China

The Han dynasty

There are several translations of Shiji (“Historical Records”), the great work of Han historian Sima Qian that covers the periods of Chinese history up to the 1st century bce. Notable among these is William H. Nienhauser, Jr. (ed.), The Grand Scribe’s Records: Ssu-ma Ch’ien (1994– ), a multivolume project. Other sources include Homer H. Dubs (ed. and trans.), The History of the Former Han Dynasty, 3 vol. (1938–55); Esson M. Gale (ed. and trans.), Discourses on Salt and Iron (1931, reprinted 1973); and A.F.P. Hulsewé, Remnants of Ch’in Law (1985). Works on specific topics of Han history include Hans Bielenstein, The Restoration of the Han Dynasty, 4 vol. (1953–79); Michael Loewe, Records of Han Administration, 2 vol. (1967), Everyday Life in Early Imperial China During the Han Period 202 B.C.–A.D. 220 (1968, reissued 1973), and Crisis and Conflict in Han China 104 B.C. to A.D. 9 (1974); T’ung-tsu Ch’u, Han Social Structure (1972); A.F.P. Hulsewé, Remnants of Han Law (1955); Cho-yun Hsu, Han Agriculture: The Formation of Early Chinese Agrarian Economy, 206 B.C.–A.D. 220 (1980); and Ying-shih Yu, Trade and Expansion in Han China (1967). Jack L. Dull Benjamin Elman