Fire over Luoyang: A History of the Later Han Dynasty, 23-220 AD

摘要

This book is the first general history of the political development of the Later Han dynasty in English, written by a veteran scholar in the field. For over half a century, Rafe de Crespigny has devoted great energy to studying the Later Han and promoting the study of it, which still lags far behind in depth and breadth compared with that of the preceding Former Han dynasty. Of his long list of publications, mainly political history, some of them have already become must-read on the topics; he has therefore made his name a synonym for the Later Han studies in Anglophone scholarship, so as Michael Loewe for the Former Han. de Crespigny is thus arguably the most suitable person to write such a general account of the dynasty. As a former student of the late sinologist Hans Bielenstein (1920-2015), a pioneer of Western studies of Later Han history in the twentieth century who produced a series of book-length studies of the dynasty, de Crespigny crafted this book as a continuation of the legacy left by Bielenstein, as well as a kind of dialogue between the late teacher and his disciple. One would be impressed by the great respect de Crespigny paid to Bielenstein by only reading the first few pages; as the reading proceeded, the reader would find that Bielenstein's works were frequently cited and discussed, especially in the first half of the book. Given Bielenstein's detailed research on the establishment and early years of the Later Han, the author only provides a brief account of the reign of the first monarch of the dynasty, while setting the main focus on the period from the second emperor onward. Nevertheless, even though Bielenstein had laid a solid foundation on the subject, the frequent consultation with his works might impose hurdles in understanding the incipient period of the dynasty for those who are not familiar with his voluminous writings.