Hanzhikao 漢制考

Hanzhikao 漢制考 "A treatise about the system of the Han dynasty" is a study of the administrative and political system of the Han dynasty 漢 (206 BCE-220 CE) written during the Southern Song period 南宋 (1127-1279) by Wang Yinglin 王應麟 (1223-1296).

For his book of 4-juan length, Wang collected all available information from the official dynastic histories Hanshu 漢書 and Houhanshu 後漢書, Confucian Classics, historiographical writings and also dictionaries like the Shuowen jiezi 說文解字, to obtain a complete picture of the policital system of the Han.

In the course of his work he was also able to correct several mistakes in transmitted versions occurring, for example, in the commentaries of the Tang-period 唐 (618-907) scholar Kong Yingda 孔穎達 (574-648) on the Classics (the word shi 式 "divination text", for example, had been replaced by shi 史 "archival writing").

Wang Yinglin arranged his book according to his sources, and not according to topics or institutions, which is very inconvenient.

The Hanzhikao is included in the series Jindai mishu 津逮秘書 (Jindai bishu 津逮袐書), Xuejin taoyuan 學津討原, Zhihai 指海 and Siku quanshu 四庫全書.