Misplaced Pages

#78921

23-807: One of the earliest example of using conjoined wagons in warfare as fortification is described in the Chinese historical record Book of Han . During the 119 BC Battle of Mobei of the Han–Xiongnu War , the famous Han general Wei Qing led his army through a fatiguing expeditionary march across the Gobi Desert only to find Yizhixie Chanyu 's main force waiting to encircle them on the other side. Using armored heavy wagons known as "Military Sturdy Wagon" ( Chinese : 武剛車 ; pinyin : wŭ gāng chē ) in ring formations as temporary defensive fortifications, which provided archers , crossbowmen and infantry protection from

46-490: A cannon or a force of hand-gunners, archers and crossbowmen , supported by infantry using spears, pikes and flails. Groups of them could form defensive works, but they also were used as hard points for formations or as firepower in pincer movements. This early use of gunpowder and innovative tactics helped a largely peasant infantry stave off attacks by the Holy Roman Empire 's larger forces of mounted knights. The wagon

69-408: A chronological overview of the most important occurrences, as seen from the imperial court. Biao (表, tables), 8 volumes. Chronological tables of important people. Zhi (志, memoirs), 10 volumes. Each treatise describes an area of effort of the state. Zhuan (傳, exemplary traditions, usually translated as biographies), 70 volumes. Biographies of important people. The biographies confine themselves to

92-557: A continuation of Sima Qian 's Records of the Grand Historian , initiated by Ban Gu's father, Ban Biao , at the beginning of the Later Han dynasty. This work is usually referred to as Later Traditions (後傳), which indicates that the elder Ban's work was meant to be a continuation. Other scholars of the time, including Liu Xin and Yang Xiong also worked on continuations of Sima's history. After Ban Biao's death, his eldest son Ban Gu

115-589: A single dynasty. It is the best source, sometimes the only one, for many topics such as literature in this period. The Book of Han is also called the Book of the Former Han ( 前漢書 ; Qián Hàn shū ) to distinguish it from the Book of the Later Han ( 後漢書 ; Hòu Hàn shū ) which covers the Eastern Han period (25–220 CE), and was composed in the fifth century by Fan Ye (398–445 CE). This history developed from

138-681: Is a modern commentary. Book of the Later Han The Book of the Later Han , also known as the History of the Later Han and by its Chinese name Hou Hanshu ( Chinese : 後漢書 ), is one of the Twenty-Four Histories and covers the history of the Han dynasty from 6 to 189 CE, a period known as the Later or Eastern Han . The book was compiled by Fan Ye and others in the 5th century during

161-425: Is recorded, "The people of Wo are located across the ocean from Lelang Commandery , are divided into more than one hundred tribes, and come to offer tribute from time to time." It is later recorded that in 57, the southern Wa kingdom of Na sent an emissary named Taifu to pay tribute to Emperor Guangwu and received a golden seal . The seal itself was discovered in northern Kyūshū in the 18th century. According to

184-682: Is translated to English by Cullen. Ban Gu's history set the standard for the writings of later Chinese dynasties, and today it is a reference used to study the Han period. It is regarded as one of the "Four Histories" 四史 of the Twenty-Four Histories canon, together with the Records of the Grand Historian , Records of the Three Kingdoms and History of the Later Han . Ji (紀, annal), 12 volumes. Emperors' biographies in strict annal form, which offer

207-457: The Book of Wei , the most powerful kingdom on the archipelago in the third century was called Yamatai and was ruled by the legendary Queen Himiko . The comments of both Yan Shigu (581–645) and Su Lin are included in the Palace Edition. The Hanshu Buzhu 漢書補注 by Wang Xianqian (1842–1918) contains notes by a number commentators, including Wang himself. Hanshu Kuiguan 漢書管窺 by Yang Shuda

230-712: The Han Records of the Eastern Lodge by various contemporaries throughout the 2nd century, and the Records of Later Han by Yuan Hong from the 4th century), most of which did not survive intact. The section on the Treatise on the Western Regions was based on a report composed by Ban Yong (with a few later additions) and presented to Emperor An of Han in around 125. It presumably includes notes from his father Ban Chao . It forms

253-552: The Liu Song dynasty , using a number of earlier histories and documents as sources. In 23 CE, Han dynasty official Wang Mang was overthrown by a peasants' revolt known as the Red Eyebrows . His fall separates the Early (or Western) Han dynasty from the Later (or Eastern) Han dynasty. As an orthodox history , the book is unusual in being completed over two hundred years after the fall of

SECTION 10

#1732855977079

276-565: The Western Regions contained in the 96th fascicle. The "Annals" section and the three chapters covering the reign of Wang Mang were translated into English by Homer H. Dubs . Other chapters have been rendered into English by A. F. P. Hulsewé , Clyde B. Sargent, Nancy Lee Swann , and Burton Watson . The text includes a description of the Triple Concordance Calendar System 三統曆 developed by Liu Xin in fascicle 21. This

299-517: The 88th chapter (or 118th chapter in some editions) of the Book of the Later Han , and is a key source for the cultural and socio-economic data on the Western Regions , including the earliest accounts of Daqin (the Roman Empire ), and some of the most detailed early reports on India and Central Asia. It contains a few references to events occurring after the death of Emperor An, including a brief account of

322-581: The Xiongnu's powerful cavalry charges , and allowed Han troops to utilize their ranged weapons ' advantages of precision . Wei Qing neutralised the Xiongnu 's initial cavalry charges, forcing a stalemate and buying time for his troops to recover strength, before using the cover of a sandstorm to launch a counteroffensive which overran the nomads . The Guangwu Emperor (AD 25–57) introduced an ox-pulled war wagon several stories high with an observation tower, which

345-414: The book in 111, 19 years after Ban Gu had died in prison. An outstanding scholar in her own right, she is thought to have written volumes 13–20 (eight chronological tables) and 26 (treatise on astronomy), the latter with the help of Ma Xu. As with the Records of the Grand Historian , Zhang Qian , a notable Chinese general who travelled to the west, was a key source for the cultural and socio-economic data on

368-599: The description of events that clearly show the exemplary character of the person. Two or more people are treated in one main article, as they belong to the same class of people. The last articles describe the relations between China and the various peoples at and beyond the frontiers, including the contested areas of Ba in present-day Yunnan; Nanyue in present-day Guangdong, Guangxi, and Vietnam; and Minyue in present-day Fujian. The people of Japan make their first unambiguous appearance in written history in this book ( Book of Han , Volume 28, Treatise on Geography), in which it

391-499: The development of field-piece artillery: a battle wagon wall "fortress" of approximately 300 wagons was broken at the Battle of Wenzenbach on September 12, 1504 by the culverines and muskets of the landsknecht regiment of Georg von Frundsberg . Book of Han The Book of Han is a history of China finished in 111 CE, covering the Western, or Former Han dynasty from

414-544: The dynasty. Fan Ye's primary source was the Dongguan Hanji (東觀漢記; "Han Records of the Eastern Lodge"), which was written during the Han dynasty itself. The book is part of four early historiographies of the Twenty-Four Histories canon, together with the Records of the Grand Historian , Book of Han and Records of the Three Kingdoms . Fan Ye used earlier histories, including accounts by Sima Qian and Ban Gu , along with many others (some had similar names, such as

437-445: The first emperor in 206 BCE to the fall of Wang Mang in 23 CE. The work was composed by Ban Gu (32–92 CE), an Eastern Han court official, with the help of his sister Ban Zhao , continuing the work of their father, Ban Biao . They modelled their work on the Records of the Grand Historian ( c.  91 BCE ), a cross-dynastic general history, but theirs was the first in this annals-biography form to cover

460-423: The periods where they overlapped, Ban Gu adopted nearly verbatim much of Sima Qian's material, though in some cases he also expanded it. He also incorporated at least some of what his father had written, though it is difficult to know how much. The completed work ran to a total of 100 fascicles 卷, and included essays on law , science , geography , and literature . Ban Gu's younger sister Ban Zhao finished writing

483-608: Was deployed at the Great Wall against the Xiongnu . By the 6th century such war wagons reached several meters in height and had up to 20 wheels. A medieval European war wagon was developed in the Hussite Wars around 1420 by Hussite forces led by the Czech general Jan Žižka rebelling in Bohemia . It was a heavy wagon given protective sides with firing slits and heavy firepower from either

SECTION 20

#1732855977079

506-456: Was dissatisfied with what his father had completed, and he began a new history that started with the beginning of the Han dynasty. This distinguished it from Sima Qian's history, which had begun with China's earliest legendary rulers. In this way, Ban Gu initiated the Jizhuanti ( 紀傳體，纪传体 ) format for dynastic histories that was to remain the model for the official histories until modern times. For

529-732: Was first used in war in Battle of Sudoměř on March 25, 1420, where it was found to be a powerful weapon for the Hussite army. Despite being outnumbered by approximately 400 to 2000, the war wagon allowed the Hussite forces to emerge victorious in the battle. The wagon was then used throughout the rest of the Hussite Wars with great success. After the Hussite wars, they stayed in usage as the special tactical weapon of Bohemian mercenaries which prevailed against knights or foot soldiers. Its successful history came to an end, at least for large scale engagements, with

#78921