Later, Ban Gu and several other people wrote Biography of Ancestors written by Emperor Guangwu, so that his talents could be displayed in front of Emperor Han Ming. So Emperor Han Ming hereby issued a letter to Ban Gu to continue to finish the history books he had written. By 79 AD, Ban Gu had basically completed the Hanshu, fulfilling the wishes of two generations of Ban Gu and his son. Ban Gu has always been a small official, so Ban Gu has always wanted to make contributions and become a big official. When Ban Gu was fifty-eight, his mother died, and he was in mourning at home. The Bangu family has always been associated with border affairs, so Bangu hoped to gain fame by making contributions on the border, so he was appointed as a general and went to the north to explore the Xiongnu. Later, Dou Xian, who was followed by Ban Gu, plotted to rebel, and Ban Gu was also implicated. He was arrested and imprisoned, and soon died in prison.
Ban Gu is another great historian and writer in Han Dynasty after Sima Qian, and the author of Hanshu, one of the "First Four History" and "Twenty-four History". Ban Gu's main works, of course, include this one that made him famous in history. Hanshu is a very important historical book in ancient China. Its biographical chronology was adopted by later dynasties and became the main issue of official history. Moreover, Hanshu, as a literary work, records all kinds of humanistic historical books in the prosperous period of the Western Han Dynasty, and shows a complete western literary style for future generations. However, Han Shu is a book with high literary value because of its rigorous writing, straightforward narration and profound meaning. In other fields, Ban Gu also wrote some other works. Ban Gu is not only a great historian, but also an outstanding lyric poet. Ban Gu's ability of ci and fu is reflected in his prose poems. His "Er Du Fu" is regarded as a classic of prose poetry and the most influential masterpiece of his ci and fu. In addition, Ban Gu's silent poem "Ode to History" is the oldest extant five-character poem of literati in China, which has a far-reaching influence on the five-character poem. In addition, the geographical influence of Ban Gu on later generations is also very far-reaching. Many geographical records written in official history handed down from later generations started from the geographical records in Hanshu, and many national and local records in later generations imitated the geographical records in Bangu's Hanshu, which had far-reaching influence.
Ban Gu is a great historian. He has made great achievements in science and is quite proficient in the writing of biographical literature, but this does not mean that Ban Gu has no attainments in poetry. There is a poem handed down by Ban Gu. Of course, the theme is also related to Ban Gu's own major. The name of this poem is Ode to History. This poem is the earliest extant five-character poem of literati in China. It mainly tells the story of a filial daughter, Ti Ying, who sold herself into slavery in order to redeem her father's punishment during the period of Emperor Wen of Han Dynasty. This story comes from Historical Records Biography of Bian Que and Cang Gong, and Liu Xiang recorded it in Biography of Women. The story is about a famous doctor, Chunyu Kun. In BC 176, he was accused of breaking the law, so Chunyu Kun was escorted to Chang 'an, and all five daughters were anxious. Chunyuyi swore when she saw this situation. It was really that her daughter was not as good as her son, and no one was in a hurry to do anything for me. Ti Ying was anxious and angry, so he decided to go to Beijing. After Ti Ying went to Beijing, he explained what happened to Wendi, excused his father, and his words were sincere and affectionate. Finally, Ti Ying moved Wendi Deng and pardoned his father. In addition, Ti Ying's practice not only saved his father's life, but also abolished the "corporal punishment" when Emperor Wen wrote a letter. Ban Gu's "Ode to History" tells the story of Ti Ying, a strange woman in the Western Han Dynasty, but in fact most literati express their feelings with scenery or stories, and Ban Gu is no exception. After careful study, we can also hear many life experiences and feelings of Ban Gu from this poem.
Ban Gu's masterpiece Hanshu has been handed down from generation to generation. In addition, Ban Gu's Ode to History is also a very classic poem. Moreover, Ban Gu's Ode to History is the oldest extant five-character poem of literati in China, which is of great literary research value. In content, Ode to History eulogized the story of Ti Ying, a strange woman who saved her father in the Western Han Dynasty. In this story, Ti Ying expressed his father's grievances to the emperor on his own. Deeply moved by Ti Ying's insistence and the affection between father and daughter, the emperor pardoned Ti Ying's father's capital crime and ordered the abolition of very severe "corporal punishment". We can analyze it. In fact, there are too many people who can recite scriptures in history. Why did Ban Gu choose Ti Ying? In fact, you can get the answer by contacting Ban Gu's life. Ban Gu was imprisoned twice in his life. For the first time, he was accused of writing national history privately, and for the second time, he was framed and arrested and imprisoned on the grounds that his godson was not strict and his son did not abide by the laws. The first time Ban Gu went to prison, his younger brother Ban Chao saved him, but the second time Ban Gu was not so lucky. In the end, Ban Gu died in prison because no one saved him. Therefore, we can generally speculate that this poem was probably written by Ban Gu after his second imprisonment, expressing his regret for his own experience and his resentment and helplessness for his sons who dragged himself into prison but failed to rescue him. Therefore, poetry is used to express the poet's feelings. Poets should express their inner thoughts whether describing scenery, characters or stories, which is also reflected in Ban Gu. As far as this poem is concerned, it is a masterpiece in the period of writing without words.
There have always been many comments on Qu Yuan, mostly in the comments on Chu Ci and Li Sao. I won't go into details about the position of Li Sao in the literary history of China's Ci and Fu, because its literary position has been commented by many people in later generations, the most famous of which are Ban Gu's Preface to Li Sao and Wang Yi's Preface to Li Sao. Ban Gu's Preface to Li Sao, named after the Preface to Li Sao, actually made an overall evaluation of Qu Yuan. Ban Gu thinks that "national style" describes women excessively, while "Xiaoya" is more like complaining, which will cause anxiety. Only "Li Sao" combines the strengths of the two and abandons its shortcomings is a good work that emerges from the mud without being stained. Although Ban Gu commented on Li Sao in this way, Ban Gu's evaluation of Qu Yuan was not so high. Sima Qian said in Historical Records that Qu Yuan's ambition is like the sun and the moon. However, Ban Gu refuted this view in Li Sao Preface. He thinks that the view of winning glory with the sun and the moon is a bit too big. Ban Gu thinks that predecessors have added or deleted the introductions of Qu Yuan and Li Sao, but because I don't understand Qu Yuan's original intention, Ban Gu has read extensively and made some comments on Li Sao. Ban Gu thinks that Qu Yuan is showing off his talents, and he didn't do his best for his country during the international crisis. Instead, he competed with a group of villains for favor. After he was demoted, he accused Chu Huaiwang and the emperor. In a word, Ban Gu belittled Qu Yuan, but in the end he affirmed Qu Yuan's achievements in writing. He believed that Qu Yuan was the originator of Ci and Fu, and future generations should carefully ponder the essence of Li Sao.