Origins & Early Life

Ban Zhao (Chinese: 班昭; 45 or 49 – c. 117/120 CE), courtesy name Huiban (Chinese: 惠班), was a Chinese historian, philosopher, and politician. She was the first known female Chinese historian and, along with Pamphile of Epidaurus, one of the first known female historians. She completed her brother Ban Gu's work on the history of the Western Han, the Book of Han.

Pivotal Works & Achievements

She also wrote Lessons for Women, an influential work on women's conduct. She also had great interest in astronomy and mathematics and wrote poems, commemorative writings, argumentations, commentaries, essays and several longer works, not all of which survive. She became China's most famous female scholar and an instructor of Taoist sexual practices for the imperial family. Ban Zhao is depicted in the Wu Shuang Pu (無雙譜, Table of Peerless Heroes) by Jin Guliang. Ban Zhao was born in Anling, near modern Xianyang, Shaanxi province.

Enduring Legacy & Impact

At age fourteen, she married a local resident named Cao Shishu and was called in the court by the name as Venerable Madame Cao (曹大家). Her husband died when she was still young. She never remarried, instead devoting her life to scholarship. She was the daughter of the famous historian Ban Biao...

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