Ming Dynasty wood carved edition of Book of Han in Ningbo Tianyi Chamber Library collection

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The Book of Han, Hanshu or History of the Former Han Dynasty (simplified Chinese: 汉书 or 前汉书; traditional Chinese: 漢書 sometimes, 前漢書; pinyin: Qián Hànshū; Wade–Giles: Ch'ien Han Shu) is a classical Chinese history finished in AD 111, covering the history of China under the Western Han from 206 BC to 25 AD. It is also sometimes called the Book of Former Han. The work was composed by Ban Biao, Ban Gu, and Ban Zhao. A second work, the Book of the Later Han covers the Eastern Han period from 25 to 220, and was composed in the fifth century by Fan Ye (398–445). Various scholars have estimated that the earliest material covered in the book dates back to between 206 and 202 BCE.^[1] The book also contains the first written historical mention of Japan.

Contents[link]

This history developed from 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 clearly indicates that the elder Ban's work was meant to be a continuation. (It should be noted that 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 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 format for dynastic histories that was to remain the model for the official histories until modern times.

For 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 the book in 111, 19 years after Ban Gu had been imprisoned. An outstanding scholar in her own right, she is thought to have written volumes 13-20 (eight chronological tables) and 26 (treatise on astronomy). 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 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. ^[2] Other chapters have been rendered into English by Anthony Hulsewé, Clyde B. Sargent, Nancy Lee Swann, and Burton Watson.

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.

Annals[link]

Ji (紀, annal), 12 volumes. Emperors' biographies in strict annal form, which offer a chronological overview of the most important occurrences, as seen from the imperial court.

Chronological tables[link]

Biao (表, tables), 8 volumes. Chronological tables of important people.

Treatises[link]

Zhi (志, memoirs), 10 volumes. Each treatise describes an area of effort of the state.

Biographies[link]

Zhuan (傳, exemplary traditions, usually translated as biographies), 70 volumes. Biographies of important people. The biographies confine themselves to 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 beyond the frontiers.

Mentioning of Japan[link]

The Japanese first appear in written history in this book (Book of the Later Han), in which it is recorded, "The people of Wo are located across the ocean from Lelang, 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.^[3] According to the Book of Wei, the most powerful kingdom on the archipelago in the 3rd century was called Yamataikoku and was ruled by the legendary Queen Himiko.

See also[link]

	China portal
	History portal
	Books portal

• Twenty-Four Histories

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Dorn'eich, Chris M. (2008). Chinese sources on the History of the Niusi-Wusi-Asi(oi)-Rishi(ka)-Arsi-Arshi-Ruzhi and their Kueishuang-Kushan Dynasty. Shiji 110/Hanshu 94A: The Xiongnu: Synopsis of Chinese original Text and several Western Translations with Extant Annotations. Berlin. To read or download go to: [1]
• Honey, David B. "The Han shu Manuscript Evidence, and the Textual Criticism of the Shih-chi: The Case of the Hsiung-nü lieh-chuan," CLEAR 21 (1999), 67-97.
• Hulsewe, A.F.P. "A Striking Discrepancy between the Shih chi and the Han shu." T'oung Pao 76.4-5 (1990): 322-23.
• Hulsewé, A. F. P. and Loewe, M. A. N. China in Central Asia: The Early Stage 125 BC – AD 23: an annotated translation of chapters 61 and 96 of the History of the Former Han Dynasty. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1979.
• Dubs, Homer H. (trans.) The History of the Former Han Dynasty. 3 vols. Baltimore: Waverly, 1938-55. Digitized text. (Digitized text does not retain volume or page numbers and alters Dubs' footnote numbering.) Glossary.
• Sargent, Cyde B., Tr. Wang Mang; A Translation of the Official Account of His Rise to Power as Given in the History of the Former Han Dynasty, with Introd. and Notes. Shanghai: Graphic Art Book Co., 1947.
• Swann, Nancy Lee, tr. Food and Money in Ancient China: The Earliest Economic History of China to A.D. 25. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1950; rpt. New York: Octagon Books, 1974.
• Stange, Hans O.H. "Die monographie über Wang Mang." Abhandlungen für die kunde des morgenlandes XXIII, 3, 1939.
• Stange, Hans O.H. Leben und persünlichkeit und werk Wang Mangs. Berlin, 1914.
• Tinios, Ellis. “Sure Guidance for One’s Own Time: Pan Ku and the Tsan to Han-shu 94.” Early China 9-10 (1983-85): 184-203.
• Van der Sprenkel, O. B. Pan Piao, Pan Ku, and the Han History. Centre for Oriental Studies Occasional Paper, no. 3. Canberra: Australian National University, 1964.
• Watson, Burton. 1974. Courtier and Commoner in Ancient China. Selections from the History of the Former Han. Columbia University Press, New York. (A translation of chapters 54,63,65,67,68,71,74,78,92, and 97).
• Wilbur, C. Martin. Slavery in China during the Former Han Dynasty, 206 B.C.–A.D. 25. Publications of Field Museum of Natural History, Anthropological Series, 35. Chicago: Field Museum of Natural History, 1943. Reprint. New York: Russell & Russell, 1967. Selected translations from the Han shu.
• Wu, Shuping, "Hanshu" ("Book of Han"). Encyclopedia of China (Chinese Literature Edition), 1st ed.

External links[link]

Chinese Wikisource has original text related to this article: 漢書

• Book of Han (Full text) - Chinese Text Project
• Pan Chao (Ban Zhao), Female Historian
• Silk Road Seattle (The Silk Road Seattle website contains many useful resources including a number of full-text historical works, maps, photos, etc.)

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Khin Kyaw Han (born 23 February 1953 in Yenangaung)^[1] is a former Burmese politician. In 1990 he was elected in Yenangaung Township as a Member of Parliament for Aung San Suu Kyi party (NLD National League for Democracy). A former political prisoner, he fled to Thailand after his 2003 release.^[2] Han authored the book 1990 Multi-Party Democracy General Elections.^[3]

References[link]

This article about a politician from Burma is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v t e

Joe Hanson (born February 23, 1983) is a writer/comedian living in Los Angeles. He is best known for his work on Current TV, Smash Cuts and "Joe Goes."

In 2005, Joe and his production partner Hassan S. Ali created the Joe Gets series for Current TV,^[1] which spanned 50 episodes and was sponsored by T-Mobile. The series involved Joe exploring fish-out-of-water situations, like entering a freestyle rap battle, visiting a dominatrix, and going to professional wrestling school.^[2] The series included trips to California, Indiana, Nevada, Missouri, South Dakota, Alabama and New York. Joe also made the satirical series What's Wrong With,^[3] the music video parody Viral Superstar,^[4] and interviewed celebrities at Elton John's Oscars Afterparty, including George Lucas, Eddie Van Halen, Prince, Carmen Electra, Carson Daly, John Waters, Salma Hayek and Rick Fox.^[5]

In 2008, Joe started "Bino White Weekly," in which he made a rap song every week as Bino White. The topics ranged from Nintendo to Twitter to Science, and each track was accompanied by a YouTube video.^[6] He did for this 52 weeks, breaking Crooked I's record for weekly rap songs.^[7]

In 2009, Joe joined the cast of Smash Cuts, a syndicated clip show on The CW and CBS affiliates.^[8]

In 2010, Joe started the Web series "Joe Goes," in which he visits conventions, events and countries, to have funny interactions with people. The episode "Joe Goes To Exxxotica Expo" went viral, making the front page of the Huffington Post,^[9] and getting over 550,000 views combined on YouTube^[10] and Funny Or Die.^[11] Other episodes have included visits to Anime Expo, Amsterdam, London, and the press junket for Tron: Legacy.^[12]

Joe also created the website Fake Rap News,^[13] which is like The Onion for hip hop.

Joe is a graduate of the University of Chicago and grew up in Fosston, Minnesota. In 2005, he appeared as a contestant on the first season of the reality show Beauty and the Geek.

Joe also appeared in March 2012 in the music video for the song by Julian Smith on YouTube "Eat Randy" featuring as 'Randy'. The video gained over a million views.

References[link]

External links[link]

• Joe's Current TV shows
• Joe's IMDb
• BinoWhite.com

George Crumb

George Crumb (born October 24, 1929) is an American composer of contemporary classical music. He is noted as an explorer of unusual timbres, alternative forms of notation, and extended instrumental and vocal techniques. Examples include seagull effect for the cello (ex. Vox Balaenae), metallic vibrato for the piano (ex. Five Pieces for Piano), and using a mallet to play the strings of a contrabass (ex. Madrigals, Book I), among numerous others. He is not an electronic music composer, however many works call for amplification of instruments, such as Black Angels (string quartet) or Ancient Voices of Children (mixed ensemble). Crumb's music contains an intense humanism, which is reflected in his personal definition of music: "a system of proportions in the service of spiritual impulse."^[1]

Biography[link]

Crumb was born in Charleston, West Virginia, and began to compose at an early age. He studied music first at the Mason College of Music in Charleston where he received his Bachelor's degree in 1950. He obtained his Master's degree at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and then briefly studied in Berlin before returning to the United States to study at the University of Michigan, from which he received his D.M.A. in 1959.

Although his scores and recordings sell steadily, Crumb has earned his living primarily from teaching. His first teaching job was at a college in Virginia, before he became professor of piano and composition at the University of Colorado in 1958. In 1965 he began a long association with the University of Pennsylvania, becoming Annenberg Professor of the Humanities in 1983.^[2] Some of his most prominent students include Margaret Brouwer, Uri Caine, Christopher Rouse, Osvaldo Golijov, Jennifer Higdon, Cynthia Cozette Lee, Yen Lu, James Primosch, Ricardo Zohn-Muldoon, Ofer Ben-Amots, and Gerald Levinson.

Crumb retired from teaching in 1997, though in early 2002 was appointed with David Burge to a joint residency at Arizona State University. He has continued to compose.

Crumb has been the recipient of a number of awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Music in 1968 for his orchestral work Echoes of Time and the River and a Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Composition in 2001 for his work Star-Child .

Crumb's son, David Crumb, is a successful composer and, since 1997, assistant professor at the University of Oregon. George Crumb's daughter, Ann Crumb, is a successful actress and singer. She recorded his Three Early Songs for the CD George Crumb 70th Birthday Album (1999), and has also performed his Unto the Hills (2001).^[3]

Crumb's music[link]

After initially being influenced by Anton Webern, Crumb became interested in exploring unusual timbres. He often asks for instruments to be played in unusual ways and several of his pieces are written for electrically amplified instruments.

Crumb's compositions often incorporate theater as an element of performance. In several pieces he asks players to leave and enter the stage during the piece. He has also used unusual layouts of musical notation in a number of his scores. In several pieces, the music is symbolically laid out in a circular or spiral fashion.

Several of Crumb's works, including the four books of madrigals he wrote in the late 1960s and Ancient Voices of Children, a song cycle of 1970 for two singers and small instrumental ensemble (which includes a toy piano), are settings of texts by Federico García Lorca. Many of his vocal works were written for the virtuoso mezzo-soprano singer Jan DeGaetani.

Black Angels (1970) is another piece which displays Crumb's interest in exploring a wide range of timbres. The piece is written for electric string quartet (Crumb notes that amplified acoustic instruments are acceptable, but electric instruments are preferred),^{[citation needed]} and its players are required to play various percussion instruments and to bow small goblets as well as to play their instruments in both conventional and unconventional ways. It is one of Crumb's best known pieces, and has been recorded by the Kronos Quartet.

Another of Crumb's best known works are the four books of Makrokosmos.^{[4][page needed]} The first two books (1972, 1973), for solo piano, make extensive use of string piano techniques; the third, known as Music for a Summer Evening (1974), is for two pianos and percussion; the fourth, Celestial Mechanics (1979), was written for piano four-hands. The title Makrokosmos alludes to Mikrokosmos, the six books of piano pieces by Béla Bartók; like Bartók's work, Makrokosmos is a series of short character pieces. Apart from Bartók, Claude Debussy is another composer Crumb acknowledged as an influence here; Debussy's Preludes comprise 2 books of 12 character pieces, whose titles appear at the end. Crumb's first two books of Makrokosmos for solo piano contain 12 pieces, each bearing a dedication (a friend's initials, however he also wittily dedicates a piece to himself) at the end. On several occasions the pianist is required to sing, shout, whistle, whisper, and moan, as well as play the instrument conventionally and unconventionally. Makrokosmos was premiered by David Burge, who later recorded the work.

Crumb's works are published by the C. F. Peters Corporation.

Works[link]

Orchestral[link]

• Gethsemane (1947), for small orchestra
• Diptych (1955)
• Variazioni (1959), for large orchestra
• Echoes of Time and the River (Echoes II) (1967)
• A Haunted Landscape (1984)

Vocal Choral Orchestral[link]

• Star-Child (1977, revised 1979), for soprano, antiphonal children's voices, male speaking choir, bell ringers, and large orchestra

Chamber/Instrumental[link]

• Two Duos (1944?), for flute and clarinet
• Four Pieces (1945), for violin and piano
• Violin Sonata (1949)
• String Trio (1952)
• Three Pastoral Pieces (1952), for oboe and piano
• Viola Sonata (1953)
• String Quartet (1954)
• Sonata for Solo Cello (1955)
• Four Nocturnes (Night Music II) (1964), for violin and piano
• Eleven Echoes of Autumn, 1965 (Echoes I) (1966), for violin, alto flute, clarinet, and piano
• Black Angels (Images I) (1970), for electric string quartet
• Vox Balaenae (Voice of the Whale) (1971), for electric flute, electric cello, and amplified piano
• Music for a Summer Evening (Makrokosmos III) (1974), for two amplified pianos and percussion (two players).
• Dream Sequence (Images II) (1976), for violin, cello, piano, percussion (one player), and off-stage glass harmonica (two players)
• String Trio (1982)
• Pastoral Drone (1982), for organ
• An Idyll for the Misbegotten (Images III) (1986), for amplified flute and percussion (three players).
• Easter Dawning (1991), for carillon
• Quest (1994), for guitar, soprano saxophone, harp, double bass, and percussion (two players)
• Mundus Canis (A Dog's World) (1998), for guitar and percussion

Piano[link]

• Piano Sonata (1945)
• Prelude and Toccata (1951)
• Five Pieces (1962)
• Makrokosmos, Volume I (1972), for amplified piano
• Makrokosmos, Volume II (1973), for amplified piano
• Celestial Mechanics (Makrokosmos IV) (1979), for amplified piano (four hands)
• A Little Suite for Christmas, A.D. 1979 (1980)
• Gnomic Variations (1981)
• Processional (1983)
• Zeitgeist (Tableaux Vivants) (1988), for two amplified pianos
• Eine Kleine Mitternachtmusik (A Little Midnight Music) (2002)
• Otherworldly Resonances (2003), for two pianos

Vocal[link]

• Four Songs (1945?), for voice, clarinet and piano
• Seven Songs (1946), for voice and piano
• Three Early Songs (1947), for voice and piano
• A Cycle of Greek Lyrics (1950?), for voice and piano
• Night Music I (1963, revised 1976), for soprano, piano/celeste, and two percussionists
• Madrigals, Book I (1965), for soprano, vibraphone, and double bass
• Madrigals, Book II (1965), for soprano, flute/alto flute/piccolo, and percussion
• Songs, Drones, and Refrains of Death (1968), for baritone, electric guitar, electric double bass, amplified piano/electric harpsichord, and two percussionists
• Night of the Four Moons (1969), for alto, alto flute/piccolo, banjo, electric cello, and percussion
• Madrigals, Book III (1969), for soprano, harp, and percussion
• Madrigals, Book IV (1969), for soprano, flute/alto flute/piccolo, harp, double bass, and percussion
• Ancient Voices of Children (1970), for mezzo-soprano, boy soprano, oboe, mandolin, harp, amplified piano (and toy piano), and percussion (three players)
• Lux Aeterna (1971) for soprano, bass flute/soprano recorder, sitar, and percussion (two players)
• Apparition (1979), for soprano and amplified piano
• The Sleeper (1984), for soprano and piano
• Federico's Little Songs for Children (1986), for soprano, flute/piccolo/alto flute/bass flute, and harp
• American Songbook I: The River of Life (2003), for soprano, percussion quartet and piano
• American Songbook II: A Journey Beyond Time (2003), for soprano, percussion quartet and piano
• American Songbook III: Unto the Hills (2001), for soprano, percussion quartet and piano
• American Songbook IV: Winds of Destiny (2004), for soprano, percussion quartet and piano
• American Songbook V: Voices from a Forgotten World (2007), for soprano, baritone, percussion quartet and piano
• American Songbook VI: Voices from the Morning of the Earth (2008), for soprano, baritone, percussion quartet and piano
• American Songbook VII: Voices from the Heartland (2010), for soprano, baritone, percussion quartet and piano

Choral[link]

• Alleluja (1948), for unaccompanied chorus

Filmography[link]

• George Crumb: The Voice of the Whale (1976). Directed and produced by Robert Mugge. Interviewed by Richard Wernick. New York, New York: Rhapsody Films (released 1988).

References[link]

• Bass, Richard. 1991. "Sets, Scales and Symmetrics: The Pitch-Structural Basis of George Crumb’s Makrokosmos I & II". Music Theory Spectrum 13, no. 1:1–20.
• Kennedy, Michael (2006), The Oxford Dictionary of Music, 985 pages, ISBN 0-19-861459-4
• Steinitz, Richard. 2001. "Crumb, George (Henry)". The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, second edition, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan Publishers.
• Steenhuisen, Paul. "Interview with George Crumb". In Sonic Mosaics: Conversations with Composers. Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 2009. ISBN 978-0-88864-474-9

External links[link]

• Official home page
• Crumb's bio from Naxos
• George Crumb interview by Bruce Duffie, August 27, 1988
• Art of the States: George Crumb four works by the composer
• George Crumb: Voice of the Whale plays Vox Balaenae with a synchronized display of its score
• (French) A biography of George Crumb, from IRCAM's website.