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Biography of Pan KuName: Pan KuBirth Date: 32 Death Date: 92 Place of Birth: Xi'an, China Nationality: Chinese Gender: Male Occupations: historian Pan Ku Pan Ku (32-92) was a Chinese historian and man of letters. His name is mainly associated with the Han-shu, the standard history of the Western Han period.At the beginning of the Eastern Han dynasty (25-100) there existed no full historical account of the preceding century, as the Shih-chi, which had been compiled by Ssu-ma Ch'ien, ended its record at about 90 B.C. Pan Piao (died A.D. 54), father of Pan Ku attempted to repair this deficiency by continuing the Shih-chi's account to cover those years.While trying to improve and complete his father's work, Pan Ku was imprisoned on a charge of falsification of the record, but he was later released at the personal order of the Emperor and ordered to finish his work. However, by the time of his death in 92 Pan had not been able to do so; his sister, Pan Chao, was ordered to take responsibility for the …showed first 150 words…
…showed last 150 words…state. These matters are discussed in the light of precedent evolved before the Han dynasty and the authority of texts of a similarly early origin. Further Reading Critical translations of the 12 chapters of imperial annals and one other chapter were made by Homer H. Dubs, The History of the Former Han Dynasty (3 vols., 1938-1955). For annotated editions of two of the treatises see Food and Money in Ancient China, edited and translated by Nancy Lee Swann (1950), and A. F. P. Hulsewé, Remnants of Han Law (1955). The standard work on the Po hu t'ung is Pan Ku's Po Hu T'ung: The Comprehensive Discussions in the White Tiger Hall, edited and translated by Tjan Tjoe Som (2 vols., 1949-1952). Ernest Richard Hughes, Two Chinese Poets: Vignettes of Han Life and Thought (1960), contains a brief biography of Pan Ku and an appraisal of his work. For background information consult Charles S. Gardner, Chinese Traditional Historiography (1938). |