingdoms") by Chen Shou

These Four Early Histories are in turn part of the larger canon of Chinese histories known as the Twenty-Four Histories. The Records of the Grand Historian or the Records of the Grand Historian of China was the magnum opus of Sima Qian, in which he recounted Chinese history from the time of the mythical Yellow Emperor until his own time. ... Sima Qian (circa 145—90 BC) was a Prefect of the Grand Scribes (太史令) of the Han Dynasty. ... The Book of Han (Ch: 漢書, Hanshu) is a classic Chinese historical writing covering the history of the Western Han Dynasty (206 BCE-9 CE). ... Ban Gu (班固, Wade-Giles Pan Ku) was a 1st century Chinese historian. ... Ban Zhao ( Chinese: 班昭; pinyin: ) (ca. ... The Sānguó Zhì (Chinese 三国志, or 三國誌), variously translated as Chronicle of the Three Kingdoms, Records of the Three States and Records of the Three Kingdoms was the official and authoritative historical text compiled by Chen Shou during the Chinese Jin Dynasty (265-420) on the period of the Three... Chen Shou (?? - 297 AD) is the author of the San Guo Zhi, an historical account of the Three Kingdoms period of China. ... The Twenty-Four Histories is a collection of historical books covering a period of history from 3000 B.C. to the Ming Dynasty in the 17th century. ...

Fan Ye used a number of earlier histories, including the Shiji by Sima Qian and the Hanshu by Ban Gu, plus many others (including some that were also entitled Hou Hanshu), most of which have not survived intact. Fan Ye, himself, briefly describes in the text his main sources for the 'Chapter on the Western Regions' in his Commentary, at the end of the chapter:

“Ban Gu has recorded in detail the local conditions and customs of each kingdom in the Hanshu [History of the Former Han Dynasty]. Now, the events of the Jianwu period (25-55 CE) onward have been revised for this Section on the Western Regions, using those that differ from earlier records, as reported by Ban Yong at the end of the reign of Emperor An (107-125 CE).”

References

• Hill, John E. 2003. "Annotated Translation of the Chapter on the Western Regions according to the Hou Hanshu." 2nd Draft Edition. [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.

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.)