To Establish Peace: Being the Chronicle of Later Han for the Years 189 to 220 a.d. as Recorded in Chapters 59 to 69 of the Zizhi tongjian of Sima Guang.

• Author: Kroll, Paul W.
• Position: Review

Translated and annotated by RAFE DE CRESPIGNY. Two volumes. Asian Studies Monographs, new series, no. 21. Canberra: FACULTY OF ASIAN STUDIES, AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, 1996. Pp. 635 + maps, tables. $60 (paper). [Distributed by University of Hawaii Press.]

These two handsome volumes continue Rare de Crespigny's studies and translations of Late Han and Three Kingdoms history. The main title reflects the name of the Jian'an reign-period of the last Han emperor. Following a long introductory essay that includes sections on "Zizhi tongjian and the Fall of Han" (pp. xi-xiv), "The Arrangement of the Translation and the Notes" (pp. xv-xvi), "An Outline of the Military Organisation of Later Hah" (pp. xvii-xxviii), and "The Last Years of Later Hah" (pp. xxix-xliv), plus tables of the birth, accession, and death dates of all the Hah emperors (pp. xlv-xlvi), and a chronology of the events covered in the translation (pp. xlvii-1), de Crespigny presents a complete English rendering with copious annotations of the Zizhi tongjian chapters recording events from 189 through 220 A.D. This corrects, expands on, and supersedes de Crespigny's earlier version of these chapters, done more than a quarter of a century ago (The Last of the Ilan [Canberra, 1969]). The translation is workmanlike and reliable, without undue flourishes. Wherever possible, de Crespigny also identifies the sources of Sima Guang's text, coordinating this material...