Ban Gu
The next Standard History was the "Book of Han", compiled by Ban Biao (3–54 CE), his son Ban Gu (32–92 CE), and his daughter Ban Zhao (45–116 CE). Unlike Sima's private and independent work, this history text was commissioned and sponsored by the Han court under Emperor Ming (r. 57–75 CE), who let Ban Gu use the imperial archives. This set a significant precedent for the rest of the Standard Histories, since the historian was now virtually unable to criticize his ruling patron. The "Book of Han" covered the history of China left off from Sima's work during Emperor Wu's reign up until the middle Eastern Han. Although the "Records of the Three Kingdoms" included events in late Eastern Han, no history work focused exclusively on the Eastern Han period until the "Book of Later Han" was compiled by Fan Ye (398–445 CE).