Han Ideology & Historical Writing

Huang-Lao Philosophy in favor (Li Feng, pp. 304-308)

Empress Dowager Dou, d. 135 BCE

Emperor Jing, r. 156-141 BCE

Han Emperor Wu's (r. 141-87 BCE) Consolidation

Confucianism as state ideology

*Dong Zhongshu (175?-105? BCE)

Revival of Zhou political ideas

Emperor as Son of Heaven

*Mandate of Heaven

Rituals of kingship (Hinsch 145-47)

Emperor and Empress

Socio-political ideals:

Confucian moral virtue & patrilinealism

Cosmological ideas (Hinsch 153-67)

*Yin and Yang

Heaven and Earth

*Five Elements

*Portents

Imperial Academy, 124 BCE

5 Erudite Scholars

5 Confucian classics as basis of civil service exams

Book of Changes (Yijing)

Book of Documents (Shujing)

Book of Songs/Poetry (Shijing)

Book of Rites (Liji)

Spring and Autumn Annals (Chunqiu)

Dong Zhongshu

View of Afterlife

Lady Dai’s Tomb Maowangdui, 168 BCE

2 souls (Hansen, pp. 115-16)

Spirit soul (Hun)

Body-soul (Po)

To be covered after midterm:

Factors Influencing Female Political Power

Patrilineal values

Generational power (filial piety) overrides gender discrimination

Empress dowager decided succession

Personal ability

*Empress Lü (r. 195-180 BCE)

Huidi (r. 195-188 BCE)

Wealth and Status of Consort Families

Empress Wang (d. 13 CE)

Wang Mang (Xin dynasty 9-22 CE)

Historical Writing

Earliest Historical Works

Chronicles or Annals

*Spring and Autumn Annals, 722-481 BCE

Records of the Grand Historian (Hansen) or Grand Scribe's Records (Li Feng), Shiji

Sima Tan (d. 110 BCE)

*Sima Qian (145-87? BCE)

Innovations

Attempt at objectivity
Thematic organization

1. Annals
2. Tables
3. Treatises
4. Hereditary houses of pre-imperial period
5. Biographies/Descriptions of Foreign Peoples

Model for later dynastic histories

Historical Writing Institutionalized

History of Western Han Dynasty

Ban Biao (d. 54), private history
Ban Gu (32-92), court historian
*Ban Zhao (45-120)