Ban Gu

Ban Gu (Chinese班固, Pinyin Bān Gu; * 32 in the Chinese Empire; † 92 in Luoyang, China, executed ) was a Chinese historian of the Han Dynasty. He came from a literary family. His father Ban Biao was a renowned historian, his brother Ban Chao a famous military leader. Ban Gu was adviser to the court officials Dou Xian and was executed after the coup d'état against the Dou clan of Emperor He.

Ban Gu was the principal author of Han Shu (汉书, the history of the ancients Han Dynasty ). The work was begun by his father, but also Ban Gu could not finish it because of its execution itself, and so it was continued by his sister, Ban Zhao. The Han Shu has become the template for future Hofchroniken. The work is divided into three main parts ( along the lines of, written by Sima Qian Shiji, " Historical Records " ):

• Annals of the ruler;
• Treatises (via rites, music, astronomy, management, geography, Army, canals, economics, law, etc.);
• Biographies of people mainly from the Han period.