More complete and objective: the development trend of China's modern history research-21century's modern history of China

Throughout the history of China, the development process, especially after the reform and opening up, has been quite rapid compared with before. The progress in the study of China's modern history is outstanding in the whole history discipline. Nevertheless, many scholars in the field of modern history are still not satisfied. I hope that the study of modern history will develop faster and achieve more and better research results in the future. As for how to promote the development of China's modern history research, scholars have different opinions and put forward many good opinions from different angles. The following is my humble opinion.

1 ... It is difficult to reproduce the "prosperity" situation that has been hotly discussed in many research fields, and building a complete and objective modern history of China should be the basic overall goal.

At the turn of the century in the past few years, many scholars in the field of history have summarized and reflected on the achievements and shortcomings of China's history development in the last century from different angles or fields, and explored and prospected the new trend of history development in the new century. Put forward many valuable academic opinions. As the most influential professional history magazine in China, Historical Research has published many articles for more than 100 years, reviewing and looking forward to the development of various themes. At the same time, other historical academic journals also consciously organize and publish articles in this field, and often publish a number of related papers to attract the attention of historians at home and abroad. Academic seminars of different scales with this theme have also been held many times. It should be said that this book is quite meaningful, but it will take a long time to judge its role and influence on the historical development of China in the new century.

Before and after, editors of some historical journals often lamented that in the 1980s, there were almost vigorous discussions in many fields in China's modern history circle, such as the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom Movement, the Westernization Movement, the Boxer Rebellion, the Revolution of 1911 and so on. No matter the papers published in academic journals or the discussions in relevant academic seminars, some completely opposite viewpoints even had a fierce but friendly academic debate, showing a very warm historical prosperity. At that time, most historical magazines contributed a considerable amount, and the editors at that time were not worried about the lack of contributions. However, after entering the 1990s, historical research seems to be relatively silent, and even a sense of "historical crisis" appears everywhere. Many editors of historical magazines feel that the source of manuscripts is insufficient, especially the satisfied high-quality papers are few and boring. Therefore, they hope that researchers can find new arguments, discuss and contend with each other, so that the study of China's modern history will once again show a new "prosperous" scene.

How should the study of China's modern history in the new period develop on the original basis? In fact, it is also a topic of general concern to modern historians. Many scholars have put forward their own views in theory and method, which is of great reference value. My humble opinion is that it is impossible to reproduce the scene of fierce debates in many fields in China's modern history in the 1980s, because that situation is a special phenomenon in the special era after the "Cultural Revolution" in China, and similar special times may not appear again in the future. In addition, the author also believes that no matter what theories and methods are put forward, no matter what concrete efforts are made in other aspects, moving towards a more complete and objective modern history of China should be a long-term basic overall goal of the research and development of modern history of China in the 2 1 century, and even the development trend of the whole history of China.

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(1) Since the 1990s, historians, including the discipline of modern history in China, have made great progress in academic comments and criticisms compared with those in the 1980s, especially in terms of style of study. On the one hand, it shows that scholars no longer just praise each other's achievements, but also dare to criticize fiercely, and the academic evaluation mechanism in the field of history has been greatly improved; But on the other hand, it also reflects the abnormal style of study in the historical field, and the so-called research results of shoddy and even plagiarism are constantly coming out. In addition, some criticisms and counter-criticisms later turned into personal attacks instead of normal academic discussions, which was not conducive to the development of historical research.

(2) This is not to say that there can be no academic discussion and debate in the academic circles of modern history in China in the future, but that it is impossible for so many scholars to participate in the debate in so many important fields as in the 1980s. In fact, contention in academic research is a long-standing phenomenon and an important way to develop historical research.

It is an undeniable fact that through the efforts of several generations of scholars, remarkable achievements have been made in the study of China's modern history. Some scholars hold a totally negative attitude towards the previous research on China's modern history (even the last 20 years after the reform and opening up), which is too extreme. But we also have to admit that up to now, it is hard to say that we have constructed a complete and objective modern history of China, and there is still a considerable gap from this goal.

What is a complete and objective modern history of China? A comprehensive and detailed answer to this question needs to be expounded from many aspects, but the most basic essence can be summarized as follows: the so-called complete modern history of China is nothing more than a thorough and detailed study of all aspects of modern China, including many small problems that were considered irrelevant to the overall situation in the past (in fact, they are also small problems), rather than ignoring or giving up the discussion of certain issues; The so-called objective modern history of China means that researchers should be objective and fair, try to avoid the influence of various subjective consciousness or other factors, and give an objective exposition of various historical figures, events and social phenomena, so as to show a truly complete and objective modern history of China. On the other hand, the complete and objective modern history of China can also be described as a panoramic and all-round investigation of the whole modern history of China, which not only pays attention to the macroscopic, comprehensive and long-term investigation, but also attaches importance to the microscopic, concrete and empirical analysis, and truly shows the objective truth of modern history in many aspects and dimensions. ①

In the past, due to various reasons, the study of China's modern history paid more attention to the so-called positive mainstream figures and events, and problems in many fields were either out of the research field of vision or just brushed aside, thus leaving a lot of historical gaps. This is certainly not a complete modern history of China. Even for those issues that are generally concerned and studied, due to the influence of many factors, researchers have not reached an objective conclusion that conforms to the original historical appearance with an objective research attitude. 10 years, with the recovery and rise of historical branches such as social history and psychological history, and the application of various research theories and methods, this situation has improved compared with the past, but it is still far from the expected goal. It can be said that the blank points and less objective evaluations and conclusions in the study of China's modern history are still obvious, which requires the researchers of modern history to continue their efforts.

2. Efforts to explore new historical materials are the prerequisite for the completeness and objectivity of the study of China's modern history.

History is different from many other humanities and social disciplines, which determines the irreplaceable important role of historical materials in historical research. Without sufficient historical data, it is difficult for historians to cook without rice. Although this is the same old tune, it is still necessary to put it at the top of historical research today, because the lack of in-depth and meticulous historical data mining is still one of the main reasons why the study of modern history is not comprehensive and objective today. Moreover, due to the defects in the evaluation of professional titles, academic management system and annual evaluation of scientific research workload, the impetuous short-term behavior of study style is encouraged, which makes researchers often pursue results as soon as possible and are unwilling to spend a long time digging up historical materials. What is particularly worrying is that the fine and rigorous style of study of the older generation of historians "sitting on the bench for ten years without writing" has not only not been well inherited and carried forward in the new period, but has even been ridiculed by some people as pedantic behavior. If this phenomenon continues to spread and develop, it will undoubtedly have very serious consequences for the study of modern history, especially for the growth of a new generation of young researchers. This is also the reason why the author still calls for attaching importance to historical data mining.

From the positive experience, mining new historical materials is also the premise to promote the integrity and objectivity of modern history research.

First of all, the development of many new research fields in China's modern history and the filling of research gaps are largely due to the excavation of new historical materials, especially the excavation of systematic archives, which can often promote the prosperity of related new research fields, thus gradually making up for the shortcomings of incomplete modern history research. For example, the Chamber of Commerce, an important new merchant association, has played an important role in all fields of social life in modern China since its appearance in the late Qing Dynasty. However, for such an important social group, it has not attracted the attention of modern history researchers for many years. Until the 1980s, almost no research results were published, which is a very prominent concrete reflection of the incomplete development of modern history research. In fact, the archives in Tianjin, Suzhou and other places have preserved a large number of local chamber of commerce files from the late Qing Dynasty to 1949. If they are sorted out, published and used, they are fully qualified to conduct in-depth research on the Chamber of Commerce. However, because few researchers go to the archives to explore and use these files, the study of chamber of commerce has always been a blank point in the study of modern history. By the end of 1970s and the beginning of 1980s, Zhang Kaiyuan and other famous scholars called for sorting out the archives of publishers' associations, strengthening the research on chambers of commerce and organizing researchers to participate in them. Some scholars in Tianjin, Shanghai and Beijing also began to pay attention to the excavation of chamber of commerce archives. A few years later, with the publication of the archives of Tianjin and Suzhou Chambers of Commerce, a number of papers and monographs came out one after another. The study of chamber of commerce has quickly become a new field in the study of China's modern history, attracting the attention of modern historians at home and abroad. This also enables us to truly understand the development of modern industrial and commercial organizations in China and its important role and influence in social life. Moreover, the excavation of the archives of the Chamber of Commerce also led to the research of other new merchant associations besides the Chamber of Commerce, including commercial organizations (new paramilitary organizations of businessmen), local autonomous organizations, educational organizations, fire control organizations, and even the peasant associations in the late Qing Dynasty began to publish research papers. At the end of 1980s and the beginning of 1990s, domestic scholars studied the achievements of modern China gentry merchants, and also benefited from the excavation of chamber of commerce archives to a great extent. Through the continuous deepening of the study of the Chamber of Commerce, some scholars took this opportunity to further investigate the development and changes and new interaction between the state and society in modern China, and to explore new topics such as public sphere and civil society in modern China, and achieved remarkable results. This case alone is enough to tell us how important it is for the excavation of new historical materials to improve the incomplete study of China's modern history.

Secondly, the excavation of new historical materials is also an important condition to make the study of China's modern history more objective. In the past, there were some impersonal conclusions in the study of modern history. In addition to the defects in theory and method, the lack of historical data mining should also be said to be one of the reasons. Even some important issues that have been studied by historians for a long time and have achieved fruitful results still have similar situations to be improved. For example, the study of the Opium War was discussed by the older generation of scholars, and then many scholars devoted themselves to this research, and the results were not rich. However, this does not mean that the study of the Opium War has reached a completely objective level. If we spend a long time and effort on the excavation of relevant historical materials in all aspects, we can still find some knots that are inconsistent with historical facts in previous studies and correct them. Mao Haijian's monograph "The Collapse of China-A Re-study of the Opium War" (Beijing, Sanlian Bookstore) published by 1995 has attracted wide attention and praise from many scholars of modern history at home and abroad. One of the greatest characteristics of this book is that the author has made new explorations in historical materials as far as possible during years of solid research, so that some specious traditional conclusions about the Opium War can be corrected with these new historical materials, and the research of modern historians on the Opium War is more objective on the original basis. Re-understanding the Opium War (Chinese University of Hong Kong Press), edited by Lin Qiyan and Zhu in 2003, also re-explored some problems of the Opium War by excavating new historical materials. This book is actually a collection of papers by many scholars, among which the first chapter "The Commercial Form of Guangzhou Port before the Opium War" written by Wang further demonstrates that the foreign trade after Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty was not "one-stop trade", but many ports were open to the outside world, and the conclusion of so-called "closed door" was a misunderstanding of historical materials. The fifth chapter, On the Methods and Attitudes of the Chinese and British Governments in Dealing with the Forest Incident, was written by Lin Qiyan and Lin Jinyuan. It also made use of a large number of manuscripts, letters and diaries at that time, and made a detailed textual research on relevant files and documents at home and abroad, indicating that there were many misleading and inaccurate references to the forest incident in the past.

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Some scholars have put forward the view that "new historiography is moving towards' overall history'", arguing that "the trend of modern historiography is based on the' overall history' of China and the West, and the' overall history' paradigm is the fundamental paradigm of new historiography that we can foresee at present." See Ma Min's Study of Chamber of Commerce History and Paradigm Transformation of New Historiography, Journal of Huazhong Normal University, No.5, 2003. Although its "overall history" focuses on new research methods and new research fields, it has many similarities with the "complete and objective" development trend of China's modern history research emphasized in this paper.

The Reform Movement of 1898 is another topic in the study of China's modern history that has been paid attention to earlier and achieved fruitful results. However, there is a similar situation in the study of the Reform Movement of 1898 by modern historians. People often think that the Reform Movement of 1898 is an old topic that has been studied for too long, and it is difficult to make new progress on the basis of existing achievements. In fact, we just need to make some real efforts in historical data mining, that is, we may get some breakthroughs, including correcting some non-objective conclusions in the past. For example, after the publication of the above-mentioned monograph on the Opium War, Mao Haijian spent many years researching and analyzing a large number of archival documents about the Reform Movement of 1898 collected by the First Historical Archives of China. He sat on the bench for several years and wrote a long article of 654.38+04,000 words, discussing the time, process and story of the 1898 coup, which was published in the fourth and fifth issues of Modern History Research in 2002. This paper corrects many untrue theories in the past, and also supplements and corrects some related problems, which is well received by modern historians.

All these examples show that in order to make the study of China's modern history more complete and objective, we must make great efforts in historical data mining. However, scholars like Mao Haijian who are engaged in the study of China's modern history are rare. At present, most colleges and universities implement the system of subsidizing teachers' annual teaching workload and scientific research achievements assessment, including social science research projects of the state and the Ministry of Education. Generally, it is stipulated that the undertaker must complete the project within three years, and there must be so-called phased research achievements to cope with the mid-term exam. To a certain extent, this system makes it impossible for historical researchers to dig up historical materials without producing results in a few years, and does not encourage researchers to produce academic masterpieces. On the contrary, it encourages short-term research behavior and impetuous style of study in objective results.

3. Further broadening the research horizon, improving the research methods and adhering to the attitude of seeking truth from facts are the necessary means to make the study of China's modern history more complete and objective.

Since the reform and opening-up, the study of China's modern history has largely got rid of the past single research mode with three revolutionary climaxes and five major political events as the main line. Not only did the research on China's modern social history, China's modern urban history and China's early modernization flourish, but it also opened up many new research fields and filled many research gaps in the research of China's modern economic history, political history, ideological and cultural history, education history and legal history in the past 20 years. ①

However, if we further broaden our horizons and observe and compare the existing research results of modern history in the vast and rich modern China society, we will find that even these fruitful research results are far from reaching the level involving all fields of modern China society, and there are still many important issues that have not been included in our research vision and remain in a blank state. For example, the study of modern social history has been paid more and more attention by many scholars in recent years, and considerable research results have been achieved, but there are still many problems that have not been discussed. Take the modern society that the author is familiar with as an example. Since the late Qing Dynasty and the early Republic of China, with the economic and social development and changes in modern China. In addition to the Chamber of Commerce, a large number of other new social organizations have emerged, including trade associations in economy, culture, education, academia, charity, public welfare, customs, autonomy, law and many industries. These associations play a very important role in their respective fields and even in the whole social life, and should be the focus of the study of modern history of China. So far, however, the research in the field of historiography has mainly focused on the Chamber of Commerce. The research on students and intellectuals' associations in the late Qing Dynasty has only two works: Sang Bing's Associations and Activities of New Intellectuals in the Late Qing Dynasty (Beijing, Sanlian Bookstore, 1995) and Taiwan Province scholar Fang Lu's From Student Movement to Sports Life (Taipei, Institute of Modern History, Academia Sinica, 1994). Only Taiwan Province scholar Zhang Yufa's Constitutional Organization in Qing Dynasty (Taipei, Institute of Modern History of Academia Sinica, 197 1) and Revolutionary Organization in Qing Dynasty (Taipei, Institute of Modern History of Academia Sinica, 1975) have published the research on modern trade associations. The above is just an example of modern social research. The integrity of China's modern history research must depend on the further broadening of the research field of vision. In fact, a similar situation exists not only in the field of modern community research, but also in many other research fields to varying degrees.

Here, I want to spend some time talking about the cultivation of graduate students, who are the reserve team for the study of modern history in China. Because this issue is also directly related to whether the study of China's modern history can develop comprehensively and objectively in the future, it should attract the attention of modern historians. In recent years, there have been many doctoral and master's programs in universities in China, including history. In all fairness, the teaching staff and scientific research conditions of some doctoral programs are not satisfactory. Coupled with the enrollment expansion of graduate students year after year, there are more and more doctoral and master students. Some scholars of modern history often talk privately. Under the condition that the research of modern history in China has a high starting point, the number of graduate students has increased sharply, showing a trend of mass production. How to determine the topic of dissertation and ensure its academic level is not only a difficult problem faced by graduate students, but also a difficult problem faced by tutors, which leads to a downward trend in the level of dissertation, which is quite unfavorable to the growth of young modern history researchers and directly affects the development of modern history research in the future. If we don't broaden our horizons, it will be more difficult to choose topics for graduate dissertations in the future. However, once we broaden our research horizons, we will find new research topics everywhere. In fact, the current situation is that on the one hand, graduate students and tutors are confused about the topic selection, on the other hand, there are still many research gaps to be filled. It is not that the study of modern history has developed to the point where there is no topic selection, but that our research vision is still relatively narrow.

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(1) For details, please refer to my essay "Developing in Pioneering and Innovating —— A Review of New Fields and Topics in China's Modern History in Recent 20 Years" published in the 6th issue of Historical Monthly 1998.

In broadening the research horizon, it is worth learning from the research horizons and methods of foreign scholars studying China's modern history. Many China scholars have not paid attention to some research topics, and foreign scholars are often the first to carry out research and obtain relevant research results in advance. For example, the study of the Chamber of Commerce mentioned earlier refers to that Japanese scholars published several monographs on the Chamber of Commerce in the late Qing Dynasty before the 1980s in China. Some scholars in the United States also have a broad vision when studying the modern history of China. Their research results have attracted wide attention at home and abroad, and are also instructive for the development and in-depth study of the modern history of China. For example, William Rowe's investigation of Hankou's commercial development, the evolution of merchant organization and public sphere in the late Qing Dynasty, his exposition of small-scale peasant economy and social changes in modern North China, and his questioning of some normative understandings in the study of China's modern history have aroused the concern and discussion of modern history researchers at home and abroad. In recent years, kenneth pomeranz's research on the development model of economic development and social changes in southern China since Ming and Qing Dynasties, as well as his academic debate with Huang Zongzhi on related issues, have also aroused considerable concern and people's thinking. Although China scholars should pay attention to their own research paths and methods with local characteristics, they should not blindly follow western scholars. At the same time, they should be good at learning from the beneficial research theories and methods of foreign scholars and constantly expand our research horizons.

Adhering to the scientific attitude of seeking truth from facts, making an objective and meticulous analysis of all aspects of historical materials and drawing pertinent conclusions are another important factor for the objective and fair study of China's modern history. In the past, influenced by the "Left" trend of thought, the revolutionary struggles of the so-called positive figures and the masses in modern history were often touted, while the negative figures and their activities were often severely criticized and belittled. This is obviously not an objective attitude of seeking truth from facts, nor a scientific research method. For example, for the Qing government before the Revolution of 1911 and its "New Deal" reform, the revolutionaries of that year tried their best to expose and criticize the reactionary and decadent Qing Dynasty in order to mobilize the broad masses of patriots to revolt and overthrow the Qing Dynasty. Of course, we can't ask the revolutionaries of that year to objectively evaluate the Qing government and its "New Deal". However, as a historical researcher today, when we look at the Qing government and its reform, we can't simply dismiss the "New Deal" as a false reform according to the conclusion that the "foreigner's court" was a revolutionary school in those days, and completely deny it without detailed empirical research and special investigation. As we all know, the study of China's modern history after the 1920s cannot but involve both the Kuomintang and the * * * production party. In the past, in the study of China's party history and national party history, it should be said that both mainland scholars and Taiwan Province scholars were influenced by ideology and other factors, and there were different degrees of non-objective phenomena. Mainland scholars focus on the * * * production party. Even in the first period of Sino-US cooperation, when the * * * production party was very weak and relied on the development of the Kuomintang, the role of the * * * production party was emphasized, and the influence and role of the Kuomintang were less discussed and more criticized. On the contrary, scholars in Taiwan Province Province focused on the Kuomintang, fully affirmed its historical role, and rarely mentioned the positive role of the * * * production party. When discussing the disputes between the Kuomintang and the * * * production party, they are basically on the side of the Kuomintang to criticize and accuse the * * * production party. Obviously, the awareness of political parties has already penetrated into the process of scholars on both sides of the strait studying China's modern history intentionally or unintentionally, and naturally it will inevitably lead to an objective and fair conclusion. I remember a few years ago, when a Chinese mainland scholar answered a question after giving a speech on the relationship between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party at the Institute of Modern History of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, he explained that his research attitude in studying and investigating related issues was to try to transcend party differences and make objective analysis and comments as far as possible with the eyes of scholars. Needless to say, we should openly express that we should go beyond the shackles of party consciousness and make an objective investigation and study on the history and relations between the two parties in modern China. It should be emphasized that creating a relaxed and free academic environment so that scholars can concentrate on their research work without being influenced by various factors, including politics, is also an important condition to ensure the objectivity and fairness of the study of China's modern history.

On the other hand, we should also see that after the reform and opening up, the impersonal and incomplete situation in the study of China's modern history has obviously changed, and many scholars' research on the "New Deal" reform in the late Qing Dynasty has gradually become rational and objective, and many new achievements have been made that are different from the previous traditional conclusions. In addition, in recent years, mainland scholars have made more and more in-depth research on the modern history of the Kuomintang and the relationship between the Kuomintang and the Communist Party, and have successively published relatively objective and fair results with high academic standards, which is a gratifying phenomenon that the research on modern history of China is developing in a complete and objective direction. However, it is worth noting that in recent years, the study of China's modern history has changed some non-objective biased phenomena in the past, but at the same time, another non-objective trend has emerged. Its main performance is that instead of praising the revolutionary struggle between positive figures and the people in the past, criticizing and belittling negative figures and their activities, it has changed to focusing on criticizing and denying positive historical figures, praising negative historical figures identified in the past, and denying the positive role of the people's anti-imperialism and anti-feudalism and even the Revolution of 1911. This does not mean that positive figures and revolutionary movements cannot be criticized, nor can negative figures be sure. If the argument is fully reasonable, it should be said that it is also a contribution to reversing the objective and unscientific situation of modern history research. However, although there are some such research results, they are relatively rare. Draw many new conclusions from the so-called new achievements. In fact, there are no really convincing arguments in historical data mining and historical research. Some even divorced from the objective social situation in modern China, and only inferred some new conclusions based on the author's own subjective judgment, which inevitably made people feel that they were deliberately unconventional. Although the similar phenomenon has not yet become the mainstream of China's modern history research, it is worthy of vigilance. If we don't pay attention to it, it may make the study of China's modern history evolve from the past non-objective situation to a new non-objective situation in some aspects. Because although China people have a tradition of advocating the golden mean in history, people in later generations often say that people and things should be divided into two, but there are also many cases in which going from one extreme to the other leads to serious consequences. If we do not adhere to the scientific attitude of seeking truth from facts and strive to overcome this one-sided and biased tendency, it will be difficult for the study of China's modern history to develop smoothly in a complete and objective direction.

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① Saburo Masuda: Chamber of Commerce established, (Japan) Historical Research No.422,1975; Cang Qiao Integrity: Yingkou Public Council, Historical Research No.481; Chamber of Commerce and China Bourgeois in Late Qing Dynasty, Historical Research (Japanese)No. 1976.

② It is a simple and unscientific research method to characterize the historical figures in the transitional period of modern China with so-called "positive" and "negative" or "innovative" and "conservative". Because "positive" and "negative", "new" and "old" are relative, there is no very clear division, and often a person has both positive, negative, new and old attributes. For the convenience of writing, it is still used for the time being.

Finally, it needs to be pointed out that building a comprehensive and objective modern history of China is not a goal that can be achieved in a few years or decades, but a long-term goal in the study of modern history of China. Of course, the ideal realm of historical researchers is to "study the relationship between man and nature and understand the changes from ancient times to the present", but at the same time, they must follow the most basic ethics and principles. First of all, they should try their best to show the rich and colorful history completely and truly, instead of just describing a one-sided and objective history to people. Although the author has been engaged in the study of China's modern history for many years, and has published some works, even some of which have attracted the attention of colleagues at home and abroad, he is afraid to express his views on macro issues such as how to develop the study of China's modern history due to his lack of theoretical analysis and comprehensive generalization ability. Therefore, at the turn of the century, when colleagues in the field of historiography express their opinions on the historical trend of China in the new century, the author only draws lessons from it and basically does not write similar words. The reason why I am writing this essay now is that the editor of the magazine has an appointment, and the other is that I still have something to say after reading the relevant articles. Of course, these words are by no means a summary and induction of related issues, and are purely immature personal opinions. Some may be platitudes, but there is also a need for repetition. Shortcomings are inevitable, and they are written for reference and criticism by experts and scholars in the same field.