 Ban Zhao (c. 45–116 CE) is an interesting figure in early Chinese history for a number of reasons. The younger sister of the Han court historian Ban Gu and the grandniece of the famous concubine known as Ban Jieyu (jieyu being a rank title) noted for her scholarship, Ban Zhao had an unusually scholarly upbringing for a woman of the era. She became an important scholar of the period, composing numerous works on ethics, politics, history, and astronomy. Her most well-known works are the Nüjie (Instructions for Women), a guide to norms concerning virtue and conduct for women, and her completion of the official court history of the Western Han, the Han Shu, after her brother Ban Gu died in prison in 92 CE before its completion.