Ban Zhao
Encyclopedia
Bān Zhāo , courtesy name Huiban (惠班), was the first known female Chinese
historian
. She completed her brother Ban Gu
's work as he was imprisoned and executed in the year 92 BCE. because of his association with the family of Empress Dowager Dou
. It was said her works could have filled eight volumes. Apart from being interested in history, she also had great interest in astronomy and mathematics.
and younger sister of the general Ban Chao
and of historian Ban Gu
. She was also the grandniece of the notable scholar and poet Consort Ban
.
, which she finished after he died. She added the genealogy of the mother of the emperor, which provided a lot of information which was not usually kept. She also added a treatise on astronomy
.
Ban Zhao also wrote the Lessons for Women
. This book generally advised women to be submissive and accept that their husbands can have concubines while as wives they must remain faithful, although the book does indicate women should be as well-educated as her so they can better serve their husbands. With her husband at the top of the pyramid of authority (or her father if she was unmarried), a woman was supposed to accord the appropriate amount of respect to her brothers, brothers-in-law, father, father-in-law and other male relatives. According to her, “Nothing is better than obedience which sacrifices personal opinion". A modern revisionist theory states that the book is a guide to teach women how to avoid scandal in youth so they can survive long enough to become a powerful dowager
.This treatise on the education of women was dedicated to the daughters in Ban Zao's family but was circulated immediately at court. It was popular for centuries in China as a guide for women's conduct .
She also wrote poetry and essays and became China's most famous female scholar .
She taught Empress Deng Sui
and members of the court in the royal library, which gained her political influence. The Empress and concubines gave her the title Gifted one and the empress made her a Lady-in-waiting
. As the Empress became regent for the infant Emperor Shang of Han
, she often sought the advice of Ban Zhao. In gratitude, the Empress gave both Ban Zhao's sons appointments as officials. Ban Zhao was also a librarian at court, supervising the editorial labors of a staff of assistants and training other scholars in her work. In this capacity, she rearranged and enlarged the Biographies of Eminent Women by Liu Hsiang. It is possible that she supervised the copying of manuscripts from bamboo slips and silk onto a recently invented material, paper. .
As Ban Zhao got older, she decided to travel to Chengliu. Both the book she wrote about her traveling as another book, Collected Works of Dagu, compiled by her daughter-in-law Ding, have been lost.
During her life she also wrote poems, commemorative writings, argumentations, commentaries, essays and several longer works, not all of which survive.
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....
historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...
. She completed her brother Ban Gu
Ban Gu
Ban Gu , courtesy name Mengjian , was a 1st century Chinese historian and poet best known for his part in compiling the Book of Han. He also wrote in the main poetic genre of the Han era, a kind of poetry interspersed with prose called fu. Some are anthologized by Xiao Tong in his Selections of...
's work as he was imprisoned and executed in the year 92 BCE. because of his association with the family of Empress Dowager Dou
Empress Dou (Zhang)
Empress Dou , formally Empress Zhangde , was an empress during Han Dynasty. Her husband was Emperor Zhang. She was already influential during her husband's reign, but became particularly powerful as empress dowager regent for her adoptive son Emperor He after Emperor Zhang's death...
. It was said her works could have filled eight volumes. Apart from being interested in history, she also had great interest in astronomy and mathematics.
Family
Ban Zhao was born in Fufenganlin, in what is now Shanxi province. At age fourteen, she married a local resident named Cao Shishu, and was called in the court by the name as Venerable Madame Cao (曹大家). He died when she as still and never remarried, instead devoting her life to scholarship. She was the daughter of the famous historian Ban BiaoBan Biao
Ban Biao , courtesy name , was a Chinese historian, and an official born in what is now Xianyang, Shaanxi during the Han Dynasty. He was the nephew of Consort Ban, a famous poet and concubine to Emperor Cheng....
and younger sister of the general Ban Chao
Ban Chao
Ban Chao , courtesy name Zhongsheng , was born in Xianyang, Shaanxi, and the younger brother of the famous historian, Ban Gu who, with his father Ban Biao, and sister, Ban Zhao, wrote the famous Hanshu, or 'History of the Former Han Dynasty'....
and of historian Ban Gu
Ban Gu
Ban Gu , courtesy name Mengjian , was a 1st century Chinese historian and poet best known for his part in compiling the Book of Han. He also wrote in the main poetic genre of the Han era, a kind of poetry interspersed with prose called fu. Some are anthologized by Xiao Tong in his Selections of...
. She was also the grandniece of the notable scholar and poet Consort Ban
Consort Ban
Consort Ban called Ban Jieyu . Jieyu was a title for a concubine, her personal name is not known.-Life:Consort Ban started as a junior maid, became a concubine of Emperor Cheng and quickly rose to prominence at court. She bore him two sons, but both died in infancy...
.
Work
Ban Gu was author of the history of the Western Han, a book known in modern times as the Book of HanBook of Han
The Book of Han, Hanshu or History of the Former Han Dynasty |Fan Ye]] . Various scholars have estimated that the earliest material covered in the book dates back to between 206 and 202 BCE...
, which she finished after he died. She added the genealogy of the mother of the emperor, which provided a lot of information which was not usually kept. She also added a treatise on astronomy
Astronomy
Astronomy is a natural science that deals with the study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the atmosphere of Earth...
.
Ban Zhao also wrote the Lessons for Women
Lessons for Women
Lessons for Women , also translated as Admonitions for Women, is a work by the Han Dynasty female intellectual Ban Zhao.-Outline:Lessons for Women outlines the four virtues a woman must abide by, proper virtue, proper speech, proper countenance, and proper conduct. The book itself describes the...
. This book generally advised women to be submissive and accept that their husbands can have concubines while as wives they must remain faithful, although the book does indicate women should be as well-educated as her so they can better serve their husbands. With her husband at the top of the pyramid of authority (or her father if she was unmarried), a woman was supposed to accord the appropriate amount of respect to her brothers, brothers-in-law, father, father-in-law and other male relatives. According to her, “Nothing is better than obedience which sacrifices personal opinion". A modern revisionist theory states that the book is a guide to teach women how to avoid scandal in youth so they can survive long enough to become a powerful dowager
Dowager
A dowager is a widow who holds a title or property, or dower, derived from her deceased husband. As an adjective, "Dowager" usually appears in association with monarchical and aristocratic titles....
.This treatise on the education of women was dedicated to the daughters in Ban Zao's family but was circulated immediately at court. It was popular for centuries in China as a guide for women's conduct .
She also wrote poetry and essays and became China's most famous female scholar .
She taught Empress Deng Sui
Empress Deng Sui
Empress Deng Sui , formally Empress Hexi was an empress during Han Dynasty. She was Emperor He's second wife. She later, as empress dowager, served as regent for his son Emperor Shang and nephew Emperor An, and was regarded as an able and diligent administrator...
and members of the court in the royal library, which gained her political influence. The Empress and concubines gave her the title Gifted one and the empress made her a Lady-in-waiting
Lady-in-waiting
A lady-in-waiting is a female personal assistant at a royal court, attending on a queen, a princess, or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman from a family highly thought of in good society, but was of lower rank than the woman on whom she...
. As the Empress became regent for the infant Emperor Shang of Han
Emperor Shang of Han
Emperor Shang of Han, ch. 漢殤帝, py. Hàn Shāng dì, wg. Han Shang-ti, was an emperor of the Chinese Han Dynasty and the fifth emperor of the Chinese Eastern Han Dynasty....
, she often sought the advice of Ban Zhao. In gratitude, the Empress gave both Ban Zhao's sons appointments as officials. Ban Zhao was also a librarian at court, supervising the editorial labors of a staff of assistants and training other scholars in her work. In this capacity, she rearranged and enlarged the Biographies of Eminent Women by Liu Hsiang. It is possible that she supervised the copying of manuscripts from bamboo slips and silk onto a recently invented material, paper. .
As Ban Zhao got older, she decided to travel to Chengliu. Both the book she wrote about her traveling as another book, Collected Works of Dagu, compiled by her daughter-in-law Ding, have been lost.
During her life she also wrote poems, commemorative writings, argumentations, commentaries, essays and several longer works, not all of which survive.
Death
When Empress Dowager Deng Sui heard about Ban Zhao's death at advanced age, she dressed all in white to mourn her.Family
- Ban BiaoBan BiaoBan Biao , courtesy name , was a Chinese historian, and an official born in what is now Xianyang, Shaanxi during the Han Dynasty. He was the nephew of Consort Ban, a famous poet and concubine to Emperor Cheng....
(班彪; 3-54; father)- Ban GuBan GuBan Gu , courtesy name Mengjian , was a 1st century Chinese historian and poet best known for his part in compiling the Book of Han. He also wrote in the main poetic genre of the Han era, a kind of poetry interspersed with prose called fu. Some are anthologized by Xiao Tong in his Selections of...
(班固; 32-92; eldest brother) - Ban ChaoBan ChaoBan Chao , courtesy name Zhongsheng , was born in Xianyang, Shaanxi, and the younger brother of the famous historian, Ban Gu who, with his father Ban Biao, and sister, Ban Zhao, wrote the famous Hanshu, or 'History of the Former Han Dynasty'....
(班超; 32-102; second brother)- Ban Xiong (班雄; ?-after 107; Ban Chao's eldest son)
- Ban Shi (班始; ?-130; Ban Chao's second son)
- Ban YongBan YongBan Yong ) was the youngest son of the famous Chinese General, Ban Chao , and the nephew of the illustrious historian, Ban Gu who compiled the Hanshu, the dynastic history of the Former Han dynasty.- Ban Yong's family :...
(班勇; ?-after 127; Ban Chao's youngest son)
- Ban Gu
Work Referenced
- Perkins, Dorothy (2000). Encyclopedia of China: The Essential Reference to China, Its History and Culture. First edition (1999) Dorothy Perkins and Roundtable Press. First paperback edition (2000) Roundtable Press, New York, N.Y. ISBN 0-8160-2693-9 (hc); ISBN 0-8160-4374-4 (pbk).