The Imperial Concubines In Hanshu

Hanshu by Bangu, the first dynastic history in China, has been remembered by the academic world more as a work of history than as a work of literature. Its literary value, however, has ever been overshadowed by Sima Qian's masterpiece, Records of the Historian since the foundation of the new China. Academic discussions about its literariness, if there is any ,tend to be focused on the language and biographical account of a few "male characters", such as Su Wu, Zhu Maichen, Zhang Wannian while special studies regarding the depictions of the women characters remain next to none.Hanshu is centered on the imperial family. Being part of it and involved in many of the events, the imperial concubines, with their traits as women, are indispensable to the richness of the book. The author, less encumbered by political concerns , is able to employ every artistic means possible to make his portrait of them objective and unique. By means of statistics, deduction, comparison and analysis, the present paper attempts at a study of the imperial concubines in Hanshu, concentrating on the characterization, literary techniques, the simple and graceful style of language in the hope that the literary value the book can be established and its position in the history of literature be restored. In addition, through the analysis of the imperial concubines created in the book, the paper as well examines the social position women enjoyed in the Western Han Dynasty.