Secondary Sources: 

Chang, Chun-shu (2007), The Rise of the Chinese Empire: Volume II; Frontier, Immigration, & Empire in Han China, 130 B.C. – A.D. 157, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, ISBN 0-472-11534-0.

Fairbank, John K.; Goldman, Merle (1998), China: A New History, Enlarged Edition, Cambridge: Harvard University Press, ISBN 0-674-11673-9.

Edwards, Mike.  The Han Dynasty. National Geographic: 2004 Feb, Page 1. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://archive.nationalgeographic.com/?iid=52146#folio

Needham, Joseph (1972), Science and Civilization in China: Volume 1, Introductory Orientations, London: Syndics of the Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-05799-X.

Primary Sources: 

Qian, Sima (100 CE) Han Shu, Book 11 (Annals of the Emperor Xiao Ai) Retrieved from: https://ctext.org/han-shu

• Sima Qian was a court historian who compiled court records, anecdotes, and important histories into the Han Shu, or Book of the Han. This source is contemporaneous with the Han dynasty and was written by someone with first hand knowledge, and possibly even directly acquainted with the emperors and their families. A limitation is that as a servant of the Emperor and a functionary of the Han dynasty Sima Qian is likely biased in his portrayals of the Han.