The ''Dongguan Hanji'' () is a history of the

Eastern Han dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warr ...

. It was compiled in several stages by different people throughout the Eastern Han. It was considered the standard history of the Eastern Han until the

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

when it replaced by the ''

Book of the Later Han The ''Book of the Later Han'', also known as the ''History of the Later Han'' and by its Chinese name ''Hou Hanshu'' (), is one of the Twenty-Four Histories and covers the history of the Han dynasty from 6 to 189 CE, a period known as the Later ...

''.

Compilation

The book started to be written in 72 CE, when Emperor Ming of Han ordered that a history be written of the reign of his father

Emperor Guangwu Emperor Guangwu of Han (; 15 January 5 BC – 29 March AD 57), born Liu Xiu (), courtesy name Wenshu (), was a Chinese monarch. He served as an emperor of the Han dynasty by restoring the dynasty in AD 25, thus founding the Eastern Han (Later ...

Ban Gu Ban Gu (AD32–92) was a Chinese historian, politician, and poet best known for his part in compiling the ''Book of Han'', the second of China's 24 dynastic histories. He also wrote a number of '' fu'', a major literary form, part prose ...

, Chen Zong (陳宗), , Meng Ji (孟冀), , and were chosen to compile it. They worked on this project in the Orchid Terrace (''Lan tai'', 蘭臺), one of the libraries and archives in the Southern Palace complex in

Luoyang Luoyang is a city located in the confluence area of Luo River (Henan), Luo River and Yellow River in the west of Henan province. Governed as a prefecture-level city, it borders the provincial capital of Zhengzhou to the east, Pingdingshan to the ...

. The result was a 28-chapter book entitled ''Jianwu zhu ji'' (建武注記), covering the time from 22 to 57 CE. In 120 CE, Empress Dowager Deng Sui instructed , , , and to expand the ''Jianwu zhu ji''. They worked in the Eastern Lodge (''Dong guan'', 東觀), another library in the Southern Palace. Their completed work was entitled the ''Han ji'' (漢記), updating the text to cover the time from 58 to 106 CE. In 151 or 152 CE, Emperor Huan ordered the ''Han ji'' to be expanded, with Fu Wuji,

Huang Jing Huang Jing (; 1912 – 10 February 1958), born Yu Qiwei (), was a Chinese Communist revolutionary and politician who served as Mayor and Communist Party Chief of Tianjin municipality, Minister of the First Ministry of Machine Building, and Chair ...

(黃景), , , Cao Shou (曹壽), and expanding the text in the Eastern Lodge, bringing the ''Han ji'' to a total of 114 chapters. This expansion covered the time from 107 to 146 CE. Between 172 and 177 CE Emperor Ling ordered that the text be expanded again, with

Ma Midi Ma Midi (died 194), courtesy name Wengshu, was an official who lived during the late Eastern Han dynasty of China. Life Ma Midi was from Maoling County (茂陵縣), Youfufeng Commandery (右扶風郡), which is located northeast of present-day ...

, , Cai Yong,

Lu Zhi Lu Zhi or Lu Chih may refer to: *Empress Lü (呂雉), first empress of the Han dynasty *Lu Zhi (Han dynasty) (盧植), minister of the Eastern Han dynasty **Lu Zhi (卢志), great-grandson of the Eastern Han minister and confidant/strategist of Si ...

, and as compilers. At this point the text was renamed to the ''Dongguan hanji'' and it covered the time up to 167 CE. After the fall of the Eastern Han in 220, Yang Biao privately worked on the text before his death in 225 for a final round of revision and expansion. This brought the text to 143 volumes, with the text now covering the entire history of the Eastern Han up to its fall.

Later history

Until the seventh century, the ''Dongguan Hanji'' was considered the standard history of the Eastern Han. It was regularly grouped with the '' Shiji'' and '' Hanshu'' as the "three histories" (''Sanshi'', 三史). The ''Dongguan Hanji'' was used as the main source for all subsequently compiled histories of the Eastern Han, including Fan Ye's ''Book of the Later Han''. The ''Dongguan Hanji'' gradually faded in importance during the

, especially after Crown Prince Li Xian sponsored a commentary on the ''Book of the Later Han''. Once the ''Dongguan Hanji'' was replaced as a standard history, large parts of it began to be lost. The ''

Book of Sui The ''Book of Sui'' (''Suí Shū'') is the official history of the Sui dynasty. It ranks among the official Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was written by Yan Shigu, Kong Yingda, and Zhangsun Wuji, with Wei Zheng as the lead author. ...

'' lists the text as having the original 143 volumes. By the Tang, it had been reduced to 127 or 126 volumes. By the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

, there were only 8 volumes remaining. By the

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

it had been lost as a separate work. The editors of the '' Siku Quanshu'' recovered 24 volumes from the '' Yongle Encyclopedia'' and other sources.

References

Bibliography

* * {{Cite book , last=Wilkinson , first=Endymion Porter , author-link=Endymion Wilkinson , title=Chinese History: A New Manual , publisher=

Harvard University Press Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the retirem ...

, year=2013 , isbn=9780674067158 History books about the Han dynasty 2nd-century history books 3rd-century history books