Ban Gu
Ban Gu | |
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Ban Gu, 1st-century Chinese poet, historian, and compiler of the Book of Han | |
| Born | AD 32 |
| Died | AD 92 (aged 59–60) |
| Other names | Mengjian |
| Occupation(s) | Historian, poet, politician |
| Known for | Book of Han |
| Relatives | Ban Biao (father) Consort Ban (grand-aunt) Ban Chao (brother) Ban Zhao (sister) |
| Ban Gu | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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"Ban Gu" in Chinese characters | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Chinese | 班固 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Alternative Chinese name | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 孟堅 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 孟坚 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | (courtesy name) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Ban Gu (AD 32–92) was a Chinese historian, poet, and politician best known for his part in compiling the Book of Han, the second of China's 24 dynastic histories. He also wrote a number of fu, a major literary form, part prose and part poetry, which is particularly associated with the Han era. A number of Ban's fu were collected by Xiao Tong in the Wen Xuan.