In the process of writing, we must make a plan before practicing writing. Understand the historical materials and related issues within the scope. There are two ways: first, the later prophetic materials aroused the interest in writing. For example, li yanshou, a native of the Tang Dynasty, participated in the compilation of books such as Jin, Song, Qi, Liang, Chen, Zhou and Sui, became familiar with the historical materials of the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and then decided to write the History of the South. Second, first write a book deliberately, and then collect historical materials. For example, Xu wants to write "Three Dynasties North Alliance Compilation", and then collect historical materials of the peace war between the Three Dynasties and the Jin people. All writers have come up with these two methods since ancient times. When we write a thesis, of course, we must have a theoretical basis and be able to use it. And before writing, we must know whether it is necessary for the society to write this book, what shortcomings we have written before, and the history books we intend to write. What will be added or contributed? Otherwise, it will only waste energy and time, so-called futility. If it is used for exercise, it is no problem.

To write a book or a paper, or practice writing, we must master the material and have a concept as the beginning of writing. The source of the concept comes from the actual struggle, or some doubts caused by reading, and I want to study it further, or I have experience to correct the mistakes of my predecessors, or I can get the truth by comparing different records of an event, or I am inspired by my teachers and friends to study it in depth. With the concept, we can draft the outline of the content and the form of compilation. The value of a work depends on its content, and whether it is properly compiled also has certain influence. The so-called editing belongs to the modeling of the work, such as the distribution of chapters and the appropriateness of organization. The importance of compilation can be seen from the Hanshu written by Ban Gu, whose writing style is not as good as Sima Qian's Historical Records. However, the compilation of Hanshu is neat, much more than historical records, which is the public opinion of the world. Therefore, if the book can be compiled well, readers will often find it convenient, and the ancients may not pay attention. People nowadays must pay attention, especially when we are just engaged in writing.

Novice writers should pay attention to five points: 1. Topic selection; Second, draw up an outline; Third, collect materials; Fourth, copy notes; Fifth, write a thesis. This is the main procedure of history writing. As for the textual research of historical materials, and the unity of historical materials and historical views, it is not mentioned, just as far as writing is concerned. The procedure seems simple, but the application is not easy, as explained below;

First, choose a topic. Writing performance is often closely related to topic selection. The scope of the topic can neither be too wide nor too narrow. It has too much material, which will be difficult to handle, and too little will not be enough applications. Therefore, before choosing a subject, we must first understand the situation, such as the availability of materials, the difficulty of the work, and more importantly, we must understand what our predecessors have done, what achievements and shortcomings they have, and whether they can further develop on the basis of their research. If you have questions or don't know enough, you should consult your teachers and friends. Only after careful consideration can we choose a suitable topic for research.

Second, draw up an outline. Drafting an outline after deciding the topic will be subjective and may not be applicable at all in the later stage. It is best to be familiar with the materials within the scope and understand the work of predecessors before drawing up the outline. The outline should not be too detailed or too brief, and can only be used as a temporary plan for collecting materials. With the more materials we read, the deeper and more concrete our understanding of the story will be, so we will have different evaluations of our predecessors' work and different emphases on our own work, so it is necessary to revise the outline. So, you can use an outline instead of persistence. Beginners, when drafting an outline, should ask teachers and friends to read it and put forward their own opinions for their reference and correction.

Third, collect materials. The materials are quite dispersed. For example, the records of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom have some collections in major cities in Jiangsu, which cannot be satisfied by one or two libraries. A library with rich information is the most helpful to collect information, but other libraries should not be obliterated. The inspection of books often depends on the catalogue. Generally speaking, the catalogue only contains the title, author, volume, publishing unit, year and edition, etc. However, the reader does not know the content of the book. More than seven-tenths of Nanjing Library's materials about the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom are the works of unknown people. But these people's works preserve more real and important materials. Detailed catalogs and special catalogs often help readers solve problems, as well as manuscripts, books and unpublished documents. If we have the chance to use them, we must not lose them. We can't be satisfied with catalog knowledge.

Fourth, copy notes. When reading historical materials, the plot is often unknown to readers. In order to avoid forgetting after reading or to facilitate repetition, it is necessary to take notes. Write down the notes in your own words and summaries, or copy down the important words in the records for readers' personal reference. The form and content are up to the readers themselves. Generally speaking, it is appropriate to use cards or paper to extract materials. In order to establish a long-term working basis, each piece of information should be an independent unit, neither lengthy nor out of context, and indicate the page number of the original book. In the future, you can compile titles and summarize categories for easy reference. In the preface of his preserved manuscript, Zhang Mu called this theory Yu: "After reading for half a day at the beginning, you can finish reading the book, and then you can forget it. Everything is a topic, there are dozens of books, the scales are laughing, and the years are accumulating. The evidence is all around, and you can't make up your own mind. A text is established. " It is not difficult to accumulate materials on weekdays and write articles when necessary.

Fifth, write a thesis. After collecting all kinds of materials, historians choose suitable materials, connect them with arguments, arrange them in the right place, become an organized whole, and then write papers or books. The length of a book will depend on the size of the topic and the amount of materials, which is in terms of form. In fact, there are two kinds of works: one is low-level works, which copy the words of predecessors and become patchwork words with low value. Second, advanced works that have not been published or are unknown to predecessors, using all available materials, have new views or opinions. They are not curious, but really want to correct their mistakes and find out the truth of the historical process based on real and valuable materials. When we are beginners, we should be ambitious, but we don't have to expect to write a blockbuster book in a short time. Instead, when we practice writing in reality, we will certainly achieve something after a long time.

We should make it clear that historical works are not piled up by many facts. In addition to facts, there is also the relationship between historical view and historical sites, which is the so-called internal relationship. Historians serve different classes and have different views on history. As working-class intellectuals, we must use Marxism-Leninism theory to explain historical sites, which can run through the whole work and become the argument of the whole article. No matter how many facts are cited, the argument is mainly based on proof On the other hand, the author should pay attention to causality. In nature, all phenomena are interrelated and restricted. The development of all kinds of things in human society can not be separated from each other's connection and mutual restriction, and there is no single thing in the world. We narrate historical deeds, no matter how many facts are quoted, mainly to show connections. If we can pay attention to the arguments and connections of the full text everywhere, it will become an organized work. Most importantly, this book as a whole is organized by related facts, and it is by no means a pile of facts. When we collect materials, we must first distinguish which facts can be part of the whole and which cannot be part of the whole. After collecting enough facts, we must study how to use each part to make it a coherent and organized whole.

Note: historical works must explain the source of materials, which the ancients failed to do. Zhang Xuecheng said in "Notes on History and Literature": "People's thoughts are becoming more and more enlightened, the atmosphere is changing day by day, the meaning of the article is unclear, and the study of tutorial sessions is becoming more and more complicated. In the official book, it is the responsibility of Ji Sai. Writing in private, pretending to be superficial, or copying a book, or simplifying it because of its ugliness, can be a fool's eyes and ears for a while, and the way of writing will benefit and decline. If you are sincere enough to take it from your notes, then the breadth of your knowledge, the density of your skills, the sincerity and falsehood of your heart can be seen in the open book, and the atmosphere can gradually return to the past. " A perfunctory book is inevitable in ancient and modern times. Zhang Xuecheng has a strong retro thought, rich in the past, less than the present. However, his works should not only be cautious, but also explain the source of materials, which is an important suggestion. Sima Guang's Zitongzhi Bamboo Slips, Li Dao's Zitongzhi Bamboo Slips, and Li Xinchuan's Chronicle Since the Proposal are all accompanied by textual research, indicating the source of materials and the standard of acquisition, which is the right way for historians. The Ganjia School expressed the compilation of the cited books. We should now indicate the number of pages, the place and year of publication. Feeling when it comes to this matter, it is divided into two categories, which are introduced as follows;

A: Attention. The items listed at the bottom of each page can be divided into three items: first, the number of pages cited; Second, quote the original historical materials; Third, the evidence of discussion.

B: Attached table. There are three articles at the end of an article or book: 1. Bibliography; Second, the relationship file; Third, important comments.

Lin Fei put forward this suggestion according to the habit of modern western works. The History of International Relations of Chinese Empire written by Max has both annotations and appendices, which occupies a considerable space. This is an example of a book. Papers often have notes but few appendices, and each category may not have three items. When necessary, there are even notes listed at the end of the paper in various forms, but the source of the materials should be explained.

It will be more convenient for readers if there are charts in the book. There are many kinds of tables, and the author lists many facts or figures in the table, which makes readers gain a lot in reading, impressive, concrete and too literal. There are images and maps. Written records, for the form of cultural goods, can not be detailed, if there are images, it will be helpful. Maps are indispensable tools for reading history and should be inserted. Another example is ancient works, and the content is listed at the end of the book. Historical Records and Hanshu are examples. Later generations put the table of contents at the beginning of the book so that readers can consult the contents of the book. What the predecessors didn't know was the index. Modern western works should have a table of contents at the beginning and an index at the end, with a detailed table of contents and a detailed index. The former refers to the breakdown of each item in the catalogue, while the latter refers to the detailed notes under each item in the index, which is particularly convenient for reference. Some books published in China recently have no indexes.

How to write a history paper

There are some similarities between the writing of historical papers and other papers, and there are also some specific requirements. What I'm discussing with you today is the related problems of writing historical papers.

First, the writing methods and requirements of historical papers

The most important thing is to determine the theme, list the writing outline according to the theme, and use the mastered materials in a planned way according to the guiding ideology and overall thinking of historical papers.

The article takes the outline as the framework, but not the outline as the boundary. It should be a whole with a complete history and momentum.

To write a good history paper, we should pay attention to the following questions:

(1) strives to integrate theory into narrative, so as to achieve the organic connection and internal unity between historical view and historical materials. It is necessary to prevent the empty theory from becoming a purely sociological formula without historical facts, and to prevent the accumulation of historical materials without theoretical analysis. It is even more necessary to avoid two skins of historical theory and historical materials. We should proceed from the actual situation, draw laws from it, and find out the internal relations of things. To do this, we must rely on objective facts, take possession of materials in detail, and draw correct conclusions from these materials.

(2) The unity of historical logic and linguistic logic, the language of historical papers should serve and obey the authenticity of history. On the premise of ensuring the correctness and accuracy of historical facts, both grammar and rhetoric should be attached importance to. Historical development has its objective laws that are independent of human will. The objective historical laws are reflected in people's minds and in historical papers or works. This is historical logic. The practice of embodying this historical logic is accomplished through the use of words, sentences and articles. But "the facts are true and the truth is correct" ranks first, and "the article is good" ranks second. We should pay attention to the language quality and phrasing of historical papers, but we should not put the cart before the horse because of the words. On the basis of true and rich content, give full play to the style of language and writing. In this way, we can successfully realize what we say with our hearts.

(3) The article should be fluent, concise and clear. In historical articles, in order to be "true, concise and vivid", it is also appropriate to "accept both literature and white" or "half-written and half-white". In fact, it is impossible without a little "classical Chinese" vocabulary.

(4) It is inevitable to use quotation accurately, which makes the argument reliable, helps to improve the quality of the article and reflects the depth and breadth of the author's knowledge. But there is also a question of what to quote and how to quote. First of all, you can quote the teachings of classic writers and the important speeches of the revolution. Third, the content of the current legal history textbook can be quoted. Because it is based on the most reliable data, refers to the latest research results, adopts the most recognized arguments, and uses the most standardized and concise words. Some non-historical works, such as historical novels, X-X romance novels, X-X historical stories, etc., are based on history and may have literary and educational value, but they are not history and cannot be quoted casually.

(5) The level and organization of historical papers. In general historical papers, we should pay attention to three points: paragraph division, quotation form and annotation type. 4. A long historical paper of more than 5,000 words can be divided into several large paragraphs according to the type of historical events or the development of historical plots, and subtitled to make the full text structure neat and the connotation of each question clear. The use of historical paper quotations should be short, appropriate and weighty; It should be properly embedded in the whole article, but it should not be abridged or taken out of context.

Second, the historical thesis model essay

Outline of modern Chinese history

First, we should attach importance to the study of China's modern political history.

The study of China's modern political history was relatively neglected for a period of time. Since 1980s, the study of modern cultural history in China has risen and become a hot spot. At that time, looking back, the study of China's modern history focused on revolutionary history and political history, and it was necessary to broaden the field, so people paid attention to the cultural field. However, in the "cultural craze", there is a phenomenon of belittling political history. Some researchers believe that the study of political history is superficial and superficial, and only the study of culture can enter the deep layer of history and be at the center. Subsequently, the modern social history of China also attracted the interest of scholars, and the research on it was in the ascendant. But similar to the "cultural craze", it belittles the study of political history and even advocates replacing history with social history. Whether these statements are accurate is worth pondering. Although I study the modern cultural history of China, I don't think culture is the center of history. In a conversation with Professor Bai Shouyi, I once talked about what is the center of history. Mr. Bai believes that history mainly focuses on politics, and politics is the backbone of history. Although economy is the foundation, it is restricted by politics, and culture is more restricted by politics. Culture cannot be the center of history. Not many words, but very incisive.

Samuel huntington, a famous American scholar, published the article Clash of Civilizations a few years ago, which aroused strong international repercussions. This paper holds that the future international conflict is not a conflict between economy and ideology, but a conflict between western culture, Confucian culture and Islamic culture. Obviously, this takes culture as the center of society and plays a decisive role. No matter in history or in real society, culture undoubtedly has its due role, but it is not in the central position and cannot play a decisive role. As far as the international community is concerned, the first priority is economic and political interests. The United States sells its values and culture to other countries to realize its economic and political interests. The fundamental factor of the Gulf War is not the so-called conflict between Islamic culture and western culture. Huntington wrote the book Clash of Civilizations and Reconstruction of World Order on the basis of the article Clash of Civilizations, which provided a comprehensive, profound and more detailed solution to the problems raised in his article. Although he still tries to explain in his book that the fundamental factor is the conflict between Islamic culture and western culture, he cannot but admit that "the Gulf War was the first resource war between civilizations after the Cold War". He said: "The most crucial question is: Will the world's largest oil reserves be controlled by the Saudi government and the government of the United Arab Emirates, which rely on western military forces to protect their security, or by an independent anti-western regime, which has the ability and possibility to use oil weapons against the West? The west failed to overthrow Saddam Hussein, but won some kind of victory, which made the Gulf countries rely on the west for security. Before the war, Iran, Iraq, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and the United States competed for influence in the Gulf region. After the war, the Persian Gulf became the inner lake of the United States. " [1] thinks that the key to this war is to fight for the control of "the world's largest oil reserve". "After the war, the Persian Gulf became the inner lake of the United States", which are the essence. Countries with the same Islamic culture can fight each other for economic and political interests such as oil and strategic position, and they can also support and participate in the war against Iraq organized by the United States. This shows that the fundamental factor of the Gulf War is not the war between Islamic culture and western culture, but the conflict between economic and political interests.

One reason for belittling the study of China's modern political history is that some researchers think that the political history written in China's modern history is a history of class struggle, and some even accuse it of "focusing on class struggle". Engels pointed out in the preface written for the English version of the Declaration of * * * in 1888 that "all history (since the disintegration of the original land public ownership) is the history of class struggle", which is "the basic idea that constitutes the core of the Declaration" [2]. Lenin also said: "Class relations-this is the fundamental and main thing. Without class relations, there would be no Marxism [3]. If we insist on the guidance of Marxism to historical research, we can't do without class analysis and class struggle theory. As for equating class struggle with "taking class struggle as the key link", it is a confusion of different issues.

The weakening of the study of China's modern political history is also due to historians' emphasis on the study of major events from the Opium War to the War of Liberation, with many achievements. Therefore, the starting point of further research is higher, the progress is more difficult, and greater efforts are needed. However, these major events are not without further study, and there are still many problems that are not fully understood, and some problems need further study. That is, taking Sun Yat-sen as an example, a number of related materials have been discovered in recent years, but they have not been well used for research; Researchers have different views on his thoughts and other comments. In addition, there is no biography with high academic value and weight.

Major events are an important part of China's modern political history, but they are not the same as China's modern political history, and they are not all its contents. The content of China's modern political history is very rich and can't be ignored. The study of China's modern cultural history and social history has expanded the field of China's modern history, which is undoubtedly meaningful. However, it is inappropriate to advocate this and suppress that. Politics, economy, culture, military affairs and diplomacy all need to be studied, which is necessary and valuable.

Second, we should pay attention to both micro-research and comprehensive research.

In recent years, the study of China's modern history tends to be detailed, focusing on specific issues, and has made gratifying achievements. Concrete and microscopic research is necessary, which is the basis of comprehensive research, but if it is too detailed, it will become pure "fragmentation". Modern China has a history of 100 years, with many people and events. It is neither possible nor necessary to study all the details or minor problems one by one. Even if you study it, it doesn't explain anything. Detailed research needs to consider whether the selected topics have research value. The topics with research value should not only be practical, but also be clearly described, and should be investigated in the big background to explain the problems.

On the basis of specific microscopic research, we should pay attention to comprehensive research. For a long time, we have done a lot of classified research and special research on the modern history of China, and we are qualified to do comprehensive research.

In our research work, disciplines and majors, literature, history, philosophy and so on belong to different disciplines. There are ancient history of China, modern history of China, world history and all kinds of special history. People who study the modern history of China are different from those who specialize in a major historical event. This kind of division of labor is too narrow and specialized, which is not conducive to the development of history discipline, the cultivation of talents, the production of fine products and comprehensive research. Many figures in the history of China are familiar with classics, history, Confucianism, literature and Buddhism. The research on them should be comprehensive, not limited to one aspect. For example, Wei Yuan, in his works on the history of modern and contemporary China, mainly wrote his thoughts on managing the world, with special emphasis on The Atlas of the Sea and his famous saying "Learn from foreigners and learn from them to control them". Undoubtedly, Wei Yuan's thoughts on governing the country and his representative work "The Chart" should be emphatically analyzed. However, Wei Yuan is well-read. When he was young, he studied Yangming's mind and loved reading history books. Later, I followed my father to the capital, asked Hu about Han Confucianism, learned from Yao Xueshu m: ng @ ①, learned from Liu Ram, and practiced Zen in my later years. He has written a lot in his life, including Zhang Sentence, Ancient University Books, Yong Yi, Shuo Ya, Ancient Classics for Primary School, Textual Research on Ancient Classics of Han Dynasty, Original Meaning of Laozi, Annotation of Sun Tzu, Annotation of Dong Zi's Spring and Autumn Annals, etc. A profound study of Wei Yuan should not only focus on one aspect, but also need a comprehensive study. This is related to the knowledge structure of researchers and should meet the requirements of "general knowledge". A subject also has the problems of up-and-down connection and left-and-right connection, and strives to change the state of being too professional and separated from each other.

3. Reality and history cannot be confused.

Today's China developed from historical China, and phenomenon and history are inseparable. Historical researchers all live in the real society, and the problems in the real society will undoubtedly cause researchers to think about history. However, reality and history cannot be equated, and they are both related and different. This is common sense that needs no elaboration, and it looks very clear. However, in practical research, the boundary between them is often confused. For example, since the late 1970s, we have been carrying out socialist modernization, focusing on economic construction, reforming and opening up, introducing foreign capital and so on. Therefore, some researchers use this to reflect on and interpret history, and think that in recent years, China 100 years, western powers have been dumping goods in China, investing in factories, exploiting roads, plundering raw agricultural products, and helping China realize modernization. They should be welcomed in and should not be resisted.

There are more than one reason for this statement, but one of them is to confuse history with reality and confuse modernization and opening up in reality with foreign invasions in modern history. The so-called "opening to the outside world" in modern history, foreigners investing and setting up factories in China and so on. , can't be confused with the current reform and opening up and the introduction of foreign capital, must be treated historically. China's modern society was a semi-colonial and semi-feudal society. Through the war of aggression against China, western powers forced the Qing government to sign a series of unequal treaties, gained many privileges in China, such as politics, military, economy, diplomacy and culture, controlled China's financial and economic lifeline and manipulated China's political and military power. At present, the historical background of socialist modernization, opening to the outside world and introducing foreign capital is that China led the people of China to overthrow three mountains, ended the history of semi-colonial and semi-feudal society, established a new China, and carried out socialist transformation and construction for decades. Today, China's opening to the outside world and the introduction of foreign capital are independent, and foreign countries are not allowed to attach any conditions. Foreigners engaged in business and investment activities in China must abide by the laws of China. Compared with semi-colonial and semi-feudal modern China, Socialism with Chinese characteristics society is fundamentally different in social nature, and it is impossible to treat history and reality equally with the status quo and concepts.

For another example, we now say that peaceful development is two major themes in today's world; In China, economic construction is the center, emphasizing stability and unity, so some researchers use it to explain history and determine why the ancient society in China developed slowly and could not move toward modernization because the peasant war destroyed stability and economy. Modern China did not realize modernization, which was the result of the revolution. The revolution is so bad that only improvement can modernize China. It is self-evident why peasant uprisings and revolutions occurred in history, and whether they were just destruction. Without prejudice, it is not difficult to answer them fairly. It is not a Marxist view of history to standardize history with reality and demand historical figures with modern people's thoughts. Studying history requires observing problems from a historical perspective. "When analyzing any social problem, the absolute requirement of Marxist theory is to bring the problem into a certain historical range."

Fourth, we should attach importance to history education.

History education includes history education in schools and education for the broad masses of people and cadres outside schools, which is indispensable for improving the ideological and cultural quality of the whole nation. Comrade Deng Xiaoping emphasized: "We should use history to educate the youth and people". If history wants to play a role in improving the national ideology and cultural quality, it cannot be limited to specialized academic research. Of course, historical research is very important to improve the academic level of the discipline and develop historical science, but it is not enough to just do the work of improvement. We should also attach importance to history education and do a good job in popularization. The improvement and popularization of historical work is a two-handed problem, and both hands should be grasped and both hands should be hard. The problem now is that it is hard to improve. Historians pay attention to writing academic monographs and publishing academic papers. And it has something to do with evaluating professional titles, improving one's status and so on. Popularization is ignored, regarded as pediatrics, not learning, and evaluation of professional titles is not counted. This ideological concept and practical problems have influenced historians' attention to popularization and weakened history education.

In terms of knowledge popularization, scientists and technicians have done a good job, publishing many popular science books and movies, and the actual effect is also very good. In contrast, historians have not done enough. In terms of discipline requirements, historians should also attach importance to the popularization and education of history, and knowledge should not only stay in the circle of experts. Needless to say, ordinary teenagers don't read our historical works, and even cadres don't have much contact. Because these books and papers are too professional and difficult to understand, people don't understand and are not interested. If a subject or a science leaves the masses and society, I am afraid it will be difficult to survive.

In fact, it is not that the masses and cadres don't like history and don't need it, but that they lack suitable reading materials or films. Film and television workers attach great importance to the historical popularization neglected by historians. They made up many historical movies and TV series, including plays and jokes, which attracted many audiences. However, these historical films and TV plays have a serious problem of fabricating history at will, which not only distorts the historical knowledge for the audience, but more importantly gives the audience a wrong view of history and values. This is very harmful and should attract the attention of historians.

It is noteworthy that young people's knowledge of history is weak. According to the survey of teenagers 14 ~ 28 years old 1065 in Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan and Shenzhen in February, 2000, there are 25 history questions, each with 4 points, with an average score of 27.69, and the passing rate is only 1.5%. One of the questions is "Who burned the Yuanmingyuan in China in 1860". Only 3 1.8% of the people answered that it was the British-French coalition, and most people answered that it was Eight-Nation Alliance. In middle school history teaching, there are obvious scientific problems in some outlines, such as not writing about the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom, but attributing the foreign gun team of the Taiping Army to the anti-aggression struggle; At the beginning of modernization, there was the Westernization Movement, but there were no national capital enterprises, and so on. History education is weak or even misleading, and the consequences are worrying. Historians have the responsibility to strengthen the popularization and education of history.