Chinese Society: History and Criticism (Volume 3)

Author: Zhang Guogang
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2001-06-01
Features: This book is edited by the Social History 211 Engineering Base of the Department of History at Nankai University. It is a collection of humanities and social science essays compiled based on the 2000 Nankai International Medieval History Conference. The contributors include scholars from both China and abroad, reflecting the latest research trends and new academic achievements in the study of social life history. This volume includes 41 essays and 10 book reviews, with 1 essay in English. The modern discipline relies on two cornerstones: empirical facts established through research and a conceptual system and theoretical framework built upon these facts. The dual task of 20th-century Chinese historiography was to both systematically examine and research fundamental historical issues under strict academic norms, and to construct a new set of theories, methods, and paradigms. The former emphasizes the examination of historical facts, while the latter focuses on the abstraction of experience. Microscopically, this represents the two levels of historical understanding for individual historians, while macroscopically, it represents two stages in the development of historical studies. Ranke's historiography, with its 19th-century brilliance, reached the pinnacle of Western modern empiricism in history. The Annales School and the New History emerged in the 20th century, seeking new breakthroughs after conquering this pinnacle. The former stage laid the foundation for the development of historiography, while the latter represents the sublimation of academic research in the former stage. In comparison, traditional Chinese historiography, despite leaving us with a vast and invaluable collection of historical documents, does not belong to the academic accumulation that modern historiography seeks to demonstrate. In other words, 19th-century Western political and diplomatic history achieved remarkable success, to the point that by the early 20th century, it was considered outdated by the New History. Meanwhile, contemporary Chinese historiography lacked such academic accumulation. Liang Qichao's advocacy of the New History differs entirely from the starting point of the Western New History. Traditional Western historiography (such as Ranke's historiography, which claims historicalism and empiricism) cannot be equated with our traditional historiography (represented by the Twenty-Four Histories).