Ban Gu's Book of Han is China's first history of a single dynasty.
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history
The 《汉书》 was begun by his father 班彪. Ban Gu was once jailed for privately rewriting the history of the dynasty and freed when his brother 班超 pleaded for him. He died in prison in 92 after the fall of his patron, and his sister 班昭 finished the parts he had left undone.
culture
He also compiled 《白虎通》, the record of a court debate on the classics held in 79. 曹丕 later took him as his example of 文人相轻, 'writers look down on each other': Ban Gu sneered at 傅毅, though the two were 伯仲之间, hard to tell apart in rank.
