The Book of Han, also known as the Book of Former Han, was compiled by Ban Gu, a renowned historian of the Eastern Han dynasty. It is China's first dynastic history written in annalistic-biographical style. The complete work consists of one hundred chapters divided into four sections: annals, tables, treatises, and biographies. It mainly records the 230 years of Western Han history, from the first year of Emperor Gaozu's reign (206 BCE) to the fourth year of Wang Mang's Dihuang era (23 CE).
The book uses the emperors' annals as its framework and the biographies as its main body, supplemented by tables and treatises. Its structure is rigorous and its contents detailed. Not only did it carry on the biographical tradition of Records of the Grand Historian, it also pioneered the writing of history by dynasty. The treatises are particularly notable, systematically recording developments in institutions, economics, geography, astronomy, calendrical systems, and more, providing invaluable material for later studies of Han society.
The Book of Han, Records of the Grand Historian, Book of the Later Han, and Records of the Three Kingdoms are collectively known as the "Four Early Histories." The Book of Han holds a pivotal place in the history of Chinese historiography.
A classic book, worth reading!