Aristocrats and Scholars: A History of China through the Eyes of Young Scholars
丨 [Japanese] Kakinuma Yohei, [Japanese] Iiyama Chiho, eds., translated by Wang Bo et al
Shanghai Ancient Books Publishing House, 2022
ISBN：9787573202871
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Synopsis
This book is a collection of thematic papers, focusing on the reflection of the study of the theory of change in China, Japan, the Tang dynasty and the Song Dynasty.
The theoretical section sorts out the history of doctrine around the history of China and the history of Japan around the nobility and scholars, and explores the problem points that should be actively inherited from it. The empirical section discusses the problems that arise in the controversy over the aristocracy and the prolongation of the scholar-doctor controversy, respectively. Through these, we will explore the relativity of the Tang and Song dynasties, and the possibility of gaining a new era of understanding beyond the framework of aristocrats and scholars.
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About the Author
Yohei Kakinuma, Ph.D., Waseda University. He has participated in the Sino-Japanese Young Scholars Association of Medieval History for many times. His professional direction was originally the economic history of the Qin, Han, Wei, Jin, and Northern Dynasties, and he exchanged with the Academy of Social Sciences for several years, and published several papers in China, such as "The Tax Reform and Qualitative Change of the Monetary Economy of Cao Wei in the Three Kingdoms Period".
Iiyama Chiho is a native of Tokyo, Japan. In 2007, he received his Ph.D. from Waseda University and is currently a research fellow at the Institute of Advanced Studies of Waseda University, mainly engaged in the study of Jin Yuanshi and the social history of North China.
Wang Bo, born in August 1983, graduated from the Department of East Asian History, Graduate School of Literature, Waseda University, Japan in 2014 with a Doctor of Literature degree, and is currently working at the Institute of Ancient History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
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preface
Ancient Chinese People and Their "Connections" with Yoshihei Kasimuma by Wang Bo
Out of Focus: Historical Phased Controversy and the Study of the Scholars in the Chinese World Qiu Luming
Emperor and aristocrat of ancient Japan Noriko Takei
On the Formation of the Study of the "Scholars" (Song ~ Qing) in the Japanese Academic Circles after 1945 Umemura Naoki, translated by Li Gongshu
Character narratives of the Han and Jin dynasties with the aristocrats Takuji Nagata
Fusa's subordinates saw the outlaw clan of northern Wei Horiuchi Junichi in fu chenchen translation
The Jishan Duan clan of the JinYuan Dynasty – The Continuation and Change of the "Local Scholars" in the Lower Fenhe River Region of Shanxi from the 11th To the 14th Century Iiyama Zhibao
Ancient Japanese central military force and law aristocrat Yoshinaga Kushi
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Preface
This collection of essays attempts to re-examine Chinese history with "nobles" and "scholars" as clues.
This attempt itself is not uncommon. Especially in Japan, as early as the dawn of Oriental historiography (mainly the study of Chinese history), the study of Chinese history carried out under the clues of "nobles" and "scholars" was already one of the mainstream, and its forerunner was Naito Hunan (1866-1934). Naito Hunan advocated the emergence of an aristocratic society during the Wei and Jin dynasties, the era of the Imperial Examination Scholar after the Song Dynasty, and the turn of the Tang and Song Dynasties was the largest period of change in Chinese history (the Theory of Tang and Song Changes). In distinguishing the long history of China, Naito Hunan does not simply regard the ancient as ancient, followed by the Middle Ages, and then the modern era, nor does it advocate the division of dynasties (divided by dynasties), but thinks about the significance of each era and its uniqueness, explores "where the form of modern China (China around 1900) originates", and seeks a starting point from the Tang and Song Dynasties. Naito argues that in Pre-Tang and Song Dynasty China, a privileged class group known as the nobility (or nobility) held political power and placed great importance on blood. But since the middle of the Tang Dynasty, the bloodline domination of the nobility has been broken, the tradition of genealogy has been cut off, and replaced by the concentration of political power to the emperor. At the same time, the people's status and private rights gradually expanded, and the private economy began to show vitality. The weight of the imperial examination became more and more important, opening the passage of entering the career path without questioning the bloodline and taking the standard of learning as the standard, so that the imperial examination masters began to appear on the stage of history as a group supporting the emperor. In this sense, the tang and Song dynasties were also the nodes of the transformation of the nobility into scholars.
Naito's doctrine of Hunan was later inherited by scholars centered on the Kyoto School. In addition, in the 20th century, many scholars of Marxist historiography in Japan were concentrated under the umbrella of the Historical Research Association (Li Yan School). In recounting Chinese history, they pay attention to the economic production base of each period, believing that the contradiction between the dominant class and the dominated class in various production styles (such as the emperor and the Hao, the emperor and the small peasants, the Hao and the slaves, etc.) is the opportunity to create a new era, and try to distinguish between different eras by different angles from the Kyoto School, but in the end most of them also found the existence of change at the turn of the Tang and Song dynasties.
Since then, in the 21st century, the debate over the distinction between the times in Japan has gradually weakened. The number of papers on the topics "Nobles" and "Scholars" also began to decrease. Born in 1980, I entered the 21st century as a graduate student at Waseda University. At that time, young scholars were filled with the argument that "the distinction of the times is outdated". With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the opening of the Chinese market, the expansion of liberalism in Western Europe, and the rise of relativism, Japan introduced a more diverse view of history and research methods, and the influence of Marxism in Japan also underwent a great decline. The controversy over the distinction between the Kyoto School and the Lena School, which sparked a war, came to an apparent end with the complete defeat of one side.
However, whenever a general history of China is depicted, every historian inevitably takes into account the distinctions of the times. For example, when writing history textbooks for middle schools or high schools, there are no so-called "chapters" or "sections" from beginning to end, only relying on the era to divide. Moreover, in grasping the meaning of historiography, it is also indispensable to compare the history of other eras and regions. The Sapir-Wolf hypothesis has pointed out that the value of a color is manifested by its difference from other colors. From this point of view, there can be no history without the distinction of time. It should be said that There is nothing wrong with Naito Hunan in distinguishing the era not solely by time differences or dynastic changes, but on the basis of understanding the content.
When distinguishing between the times by understanding the content, the method of differentiation also changes as the understanding continues to deepen. At this time, there is room for re-examination of the historical significance of the Tang and Song dynasties. Since the second half of the 20th century, with the substantial increase of new materials and the electronic digitization of historical materials, the study of Chinese history has also developed rapidly, and our understanding of the times and the distinction between the times have also changed. In fact, not only in China and Japan, but also in Europe and the United States in recent years, even Europe and the United States have continued to re-explore the theory of Tang and Song dynasty change, and there have been studies that distinguish eras with the clues of "The Song-Yuan-Ming Transition", "The "Northern-and-Southern-Song Transition", and "Late-Ming-Early-Qing transition".
Naito Or the Rieken school uses the "ruler" of Western European historiography (ancient, medieval, modern terms, and concepts of feudalism, republicanism, democracy, etc.) to explore how Chinese history transitioned to modern China. But in recent years, there have also been scholars who argue that the intrinsic value of each era should be unearthed. The empirical research around the distinction between "nobility" and "scholars" around the Tang and Song dynasties is advancing, and scholars' provisions for related concepts are also different. At present, Japanese Chinese historians have formed a diversified understanding of the times based on diversified standards, which also reflects the complexity of Chinese history and its charm. However, in the absence of communication and relevant grooming, it will continue to fall into the embarrassing situation of no dialogue and controversy.
So, how do the stalwart scholars who are active in Japan today think about the debates that have been dividing the times, and how do they understand the concepts of "nobility" and "scholars" that run through them? I think it is necessary to try to sort out the history of scholarship and present their own insights to exchange and interact. Fortunately, there is a group of enthusiastic scholars of the same generation around me, and since 2012, I have organized the "Youth Chinese History Forum", which continues to play a role as a research association for the spontaneous collection of young scholars in Japan. Some of these scholars, born around 1980, were invited to try to answer the previous questions, resulting in this book. In other words, this book sorts out the question of how the concepts of "nobility", "scholar", "famous family", and "scholar" are applied to academic history, and what kind of theoretical background they carry, so as to re-verify the Tang and Song reform theory from multiple angles, and seek its relativization while reconfirming its significance. The biggest goal is for scholars born around 1980 to respond to the question of "what should be explored in the future based on the acquisition of new era knowledge" from their own perspective.
The reason why I was born in 1980 is because I was born in 1980, and it is more convenient to invite scholars of the same generation. And each generation has its own set of methods for understanding the acceptance of academic history. Even in China, when reading an ancient history treatise, scholars and other scholars who spent their youth before the Cultural Revolution should have a different "reading method." In this sense, it is also important to ask people of different eras about historical understanding for understanding Japan in 1980.
The book is divided into "theoretical parts" and "empirical articles".
In the theoretical section, using "nobles" and "scholars" as clues, the academic history of Japan, the United States, and China is sorted out, and the points in the previous academic history that should be actively inherited are explored. In addition to the examinations of Yohei Kakinuma and Naoki Umemura, Noriko Takei also gave a treatise on the academic history of the ancient Japanese nobility. This is to understand the concepts of "nobility" and "scholar- and doctor-doctor" in Chinese history from the perspective of comparative historiography. In addition, in order to understand the academic history of China, Qiu Luming also gave relevant manuscripts.
In the empirical section, the empirical papers of several scholars who are still continuing are concentrated with the clues of "nobles" and "scholars". Takuji Nagata and Junichi Horiuchi wrote papers during the Southern and Northern Dynasties of the Wei and Jin Dynasties, and Iiyama Chiho wrote papers after the Song Dynasty. As an empirical study of the ancient Japanese nobility, Yoshinaga Tsuneshi also gave a treatise.
At the time of compiling this collection of papers, from August 2013 to September 2014, the Company used the Interdisciplinary Organization Research Grant for humanities and social sciences with the help of the Company's community foundation (interdisciplinary organization research grant for humanities and social sciences). Research topic: the nobles and scholars) grants, we were able to hold regular reading clubs. Many of these opinions have not been unified, which shows that even among our contemporaries, our views are diverse. Therefore, it is planned to first be summarized and sorted out through this book.
Persimuma Yohei
July 5, 2020
A Song Dynasty History Research Information I
Email: [email protected]