National Treasures & Important Cultural Properties
of National Institutes for Cultural Heritage, Japan

Book of Han, the official history of the 229 years of China’s Western (Former) Han dynasty, contains biographies of many famous figures. This Tang edition biography of the Han literatus Yang Xion (53–18BCE) is annotated by linguist Yan Shigu (581–645) and is the oldest known surviving copy. The handwriting suggests it was copied in the early seventh century, while Yan Shigu was most active.