Ban Gu gathered a large number of new historical documents; with his wisdom and sagacity, he composed the contentrich “Wudi Ji” and gave a comprehensive account of the history of the period of Emperor Wu, centred in annals and associated and complemented with biographies and treatises. This is indeed his major contribution to historiography. So an indepth investigation can provide a lot of vivid and powerful evidences that Ban Gu deserved the title of a qualified historian with his outstanding talent, sagacious knowledge and noble virtue in history. In the meanwhile, the study is also beneficial to profound understanding and proper evaluation of the history of Emperor Wu’s heyday and obtaining the enlightenment for the state administration.

Ban Gu; Hanshu; Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty; historiography