Ban Gu 班固 (32-92), zi Mengjian 孟堅. Eastern Han writer and historian.

Ban Gu's natal place was Anling 安陵 in Fufeng 扶風 (northeast of modern Xianyang 咸陽, Shaanxi). He was the son of Ban Biao 班彪 (3-54). His twin brother Ban Chao 班超 (32-102) was a famous military man and explorer, and his younger sister Ban Zhao 班昭 (ca.49-ca.120) was one of the most distinguished female scholars in Chinese history. According to his biography in the Hou Han shu (40AA.1330), already at the age of nine Ban Gu "was able to compose essays and chant the Classic of Songs and fu." He was an avid reader, and as he grew older, he was thoroughly conversant with the major schools of learning. In 54, when Ban Gu was twenty-two, his father died. He returned to the family home in Anling northwest of Chang'an. Greatly saddened by his father's death, Ban spent a period of contemplation and introspection, pondering what direction he should follow in his life. Ban then wrote a long poem titled "You tong fu" 幽通賦 (Fu on communicating with the hidden) in which he examined how the unseen world, the realm of what he calls the "hidden men" influences human life. At the end of the poem he quotes Confucius and Mencius to support his belief that the moral man must keep himself intact (bao shen 保身), adopt what is right (qu yi 取誼), and above all, not die an early death from grief and excessive self-pity.

After his father's death, Ban Gu remained at home in Anling engaging in scholarship. In 58, he presented a petition to Emperor Ming's brother, Liu Cang 劉蒼 (d.83), Prince of Dongping 東平, who had issued a summons to recruit worthy men to his service. Ban Gu recommended six men and hinted that he himself was also worthy of selection. Although Liu Cang was impressed with Ban Gu's petition, he did not offer him a position.

Before his death, Ban Biao had begun work on a supplement to Sima Qian's Shi ji. Ban Gu took up the task of completing his father's work. In 62 someone learned of his project and accused him before Emperor Ming (r.58-75) of privately revising the national history. The emperor ordered ban Gu arrested and had his family library confiscated. His brother Ban Chao interceded on his behalf, and the emperor ordered Ban Ban Gu released. In the same year he was assigned to the Magnolia Terrace as a foreman clerk (ling shi 令史), in which capacity he worked on compiling the annals of the first Later Han emperor, Guangwu 光武 (r.25-57), along with biographies of important figures of that era. In 64, Ban was promoted to the post of gentleman and put in charge of collating books in the imperial collection. The emperor was so impressed with the quality of Ban Gu's scholarship, in 66 he granted him permission to resume compilation of his Former Han history, on which he worked for over twenty-five years until his death in 92.

During Emperor Ming's reign, in addition to compiling his history, Ban Gu continued to write fu. It was probably during this period that he wrote his longest and most famous fu, "Liang du fu" 兩都賦 (Fu on the Two Capitals), which is the first piece in the Wen xuan. The text, minus the preface, also is in Ban Gu's Hou Han shu biography. The two capitals of the title are the Han metropolises of Chang'an and Luoyang. Chang'an, the Western Capital, was the capital of the Former Han. After the fall of Wang Mang in 23, it briefly served as the capital of the Gengshi 更始 Emperor (r.23-25) until he was overthrown by the Red Eyebrows rebels in the summer of 25 CE. The rebels burned the palaces, chambers, markets, and wards with the result that Chang'an became a virtual ruin. Luoyang, the Eastern Capital, was the capital established by Emperor Guangwu 光武 (r.25-57), the founding emperor of the Later Han, who undertook a major reconstruction of the Southern Palace. Guangwu's successor, Emperor Ming, continued expanding the palace complex, and between 60 and 65, the Northern Palace was reconstructed. It was probably during this period that Ban Gu composed "Fu on the Two Capitals."

Ban Gu considered his fu important enough to write a preface in which he presents his views on the history of the fu and what he considered its proper function to be. In the first line of the preface, Ban asserts that the fu was a genre or "outflow" (liu 流) of the Shi or Classic of Songs. Ban Gu probably derives his definition of the fu from the Classic of Songs exegetical tradition in which fu designates a technique of recitation of composition involving direct display or exposition. Thus Ban Gu has extended his sense of fu to signify a putative genre of the Shi. It is quite probably that by Ban Gu's time there was no clear distinction between fu and as a poetic principle and as a literary form, and in fact the features of the fu from itself very likely led Han exegetes to define fu of the poetic principles as direct exposition.

Ban Gu does not, however, stress fu in the sense of exposition, but rather links it with one of the true genres of the Shi, the "Song" 頌 or "Eulogia." In one section of the preface, Ban gives a brief history of the genre, and in his account he stresses that during the Former Han, when the fu began to flourish, it was primarily a court-centered activity, particularly during the reign of Emperor Wu, who appointed officials to office for their writing skills. Although ban Gu acknowledges that the fu had two functions, one eulogistic, and the other monitory, he strongly emphasizes that the primary function of the form was to praise the grand accomplishments of the ruler. Thus his fu is a poem in praise of the newly founded Eastern Han dynasty.

In 74, Ban Gu wrote an essay titled "Dian yin" 典引 (Elaboration on the canon), in which he praises the Later Han imperial house as the legitimate successor of the sage ruler Yao. For example, in the preface to this work he says: "For the longest time have I received instruction at the National university, and deeply have I partaken of imperial favor. Truly I hope to give all my heart and strength to repay what I have received though it be boundless as vast Heave." He then goes on to say: "I have dared to compose 'Elaboration on the Canon.' Although not even one part in ten thousand sufficiently expresses the gentle harmony and brilliant splendor of our age, it still may serve to incite the resentful, awaken youthful folly, and brightly praise the great Han so that its fame outreaches that of eras past. Then, when I enter the boiling chasm, I shall die content that my work shall never perish."

Although Ban Gu was much admired as a writer and scholar, he held the relatively low position of gentleman, and other than writing poems at imperial command, he was principally employed as a collator of texts in the imperial librbary. Sensitive to criticism that his learning and literary skills won him no "merit." in 77 Ban Gu composed "Da bin xi" 答賓戲 (Replying to a guest's jest), which is similar to Yang Xiong's "Justification against Ridicule." However, unlike Yang Xiong's work, Ban Gu's piece is not an attack on the court of his times, but like his other works, actually praises the Han imperial rule.

During the reign of Emperor Zhang (r.75-88), who was an ardent devotee of literature, Ban Gu obtained special favor primarily because of his skill as a writer. "Whenever the emperor traveled on an inspection tour, Gu presented him with fu and song." Excerpts from two eulogies Ban Gu wrote for imperial inspection tours to the sourth and east have been preserved. In 84, Ban Gu wrote "Nan xun song" 南巡頌 (Eulog on southern inspection tour) for an imperial tour of the sourthern capital of Nanyang, which was the home of Emperor Guangwu. In 85, he composed "Dong xun song" 東巡頌 (Eulogy on the eastern inspection tour) to commemorate Emperor Zhang's visit to Mount Tai and other places in Shandong. Also composing eulogies for these occasions were Fu Yi 傅毅 (ca.47-92) and Cui Yin 崔駰 (30?-92).

During the reign of Emperor Zhang, Ban Gu was promoted (78) to marshal of the Black Warrior Gate, a position with more prestige and higher salary (1,000 bushels), In 79, he was given the task of editing the proceedings of an important scholarly conference on the classics held in the White Tiger Hall. He is attributed with authoring a summary of the discussions title Bo hu tong 白虎通 (Comprehensive account of the White Tiger Hall discussions), which is also sometimes refered to as Bo hu tong yi 白虎通義 (Comprehensive meaning of the White Tiger Hall discussions) or Bo hu tong de lun 白虎通德論 (Comprehensive account of the White Tiger Hall discussions plus a disquisition on virtue?). However, some scholars have questioned the attribution of this work to Ban Gu.

After his mother died in 88, Ban Gu resigned his positions, but returned to government service the following year as an aide to Dou Xian 竇憲 (d.92), who was an elder brother of Emperor Zhang's empress. Dou Xian was also the great-grandson of Dou Rong whom Ban Gu's father Ban Biao had served before he went to the imperial court at the beginning of the Eastern Han. Thus, the Dou and Ban families had close connections. In 89, Dou Xian led an army of 30,000 men on an expedition against the Northern Xiongnu in modern Mongolia. Ban Gu accompanied Dou Xian on this campaign. Dou Xian's army defeated the Xiongnu at the Jiluo 稽落 Mountains (northwest of Dalandzadgad). 20,000 Xiongnu reputedly surrendered to the Han army. To commemorate the victory, Dou Xian had a stele carved at the Yanran 燕然 Mountains (the modern Hangai in Mongolia). Ban Gu wrote the text of the inscription titled "Feng Yanran shan ming" 封燕然山銘 (Inscription for the ceremonial mounding at the Yanran Mountains).

Although Dou Xian received much honor and acclaim for his successful Xiongnu expedition, in 92, Emperor He (r.89-105) suspecting him of plotting a revolt against the throne, had him arrested and sent to his estate, where he was forced to commit suicide. As a member of Dou Xian's entourage, Ban Gu was dismissed from office. The magistrate of Luoyang, who had harbored a grudge against Ban Gu, ordered his arrest. Ban Gu died in his sixty-first year in the capital prison.

Ban Gu's biography in the Hou Han shu says that he composed forty-one literary pieces including "Dian yin," "[Da] bin xi," "Ying ji" 應譏, and writings in the genres of fu, inscription, poem, eulogy, letter, wen 文 (essay?), note, disquisition, opinion, and liuyan 六言 (hexameter verse?). The monograph on bibliography of the Sui shu listed Ban Gu's collected works in seventeen juan, while the two Tang histories record it in ten juan. The collection was lost in the Song. Later collections are reconstructions.

Ban Gu was a major fu writer of the Han. His magnum opus was the "Liang du fu" mentioned above. His only other complete fu compositions are "You tong fu" and "Da bin xi." Although the latter pieces is not titled fu, it is often included among Ban Gu's fu writings. The other extant fu compositions are fragments. They include two pieces on fans, "Zhu shan fu" 竹扇賦 (Fu on a bamboo fan) and "Bai qi shan fu" 白綺扇賦 (Fu on a white silk fan). The latter pieces contains only two lines. However, these are the earliest known fu on fans. The longest fragment is "Zhongnan shan fu" 終南山賦 (Fu on Zhongnan Mountain). This piece, which describes the Zhongnan peak located south of Chang'an, is one of the earliest extant poems on a pountain.

Ban Gu is also attributed with a number of song 頌 (eulogies) and ming 銘 (inscriptions). These include two eulogies for imperial progresses, the "Dong xun song" 東巡頌 (Eulogy on the eastern progress) written in 85 to celebrate the imperial visit to Mount Tai, and the "Nan xun song" 南巡頌 (Eulogy on the southern progress) possibly composed in 87 in honor of Emperor Zhang's tour of an unspecified area in the south, perhaps the natal place of the Eastern Han founder Emperor Guangwu. Both of these pieces are fragments. The Guwen yuan includes under Ban Gu's name what appears to be complete text of a eulogy written in priase of Dou Xian's expedition undertaken in 89 against the Xiongnu. The piece has a close resemblance to the fu. The Guwen yuan also attributes to Ban Gu a stele inscription written for the precint station on the Si 泗 River where the Former Han founding ruler Liu Bang 劉邦 (256-195 BCE) had served. It also includes a long set of inscriptions in priase of the eighteen parquisses Liu Bang enfeoffed when he founded the Han dynasty.

Ban Gu is attributed with a pentasyllabic poem titled "Yong shi" 詠史. If genuine, this poem would be the earliest pentasyllabic poem on a historical theme. The earliest text is in Li Shan's Wen xuan commentary (36.11a). It also is cited in the Shi ji commentary of Sima Zhen 司馬貞 (8th century). Zhong Rong also mentions it in his preface to the Shi pin, where he says that Ban Gu's "Yong shi" was the only five-syllable line poem written during the 200-year span of the Later Han dynasty. However, some recent scholars have questioned the attribution to Ban Gu.

Ban Gu's most famous work is the Han shu.

DRK