About the author
Wu Han (1909–1969), originally named Wu Chunhan and styled Chenbo, was a native of Yiwu, Zhejiang, and a Chinese historian and social activist who was one of the pioneers of modern Ming studies. After graduating from the Department of History at Tsinghua University in 1934, he taught at Yunnan University, National Southwestern Associated University, and Tsinghua University, and later served as vice mayor of Beijing. His research centered on Ming politics and institutions. His representative work, Biography of Zhu Yuanzhang, combines textual criticism with vivid character portrayal, while monographs such as A Study of the Hu Weiyong Clique Case, The Ming Military, and Zhu Yuanzhang's Art of Rule show his rigorous approach to history through institutional operation and power relations. He also wrote popular historical works, including the nine-volume Chinese History Series and The Mirror of History, whose plain, clear prose blends scholarship with readability and has done much to spread knowledge of Ming history.
Written (116)
Rating 4.7★ A Study of the Hu Weiyong Conspiracy Case Wu Han · 2026 The Hu Weiyong Incident was a major affair of the early Ming dynasty. The factional purge and its connected prosecutions spanned fourteen years and, i… Rating 4.6★ The Military Forces of the Ming Dynasty Wu Han · 2026 The military (jun) was a special institution with its own hereditary register. In Ming household registration, the military register stood alongside t… Rating 4.5★ Zhu Yuanzhang's Art of Rule Wu Han · 2026 Zhu Yuanzhang and most of his officials were of peasant origin. They had all personally suffered exploitation and oppression by landlords. But during … Rating 4.4★ The Jingnan Campaign and the Northward Move of the Capital in the Ming Dynasty Wu Han · 2026 Given the constraints of the natural environment, the southeastern coast, stretching for thousands of miles, was constantly and everywhere exposed to … Rating 4.3★ Biography of Zhu Yuanzhang Wu Han Volumes Publishing Company · 2026 Zhu Yuanzhang zhuan begins with Zhu Yuanzhang's boyhood, when his family was destroyed and he begged for a living and became a monk, then follows his … Rating 4.3★ A Study of the Birth Mother of Emperor Chengzu of the Ming Wu Han · 2026 Both the Yongle Emperor and the Prince of Zhou were born to concubines. According to the Nanjing Taichang si zhi, his birth mother was in fact Consort… Rating 4.3★ Five Great Biographies of the 20th Century (Illustrated Collector's Edition, Five Volumes) Wu Han / Lin Yutang / Liang Qichao 天津博集新媒科技有限公司 · 2026 Biography of Zhu Yuanzhang: A petty rogue who endured hardships and begged for a living; a commander of valor, wisdom, and grand vision; an emperor di… Rating 4.3★ Biography of Zhu Yuanzhang Wu Han Hunan People's Publishing House · 2026 This is the edition Wu Han completed in 1948, when his mind was free, his ideas lively, and his language vivid, and he was in his prime. In his hands,… Rating 4.3★ Collector's Edition Series of Biographies of Chinese and Foreign Celebrities (Complete 12 Volumes) Lin Yutang / Wu Han / Liang Qichao 天津博集新媒科技有限公司 · 2026 "Mozi, 'Against Offensive War II': 'The gentleman does not use water as a mirror but uses others as a mirror. Mirrors of water show the face; mirrors … Rating 4.2★ Biography of Zhu Yuanzhang Wu Han Hunan People's Publishing House · 2026 A masterpiece by the great Ming historian Wu Han, thirty years in the making, recreating the turbulent legend of the Ming dynasty at a time of great e… Rating 4.2★ Basic Knowledge of Chinese History Wu Han Shaanxi Normal University Press · 2026 To promote and introduce Chinese history, between 1963 and 1965 Wu Han assembled a group of experts and scholars—including the renowned historians Wan… Rating 4.2★ Common Knowledge of Chinese History Wu Han Hunan Yuelu Publishing House Co., Ltd. · 2026 Between 1963 and 1965, Wu Han organized a group of experts and scholars—including the renowned historians Wang Qian, Bai Shouyi, Deng Guangming, Zheng… Rating 4.2★ The 20th Century's Five Great Biographies Series (Five Volumes) Wu Han / Lin Yutang 天津博集新媒科技有限公司 · 2026 This set includes five volumes: Biography of Zhu Yuanzhang, Biography of Su Dongpo, Biography of Wang Anshi, Biography of Li Hongzhang, and The Great … Rating 4.2★ Schools in the Early Ming Wu Han · 2026 Ming Taizu understood that military force could seize power but could not govern a state, and that most military officers were illiterate and could no… Rating 4.1★ The Great History of the Ming Dynasty Wu Han Shaanxi Normal University Press · 2026 A transcript of Wu Han's academic lectures delivered at the Central Party School, this book concisely and systematically covers the most fundamental a… Rating 4.1★ The Collapse of the Yuan Empire and the Founding of the Ming Wu Han · 2026 Coups and civil wars within the Mongol government gave the Red Army a golden opportunity to grow. Infighting among the Red Army and its tangled warfar… Rating 4.0★ Miscellaneous Notes on Reading History (with a Brief Commentary on Ming History) Wu Han · 2026 Among the officially commissioned standard histories, scholars have long held the History of Ming in the highest regard. Zhao Yi of Yanghu once remark… Rating 4.0★ Chinese and Foreign Celebrity Biography Collector's Series (Complete in 12 Volumes) Liang Qichao / Wu Han / Lin Yutang 天津博集新媒科技有限公司 · 2026 In the "Against Offensive War II" chapter of Mozi: "The gentleman does not use water as a mirror but uses other people as a mirror. Using water as a m… Rating 4.0★ Wang Maoyin and the New Currency System of the Xianfeng Era Wu Han · 2026 Throughout Wang Maoyin's political career, the single most important matter was his involvement with the currency system of the Xianfeng era. He advoc… Rating 3.9★ The Life of the Official Class in the Late Ming Wu Han · 2026 The Life of the Official Class in the Late Ming is Wu Han's paper on Ming history. Drawing on Ming-era historical sources, it describes the daily rout…Publishers
Volumes Publishing CompanyShaanxi Sanqin Publishing HouseChina Overseas Publishing HouseChina Friendship Publishing CompanyChina Culture and History PressChina Legal Publishing HousePeople's Literature Publishing HouseBeijing Standway Books Co., Ltd.Beijing Institute of Technology PressBeijing United Publishing Co., Ltd.Northern Literature and Art Publishing House (Beifang Wenyi Chubanshe)Guwuxuan Publishing HouseTaihai Publishing HouseThe Commercial PressSichuan People's Publishing HouseSichuan Literature and Art Publishing HouseTIANDI PRESSTianjin People's Publishing House天津博集新媒科技有限公司Hunan Yuelu Publishing House Co., Ltd.Guangdong Tourism Publishing HouseNew World PressWuhan Publishing HouseJiangsu People's Publishing HouseJiangsu Kuwei Culture Development Co., Ltd.Shenyang Publishing HouseHenan Literature and Art Publishing HouseHohai University PressZhejiang People's Publishing HouseHunan People's Publishing HouseSDX Joint Publishing CompanyBaihua Literature and Art Publishing HouseShaanxi Normal University PressQingdao Publishing House