Systems and the State (A Collection of Essays on the Study of Chinese History by Taiwanese Scholars)

Author: (Taiwan) Huang Qinglian, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2005-05-01
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:
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Professor Huang Kuan-chong, Professor Xing Yi-tian of the Institute of History and Philology, Academia Sinica, and Professor Deng Xiao-nan of the Center for Medieval Chinese History, Peking University, served as the overall editors. Each topic is edited by a Taiwanese scholar with deep expertise in the field. Each volume includes a preface by the overall editor and an introduction by the volume editor. The purpose of the introductions is to provide an overview of the internal and external contexts and the development of Chinese history research in Taiwan at different stages, as well as to introduce the authors and papers in the volume. Some introductions focus on introducing the included papers and authors or the reasons for their inclusion, while others highlight global trends in historical research, and some are centered on the views of the volume editor on a particular field, 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 Yao-dong, and Mao Han-guang, as well as middle-aged and young scholars with a strong Western academic background such as Chen Ruoshui, Yan Juan-ying, and Li Zhen-de. It brings together representative works of several generations of Taiwanese scholars over the past half-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 the latest trends and achievements. However, each volume has its own characteristics. Some volumes include nearly all papers from the past decade, such as the "Life and Culture" volume, while others include more works from several decades ago, such as the "Institutions and the State" volume, which reflects the shift in research focus and centers in Taiwanese Chinese history studies. Due to various limitations, exchanges between scholars across the Taiwan Strait, access to information, and the availability of relevant papers have faced certain difficulties. Domestic scholars and researchers have long called for timely access to the research of Taiwanese scholars, which has been 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. Taiwanese scholars, deeply influenced by Western Sinology while being very familiar with Chinese culture, have brought 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 international attention. The publication of the "Taiwan Scholars’ Studies on Chinese History" series should provide domestic historiography with new materials, information, and focal points, and will have a very positive impact on academic exchanges and interactions between the two sides of the strait.
This series selects ten representative papers, arranged in chronological order according to the general principle. However, the content is primarily focused on three levels: political, legal, and military institutions. The publication dates of the papers, with the exception of Lao Gan’s article which was published in 1945 and slightly earlier than the "fifty years" boundary set by this series, are all works from the past half-century. Lao Gan was a historian of the Qin and Han dynasties, particularly renowned for his expertise in reading and interpreting Han bamboo slips. He was a prolific author, and his works from the past half-century are too numerous to list here. However, we still include him, focusing on the article "The Inner and Outer Courts of the Han Dynasty," which has had a profound influence on the study of Chinese institutional history in Taiwanese academia over the past half-century. This is one of the selection criteria for this series.
In terms of political institutional research, this series includes five papers, accounting for half of the volume. This is primarily because the field holds a pivotal position in both the traditional Chinese historiography and the focus of 20th-century historical research. These five papers are lengthy and emphasize the collection and analysis of historical materials. On one hand, this reflects the phenomenon of Taiwanese historiography’s emphasis on materials over the past half-century. On the other hand, these papers also incorporate, to varying degrees, theories from Western social sciences, providing reference and discussion for historians.