Abstract:

  The transmission of Book of Han during the midancient China indicates that people during that period had a “Han Dynasty complex”. Their understanding of Book of Han contained their historical memories of and emotional identity with the Han Empire. As an institutional and ideological crystallization of Qin and Han Empires in a new form of “inclusive of the whole dynasty”, Book of Han enjoyed more popularity than Records of the Grand Historian and established itself as a new canon with great significance not only in presenting exemplar rules of governance mirroring history, but also in refined elegance and stringent rules and regulations which fitted well with the aristocratic cultural atmosphere in the Six Dynasties and Sui and Tang Dynasties. 

Key words: Han Dynasty complex, canonization, Book of Han, midancient period