Skip to main content

Primary sourceDocumentc. 202–186 BCE

Zhangjiashan Han bamboo texts

Western Han officials · c. 202–186 BCE

Bamboo slips with early Han legal and administrative records, showing the laws and government Gaozu's new dynasty inherited and revised.

These administrative and legal slips document the laws and government of the early Han state that Gaozu founded.

Ask Liu Bang (Gaozu of Han) about this sourceView the original(opens in new tab)
Museum display panel titled Classics with Chinese and English text describing Chu bamboo slips held by Shanghai Museum and Han bamboo slips of He Lu from Zhangjiashan. Bundles of bamboo slips with ink characters are mounted beside the text, labeled a, b, c and listed below.
Zhangjiashan Han bamboo texts, c. 202–186 BCE. Jingzhou Museum.

About this source

What it is

These are bamboo slips written by Western Han officials, dated to the early years of the dynasty, discovered by archaeologists in 1983. They include legal and administrative texts such as case records known as the Zouyanshu, and are now held at the Jingzhou Museum.

Why it matters

These documents show the actual laws and government practices used in the years right after Emperor Gaozu founded the Han dynasty. They reveal how much the new dynasty kept from the Qin legal system it replaced, and how it began to change those laws, giving historians real evidence of government at work rather than later retellings.

Look closer

  • Why might legal records survive when other kinds of documents from this period do not?
  • What can everyday administrative texts tell us that grand histories of emperors cannot?
  • How might the laws recorded here reflect decisions made under Gaozu's rule?

This document is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Liu Bang (Gaozu of Han) on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

More Liu Bang (Gaozu of Han) sources

Meet the AI Liu Bang (Gaozu of Han) →
Two painted panels of a Western Han tomb mural in wooden frames, showing figures in a banquet scene: at top, seated and standing people with pale robes and red-purple accents; below, two standing figures with swords or weapons and a figure in a bent pose at right.Painting

Secondary source

Feast at Hong Gate

Sima Qian (text); unknown painter (mural) · 206 BCE (event); mural Western Han period

Several old Chinese books with open pages and paper labels reading 明刻本 (Ming edition) are displayed in a glass case. Pages show dense vertical columns of printed characters. Stacks of more volumes sit behind them.Book

Secondary source

Book of Han

Ban Gu (with Ban Zhao and Ban Biao) · finished 111 CE

A large grassy earthen mound rises against a pale sky, with a dirt path zigzagging up its right side. In the foreground, rows of young conifers and deciduous trees border a dirt track.Artifact

Primary source

Changling Mausoleum of Emperor Gaozu

Han imperial court · c. 202–195 BC

A large brown sign with gold Chinese characters and English text reading 'Archaeological Park of Weiyang Palace in Chang'an City of the Western Han Dynasty' stands on a grass lawn under a blue sky with clouds and trees behind it.Artifact

Primary source

Weiyang Palace

Xiao He for Emperor Gaozu · 200 BC

Two views of a corroded green-brown bronze coin with a square central hole. The left side shows raised characters and a small cross-like mark near the hole; the right side is plainer with a square hole and worn surface, on dark fabric.Artifact

Primary source

Early Han Ban Liang coin

Han mints · c. 206–195 BC

Ready when you are

Start chatting with Liu Bang (Gaozu of Han) now.

20 messages free · No credit card · Available in 50+ languages.

Trial Humy for freeGet a quote for institutions