Ban Gu

Ban Gu (32–92), courtesy name Mengjian, was a native of Anling in Fufeng (present-day Xianyang, Shaanxi) and a historian and man of letters of the Eastern Han dynasty. Continuing the unfinished work of his father Ban Biao, he spent more than twenty years completing the Hanshu (Book of Han), China's first dynastic history in the biographical (jizhuan) style. Covering the period from Emperor Gaozu of Han to Wang Mang, it is noted for its rigorous structure and rich historical material, and later ages ranked Ban Gu together with Sima Qian as "Ban and Ma." Beyond history, Ban Gu was an accomplished writer of fu; his "Liangdu Fu" (Rhapsody on the Two Capitals) describes the geography and ritual order of the capitals in a grand and expansive manner. The Baihu Tongyi, compiled under his name, gathers the results of the White Tiger Hall discussions on the classics and is an important source for the thought and institutions of the Han. His works combine the precision of historiography with the elegance of literature and have deeply influenced later historical compilation and fu writing.