Big history will not shrink

Author: Ray Huang
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-05-01
Features: With the rise and introduction of American middle-range theory, historical research has become increasingly social-scientificized. This is evidenced by the current popularity of social history studies. If historical research is not grounded in micro-level empirical studies, thereby internally developing analytical frameworks such as the concept of the public sphere, it may be criticized by academia as a "grand narrative"—a hollow and even ideologically driven historical writing. Compared to this mainstream trend in historical research, Huang undoubtedly stands as a "heretic." The recently published A Short History of the World is a voice calling for "rectification." In response to criticisms of his "grand historical view," Huang did not easily surrender, abandoning his unique perspective on observing history. In my view, Huang's is that as historical researchers, we should more actively "engage" with the historical processes of their time. Through meticulous examination of historical events, even in a "divine wandering" manner, we should strive to view history as a reproductive process of interconnected spatial and temporal elements, thereby effectively revealing the "true stories" behind complex historical appearances. At the same time, historians should strive to avoid adopting a meta-standpoint to extract individual historical figures or events from their contexts and make hasty moral or value judgments. Such judgments often demand too much of the past, as the saying goes, "speaking from a position of comfort without feeling the pain." Thus, Huang candidly criticizes in his writings: "Chinese people place great emphasis on praise and condemnation, often portraying historical figures as either perfectly virtuous or utterly evil. This easily turns writing history into a tool for expression." China has a tradition of historians who record history while making moral judgments. The role of historians has often been intertwined with ideology in their historical writings. Ultimately, ideological modes of simple binary opposition often dominate historical accounts. Such historical writing, by overlooking the myriad aspects of history, imposes pre-designed labels on it, leading either to forcing a fit or leaving out essential details. Perhaps, as Huang puts it, historians should prioritize causal relationships rather than personal biases. Only in this way can historical studies return to their roots, focusing on how history unfolds rather than condemning it for doing so. In other words, historians can truly embrace a moderate warmth and respect for history, achieving a "sympathetic understanding" without crudely and absurdly critiquing it. This point is evident in Huang's positive evaluation of modern Chinese history and his critiques of Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek. A key conclusion of Huang's research on Chinese history is that it lacks systematic numerical management, a view he maintained even in his studies of modern history. Notably, while he emphasizes understanding history from technical, economic, and legal perspectives, he never advocates for reducing history to pure positivism. History is a construction of relationships, and this construction is intrinsically linked with the complexities of human nature. Thus, history becomes a generative space with immense possibilities, rather than a linear progression dictated by historical laws as in the past. Perhaps only in this way can historical writers truly reach the dark and divergent spaces of history, transforming it into a super-text capable ofing differences. This, of course, is a subversion and revolution against historical writing modes dominated by ideology, while also opening a new path for us to understand our historical memory. Unlike other historians, Huang once served as a junior officer with an experience described as "half like a bandit, half like a beggar." This gave him a deep understanding of the lower strata of Chinese society. His historical writing grows from daily life, imbued with a sense of the mundane and the human, unlike some contemporary histories that resemble "revolutions in the study." If Huang's historical writing resists the trend of micro-level historical analysis, then this rebellion, in the form of a "grand narrative," may bear good fruit: combining the personal narratives of lived history with grand reflections, allowing historical studies to reveal their own threads through storytelling. (Adapted from Tang Xiaobing's The Oriental Morning Post)
Since the Opium War, China has undergone a long and arduous process, including self-strengthening movements, the First Sino-Japanese War, the Hundred Days' Reform led by Kang Youwei and Liang Qichao, the establishment of the Republic of China, the May Fourth Movement, warlordism, the Northern Expedition, and the War of Resistance Against Japan. During this extended period, the old system has disintegrated. The traditional agricultural system has often become an obstacle to reform and must be transformed. Here, the author proposes the character "" (upright): the long horizontal stroke at the bottom of the character represents the lower social structure, while the dot and horizontal stroke at the top represent the higher-level structure of the state and society. The current task is to fill in the two dots, which symbolize defining the rights and obligations of individuals in commercial transactions under the law. This book is a collection of the author's insightful lectures, visits, and critiques, complementing his other works and explaining points of confusion for readers, offering a distillation of his core ideas.