Zhang Xuecheng Talks on Han Shu

Zhang Xuecheng (1738-1801) was a distinguished historian, writer and philosopher in Qing Dynasty. Zhang's most famous quotation is that ""the Six Classics are all history,"" which means that the canonical texts of Confucianism are not only to be understood as repositories of timeless wisdom, but also as records of the actions and words of the sages in response to specific historical contexts. Han Shu (The History of the Han Dynasty) is a classical Chinese history finished in AD 111, covering the history of China under the West Han from 206 BC to 25 AD. It occupies an important position in the Chinese history of historiography. Since East Han Dynasty to Qing Dynasty, lots of scholars worked on Han Shu but most of them focused on the terminology and exegesis of the famous work. Zhang can do a comprehensive study on Han Shu and he discussed the historical contributions of Han Shu in his enormous amount works. In this book the author collects Zhang's discussions on Han Shu and gives some unique comments.