{"product_id":"9781487510749","title":"Sporting Cultures, 1650-1850","description":"\u003cp\u003ePurchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Chapters: Sima Qian, Zhang Heng, Cao Cao, Cao Pi, Cao Zhi, Kong Rong, Cai Wenji, Wang Can, Ban Gu, Jia Yi, Huan Tan, Consort Ban, Sima Xiangru, Cui Yuan, Zhuo Wenjun. Excerpt: Ban Gu : This article contains Chinese text. Without proper rendering support , you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Chinese characters . This is a Chinese name ; the family name is Ban . Ban Gu (Chinese : ; Wade-Giles : Pan Ku , 32 92), 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 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 Refined Literature in the 6th century. Life See: History of the Han Dynasty ; Hanshu In the 3rd century BC, Ban Gu's ancestors gained prominence on the northwestern frontier as herders of several thousand cattle, oxen, and horses, which they traded in a formidable business and encouraged other families to move to the frontier. Ban Gu was born into a scholarly family, and his father, Ban Biao , was a prominent historian. He took over from his father responsibility for writing a history of the former Han Dynasty , a book known in modern times as the Hanshu or Book of Han . However, his work was interrupted by political problems, as his association with the family of Empress Dowager Dou led to his imprisonment and death (either by execution or torture). A few volumes of his book in 13 20th (eight chronological charts) and 26th (astronomical biography), however, was completed by his younger sister, Ban Zhao , and became a model for many other works about later dynasties. The modern historian Hsu Mei-ling states that Ban Gu's written work in geography set the trend for the esta...\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing Division","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47130336231664,"sku":"9781487510749","price":85.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781487510749_p0.jpg?v=1763635833","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781487510749","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}