Ban Biao
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Ban Biao (Chinese: 班彪; pinyin: Bān Biāo; Wade–Giles: Pan1 Piao1, 3–54 CE), courtesy name (Chinese: 叔皮; pinyin: Shūpí; Wade–Giles: Shu1-P'i2), was a Chinese historian and politician born in what is now Xianyang, Shaanxi during the Han dynasty. He was the nephew of Consort Ban, a famous poet and concubine to Emperor Cheng.
Ban Biao's mother was of Xiongnu origin, daughter of Jin Chang (金敞), an attendant to Emperor Yuan of Han (48-33 BCE).[2][3] Jin Chang was himself a grandson of Jin Lun (金伦), son of Xiongnu King Xiutu and brother of Jin Midi, who had been adopted by Han Wudi and founded of the Jin name (金).[3] The Xiongnu origins of Ban Biao on the maternal side might help explain the skills of the Ban family in dealing with matters related to China's history and foreign relations.[3]
Ban Biao began the Book of Han, which was completed by his son, Ban Gu and daughter Ban Zhao while their brother Ban Chao was a famous general who contributed his stories to expand the Book of Han. Ban Biao wrote an essay titled Treatise on the Mandate of Kings (王命論), which was influential on the Chinese concept of sovereignty and is included in Wenxuan.[4]
Ban Biao and his descendants
[edit]- Ban Biao (班彪; 3–54; father)
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]The "Basic Annals of Emperor W
en" is a chapter that Biao seem
s to have written entirely. Ban
Biao appears as the commentato
r in the final remarks of the c
hapter. The passage states, 贊曰﹕
臣外祖兄弟為元帝侍中,語臣曰元帝多才藝,美史書.The Eul
ogy states: My (your minister's)
maternal grandmother's older a
nd younger brothers were made t
he palace retainers of Emperor
Yuan. They informed me that Emp
eror Yuan had several talents i
n the arts and considered histo
rical books attractive.
The "minister" in this Eulogy i
s usually identified as Ban Bia
o. The Han commentator, Ying Sh
ao, noted that﹃the annals of bo
th Yuan and Cheng were written
by Ban Biao; when 'chen' 臣 (i.e.
, 'minister') is used, the spea
ker is Biao. The distaff relati
ve mentioned is Jin Chang﹄元,成帝紀
皆班固父彪所作,臣則彪自說也.外祖,金敞也.(三)^ abcChen, Sanping (2011). "Two Notes on the Xiongnu Ancestry of the Authors of "Hon-shu"". Central Asiatic Journal. 55(1): 33–36. ISSN 0008-9192. JSTOR 41928567. (四)^ Ban, Biao. "Treatise on the Mandate of Kings". Chinese Notes. Retrieved 12 December 2020.
References
[edit]- Loewe, Michael (1986). "Chapter 13: The Concept of Sovereignty". In Twitchett, Dennis; Loewe, Michael (eds.). The Cambridge History of China. Vol. 1: the Ch'in and Han Empires, 221 BC-AD 220. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 726–746. ISBN 978-0-521-24327-8.
- Book of Later Han, vol. 40, part 1.
- Zizhi Tongjian, vols. 33, 40, 41, 42, 44.