Kings of the Han dynasty
The kings from other dynasties (, "yìxìng wáng") were mostly remnants of the rebellion against the Qin dynasty. Following the Dazexiang Uprising, many noblemen rose in rebellion. Heirs, pretenders, and warlords called themselves "kings" and claimed sovereignty as continuations of the six states previously suppressed by Qin. Among these, Chu was the most powerful. However, its rightful ruler Huai II was assassinated on the orders of the warlord Xiang Yu and the 18 Kingdoms Xiang had formed rose in rebellion against him. Liu Bang, king of Han, ultimately defeated Chu and established the new Han dynasty. The kings who had sided with him were then permitted to maintain their titles and lands. A few other kingdoms were also formed by Liu Bang for generals and favorites.
Society and culture of the Han dynasty
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).