Thought and Academia

Author: Chen Ruoshui / Wang Fansen (editors)
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-04-01
Features: This series is a compilation of classic works by Taiwanese scholars in the field of Chinese history over the past fifty years, divided into thirteen topics and fourteen volumes, including:
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; . Professors Huang Kuanzhong, Xing Yitian of the Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica, Taiwan, and Deng Xiaonan of the Center for Medieval Chinese History, Peking University, served as the general editors. Each topic is edited by Taiwanese scholars with deep expertise in the field. Each volume includes a preface by the general editor and an introduction by the volume editor. The purpose of the introductions is to summarize the internal and external contexts and development trends of Taiwanese Chinese history research in different stages, and to introduce the authors and papers of the current volume. Some focus on introducing the included papers and authors or the reasons for their inclusion, some focus on introducing global trends in historical research, and others take the volume editor's perspective on a particular field as the main axis, each with its own. After each article, a brief author bio and the original publication data of the article are provided to facilitate further research for interested readers. The series gathers renowned works by many international scholars. Elderly scholars such as Yan Gengwang, Lao Gan, Fu Lecheng, and Dai Yanhui, contemporary historiographical masters such as Yu Yingshi, Xu Zhuoyun, Lu Yaodong, and Mao Han Guang, as well as mid-career scholars with a strong Western academic background such as Chen Ruoshui, Yan Juanying, and Li Zhende. It brings together the representative works of several generations of Taiwanese scholars over half a century, truly a gathering of renowned scholars and outstanding works. The general selection principle for the articles in this series is to prioritize recently published works to showcase newer trends and achievements. However, each volume has its own characteristics. Some volumes include almost all papers from the past decade, such as the "Life and Culture" volume, while others include more works from decades ago, such as the "Institutions and the State" volume, which reflects the shift in research directions and centers in Taiwanese Chinese history studies. Due to various limitations, exchanges between scholars across the Taiwan Strait, the use of information resources, and access to relevant papers have faced certain difficulties. Domestic scholars and researchers have long called for timely access to the research of Taiwanese scholars, which is the primary motivation for the publication of this series. There are significant differences between Taiwan and mainland China in the field of Chinese history research. On one hand, Taiwanese scholars are heavily influenced by Western Sinology, but on the other hand, they are very familiar with Chinese culture, leading to more innovation and vitality. In terms of research topics, in addition to traditional subjects, Taiwanese historians have established unique themes such as medical history and body history, which have attracted attention from the international historical community. The publication of the "Taiwanese Scholars' Studies on Chinese History" series should provide domestic historians with new materials, information, and points of focus, and will have a very positive impact on academic exchanges and interactions between the two sides of the strait. This volume includes fourteen papers on Chinese intellectual history published in Taiwan over the past few decades. Before introducing the content and selection considerations of this collection, it is necessary to briefly describe the development of Chinese intellectual history research in Taiwan to help readers understand the nature of this anthology. Overall, intellectual history is a distinctive field within Taiwanese historiography. Over the past half-century in Taiwan, there have not been many intellectual historians, except for a brief period in the 1970s and 1980s, when the field was not particularly flourishing. However, the fact that this field has long existed and remained vibrant in Taiwanese historiography itself is worth noting. The papers in this volume were selected by the editor with consideration of multiple factors, without a pre-determined strict criterion, but two general considerations are worth mentioning. First, the volume has a structure similar to a general history, encompassing the entire history of Chinese thought from the Warring States period onwards, with articles for each important era. However, these works, when connected, do not form a complete or coherent knowledge or argument; rather, they represent representative papers from each era. Second, the editor hopes this volume can reflect the characteristics of Chinese intellectual history research in Taiwan.
Author Bio: Chen Ruoshui graduated from the Department of History, National Taiwan University, and obtained his Ph.D. in History from Yale University. He is currently a researcher at the Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica, Taiwan, and teaches at the Department of History, National Taiwan University, and the Institute of History, Tsinghua University. He has previously taught at Yale University, Columbia University, the University of British Columbia in Canada, and the University of Tokyo in Japan. His expertise lies in the history of the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, Chinese intellectual history, and he has authored works such as "Liu Tsung-yuan and Intellectual Change in T'ang China," "A History of Chinese Culture," and numerous articles.