Bangu's story "In Taixue"

When Ban Gu was five years old, he followed his father from Hexi to Luoyang, the capital of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Luoyang was the political and cultural center of the country at that time, with the grand scale of Taixue (太学 was an official school established by the feudal state in the capital and was the highest institution of learning at that time). A group of well-known scholars teach here, and young students from all over the country study here. Ban Gu's father, Ban Biao, was a teacher in Taixue. Wang Chong, who later became a famous thinker, was studying with Ban Biao at this time.

When Ban Gu was thirteen years old, one day, he went to Taixue with his father and happened to meet Wang Chong. The two began to talk. Wang Chong had long heard that Ban Gu was smart and studious, so he deliberately asked some questions for him to answer. In front of Wang Chong, who was five years older than himself, Ban Gu was unrestrained, especially when it came to the history and allusions of the Western Han Dynasty. Wang Chong listened and said to Ban Biao happily:

"Teacher, you are such a great boy! In the future, you will definitely do great things, and you will have someone to follow! ”

Ban Biao listened, brushed his beard, and smiled with satisfaction.

During the Eastern Han Dynasty, the age of enrollment of Tai students was generally eighteen years old. However, because Bangu's talent was particularly outstanding, he entered Taixue to study at the age of sixteen. Ban Gu studied hard in Taixue for eight years, not only becoming familiar with the major Confucian classics of the time, but also further acquiring a lot of knowledge about Han history.

Bangu (32–92 AD)