《汉书·元后传》:西汉后期政治危机的集中写照

Yuanhou Biography in Hanshu:A Concentrated Portrayal of the Political Crisis in the Late Western Han Dynasty

《汉书》特设《元后传》以记载元后一生的经历,而不将之放在记载后妃的类传中叙述,其深刻用意,是借元后一生行事来概述西汉后期因外戚势力膨胀而迅速衰亡的历史趋势,因而成为这一时期政治危机的集中写照。由于班固观察的深刻性、记述的提纲挈领和编纂体例的创造性,使本篇成为后代史家叙述和评论西汉后期政治史的基本依据,影响至为深远。

Yuanhou Biography, the biography of Yuan Empress, is a special part in Hanshu which is not recorded in the general biography of other Empresses. By narrating the life of Yuan Empress intensively, the rapid decline of late Western Han Dynasty can be revealed profoundly due to the dictatorship of empress’ s relatives. Therefore, Yuanhou Biography becomes a concentrated reflection of political crisis in this period. Because of Ban Gu’s profound observation, brief description and creative compiling system, the biography becomes the fundamental basis for the historians to narrate and comment on the political history of the late Western Han Dynasty with deep influence.