• Zhou Chu’s Last Stand [Jin & Southern-Northern Dynasties]

    Empress Jia’s Bloody Ascendancy After orchestrating the successive eliminations of Yang Jun, Prince Sima Liang of Ruyan, Wei Guan, and Prince Sima Wei of Chu, Empress Jia Nanfeng seized sole control of the Western Jin court. Outwardly, she feigned grief; inwardly, she gloated. When ministers proposed Zhang Hua as chief minister to stabilize the…

  • Book of the Later Han – Hou Hanshu

    A historical text compiled by Fan Ye (398–445 CE) during the Liu Song dynasty of the Southern Dynasties period. The work originally comprised 100 scrolls of Annals (Benji) and Biographies (Liezhuan), but the present standard edition contains 120 scrolls: 10 Annals, 80 Biographies, and 30 Treatises (Zhi).

  • Book of Han – Hanshu

    A foundational Chinese historical text compiled by Ban Gu (32–92 CE) of the Eastern Han dynasty.

  • Records of the Three Kingdoms – Sanguo Zhi

    A historical text compiled by Chen Shou (233–297 CE) during the Western Jin dynasty. It is a biographical state-by-state history chronicling the Three Kingdoms period – Wei, Shu, and Wu – and comprises 65 scrolls: Book of Wei (30 scrolls),Book of Shu (15 scrolls), and Book of Wu (20 scrolls).

  • Records of the Grand Historian – Shiji

    Originally titled Taishi Gong Shu (“Book of the Grand Historian”), the Shiji was compiled by Sima Qian (c. 145–c. 86 BCE) during the Western Han dynasty. It is China’s first comprehensive biographical universal history (jizhuanti tongshi), covering approximately three millennia – from the legendary Yellow Emperor to the reign of Emperor Wu of Han…

  • One Hundred Days of Blood: The Collapse of Jin Authority and the Onset of Princely Carnage [Jin & Southern-Northern Dynasties]

    The Emperor’s Deathbed and a Stolen Mandate In late 290 CE, Emperor Wu of Jin fell gravely ill. Lying unconscious in his palace, he left the court in panic. With the heir – Crown Prince Sima Zhong – widely known as mentally unfit, ministers anxiously awaited an imperial edict naming regents to guide the…