Dongguan Hanji

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Dongguan Hanji is an old Chinese history of the Eastern Han dynasty. It was put together in several stages by different scholars during the Eastern Han and for centuries was the standard history of that period, until the Tang dynasty when it was replaced by the Book of the Later Han.

Writing began in 72 CE, when Emperor Ming ordered a history of his father, Emperor Guangwu. The initial work, Jianwu zhu ji, had 28 chapters and covered 22–57 CE. In 120 CE, Empress Dowager Deng Sui ordered expansions that extended the history to 106 CE. In 151–152 CE, Emperor Huan further expanded it to 114 chapters, covering 107–146 CE. Between 172 and 177 CE, Emperor Ling ordered another expansion; scholars Ma Midi, Han Yue, Cai Yong, Lu Zhi, and Yang Biao added to the text and it was renamed Dongguan hanji, reaching 167 CE. After the fall of the Eastern Han in 220, Yang Biao did a final revision before his death in 225, bringing the work to 143 volumes and covering the entire history up to the dynasty’s end.

For many centuries the Dongguan Hanji was treated as the main history of the Eastern Han and was a major source for later histories, including Fan Ye’s Book of the Later Han. Its importance faded in the Tang and subsequent eras, and large parts were lost. By the Tang, about 127 or 126 volumes survived; by the Song dynasty only about eight remained, and by the Ming dynasty it was mostly lost as a complete work. Some parts were later recovered, with 24 volumes found in the Yongle Encyclopedia and other sources.