The Paper's reporter Peng Shanshan
On September 23-24, 2021, the 8th Young Historians Forum with the theme of "The Law of 'Historical Cycles' and the Changes of Prosperity and Decline" was held in Shanghai.
The Young Historians Forum was launched in 2014 on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the founding of Historical Research Magazine, aiming to build a platform for young historians to communicate and promote the prosperity and development of Chinese historiography in the new era.
The Forum of Young Historians was hosted by the China Academy of History and Shanghai University, hosted by the Historical Research Magazine of the Chinese Academy of History and the College of Letters of Shanghai University, and delivered opening speeches by Cheng Danhong, Secretary of the Party Committee of Shanghai University, and Lu Yusong, Secretary of the Discipline Inspection Committee and Vice President of the Chinese Academy of History. Cheng Danhong said that on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, it is of great significance for the Chinese Academy of History to choose shanghai university, a red university, to hold a forum for young historians. Lu Yusong said: Exploring the historical law of the rise and fall of chaos is a fine tradition of Chinese historiography, and young historians should inherit and carry forward this tradition and grasp the law of history from the strategic height of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and the macroscopic vision of the great changes in the world that have not occurred in a hundred years.
During the one-and-a-half-day agenda, more than 50 young historians from all over the country conducted academic discussions in three groups: ancient Chinese history, modern and modern Chinese history, and world history, so as to realize the collision of ancient and modern Chinese and Western ideas. The three groups elected Jia Liangang, associate professor of the School of History of Northwest University, Peng Jian, professor of the Institute of Modern Chinese History of Central China Normal University, and Liang Zhi, professor of the Department of History of East China Normal University, to make concluding remarks.
Group photo of the participating scholars
The Ancient Chinese History Group discussed the rise and fall of chaos in ancient China from the theoretical, political, economic, cultural, social and other levels, and Associate Professor Jia Liangang summarized it in four themes:
One of the themes is the theoretical discussion of the changes in prosperity and decline. Lian Min's report "The Experience and Lessons of the Theory of Historical Cycle Theory" in Theory of Historical Circulation in Chinese History is a detailed sorting out of the theory of historical cycle in Chinese history, summarizing the theory of historical cycle in ancient China, modern China, and since the reform and opening up, and pointing out that the Chinese concept of circulation in past dynasties was born due to various problems, which is worth seriously summarizing and refining, and guiding social practice. Xu Yi (School of History, Culture and Tourism, Guangxi Normal University) and Ni Yuping (School of Humanities, Tsinghua University) in the article "Exploring the Historical Roots of China's Economic Miracle in the Pre-Modern World" sorts out the important theories of the English-speaking world in the field of Chinese economic history research in the past two decades, pointing out that starting from the field of comparative economic history, they have a more objective and clear understanding of the uniqueness of China's pre-modern economic development path, thus abandoning the view of long-term stagnation in China's economy.
The second theme is to analyze the changes in the rise and fall of ancient China from the perspective of political history. There is a long tradition in the study of ancient Chinese political history, and there are many articles on this topic, which Jia Liangang summarizes into three categories: local administrative divisions and dynastic evolution, theory and practice of great unification, and institutional operations and changes in imperial power.
Wang Antai (School of History and Center for Korean Studies, Nankai University) "The History and Significance of the 23-State System in the Southern Dynasty", Zhang Dazhi (Department of History, Xiamen University) "Who Wears the Heavens Together: Changing Counties to Prefectures and Changing Prefectures to Counties During the Anshi Rebellion", and Qiu Jingjia (School of History, Chinese University) "The Layout of the Urban System and the Significance of the Capital City in Liaoshangjing", from the Southern Dynasty to the Liaojin Period, from the Prefecture system to the layout of the capital, the perspective is the traditional local administrative divisions and other issues, but the relationship between the state system and orthodoxy in the Southern Dynasty is concerned. The reform of the prefecture and county and the major changes in the local situation at the time of Emperor Xuanzong, the institutional model under the dual political pattern and the rule of multiple ethnic groups embodied in the layout of the capital of the Liao Dynasty are of great significance.
Great unification is an important feature of the imperial era, Zou Fudu and Kong Dechao (School of History and Culture of Southwest University) "Discussion on the Relationship between the Rise and Fall of Qin and ethnic policies", Jia Liangang (Song liaojin History Research Institute and School of History of Northwest University) "The New Interpretation of the "Debate of Wang Ba" and the Development of the Song Dynasty Tuobian Movement" and Chen Caiyun (Department of History of Zhejiang Normal University) "Exotic Land is the Homeland: The Central Plains Travel of southern scholars in the Yuan Dynasty and the Reconstruction of The Reconstruction of Unification Consciousness", from Qin's ethnic policy, the ideological motivation of the Song Dynasty Tuobian Movement, From the perspective of reconstruction consciousness in the process of the northern journey of southern scholars in the Yuan Dynasty, the concept of great unification, the practice method and the reasons for success or failure in different dynastic periods are analyzed.
The operation of institutions and the change of imperial power are also enduring propositions in the field of ancient history research. Yang Enyu (School of History, Qingdao University) "Examination of the Organizational Structure of the Law of The Nine Pins of Wei and Jin", Li Jun (School of History, Northwest University) "The End of the Niu-Li Party Struggle and the Revitalization of Imperial Power in the Tang Xuanzong Era", Cao Xun (School of History, Northwest University) "A New Theory on the Evolution and Rise and Fall of the Military System in the Ming Dynasty", Ma Zimu (School of History, Nankai University) "Imperial Power Before the Stage- Exchanges and Government Affairs of the Chongzhen Dynasty", these articles analyze the election system, the problem of party struggle, the evolution of the military system, and the operation of government affairs from different angles. The relationship between the operation of the system and the change of imperial power is discussed.
The third theme is the change of grass-roots social governance and prosperity and decline in previous generations. Zhu Shengming (Department of History, Xiamen University) "Crossing the Border Plug: The Evolution of Border People and the "Dead" and "Barbarians": Based on the Investigation of the Northeast and Han Dynasties outside the Qin and Han Dynasties", Dai Guoxi (School of History and Culture of Shandong University) "Statistics of settlement area in the Han Dynasty from the Tomb of Tushan Tun Han in Qingdao", Wu Shumin (School of History, Wuhan University) "The Transfer of Local People's Political Identity at the Time of the Song and Jin Dynasties", Jia Guojing (School of History, Nankai University) "Disasters and Social Changes in the Tongzhi Dynasty", etc., from the border groups, local masses, disasters and responses, Settlement forms and other aspects discuss grass-roots social governance and the living conditions of different groups, and how to affect the rise and fall of dynasties.
The fourth theme is the question of religion, especially Buddhism, and the evolution of dynastic politics. Hu Ning (School of Literature, Shanghai University) "Examination of the March of the Silk Curtain" and Xie Yifeng (Yuelu Academy, Hunan University) "Pivot Sanskrit: The Advance and Retreat of Buddhist Factors in the Political Axis of the Medieval Capital", discuss the influence of local traditions on Buddhism in the early period of Buddhism, and the tortuous interaction between Buddhism and political space in the Middle Ages, reflecting the profound influence of Buddhism on dynastic politics.
Jia Liangang said that the Ancient Chinese History Group has directly or indirectly touched on the rise and fall of chaos in ancient China in terms of theoretical understanding and case studies, and the topics are novel, the arguments are strong, the comments are sharp, the discussion is enthusiastic, and rich results have been achieved.
Meeting site
The Modern and Contemporary Chinese History Group has a total of 20 papers, of which 6 are related to the late Qing Dynasty and 13 are focused on the Republic of China period. Professor Peng Jian of the Institute of Modern Chinese History of Central China Normal University said in his concluding speech that this reflects the current situation that the history of the late Qing Dynasty is more neglected and the history of the Republic of China is more popular in the study of modern and contemporary Chinese history.
In the discussion in the late Qing Dynasty, Li Xinran (Department of History, Tsinghua University) observed the continuity of the transition between modern and pre-modern thought through revisiting Wei Yuan's historical concepts, and explored the sources of conflicts between the new and the old, the Middle and the West in the history of modern thought from the internal rationale of Qing Dynasty scholarship itself. Zhou Jian (Department of History, East China Normal University) inspected the procurement and shipping of grain in the three provinces of Jiangguang (Hubei, Hunan and Jiangxi) during the Guangxu period, and discussed how the business operation of the Steamship Merchants Bureau and the operation of bureaucratic administration could be intertwined and influenced, changing the operation of the tribute economy, and even forming a new political and economic pattern. Zheng Binbin (School of Letters, Shanghai University) examines one of the twists and turns of the 18-year opening of the port of Qiongzhou, revealing the British Empire's complex calculations for China's expansion. Huang Yun (School of Letters, Shanghai University) combed through the formation of the Qing Dynasty morphine import control policy, especially the Chinese diplomatic involvement in it, highlighting the Qing government's resistance struggle under the hegemony of the great powers and the unequal power structure between China and foreign countries. Ma Doucheng (School of History, Qingdao University) and Zhang Shiyu (School of History and Culture, Shandong University) trace the operation mode and reasons for the change of Qingdao Freeport during the German Lease period, revealing the institutional characteristics and colonial background of Qingdao Freeport in modern times. Peng Jian's report (Institute of Modern Chinese History, Central China Normal University) revolves around "the last attempt of China's absolute monarchs to break the cyclical rate", pointing out that the "cyclical rate" that Huang Yanpei talked about is essentially a historical rise and fall characterized by a cycle of chaos at the historical level, while the Qing Dynasty Constitution was an attempt by the weakened Qing court to get rid of the cycle of cyclicality. Influenced by foreign constitutionalism, especially the Japanese constitution, the Qing court had the idea of consolidating the monarchy through constitutionalism, but this dream was soon shattered with the failure of constitutional reform. After the overthrow of the Qing court, China did not establish another monarchy, which is also related to a new plan to get rid of the cyclical rate.
In the discussion of the Republic of China period, Zhao Yanjie (Institute of Modern History of the Chinese Academy of History) also pays attention to the continuity between the old and the new in the history of modern thought. Her report explores the worries of some readers after the Xinhai Revolution about the moral decline, the appeal for preserving family ethics, and the reflection on the future relationship between home and country, rediscovers the voices of these new cultural movements that have been drowned out by the historical narrative of "moving west and revering the new", and points out that tradition has also participated in the construction of the republic in the early years of the Republic of China as an ideological resource, rather than being a complete burden as people think. Yang Xiongwei (School of Letters, Shanghai University) put forward the "Theory of Self-Revolution in Beiyang Politics", analyzing the basic characteristics of Beiyang politics around the Beijing coup d'état launched by Feng Yuxiang in 1924, and then pointing out that the Beijing coup was a self-revolution of Beiyang politics. He pointed out that a basic feature of Beiyang politics is that various political forces always tend to use political needs to influence legal issues, and because of political suspicion and suspicion, they bury foxes and foxes, which eventually causes the law to lose its prestige; and self-revolution refers to the fact that the forces in Beiyang politics have buried themselves in this political game. Xia Jing (The Department of Party History of the CPC Central Committee (National School of Administration)) examined the situation of the concept of the "People's Front" in China before the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, pointed out that the new terms and slogans of the "front" that were constantly emerging at that time became the arena of wrestling between the forces of different political parties, and made an in-depth and wonderful analysis of the interaction between public opinion and politics. He Jiangfeng (School of History, Nankai University) examines the political activities of the Gui department before and after the Liangguang Incident, analyzes the conflict of interests within the Kuomintang regime, and reveals the complexity of local politics and society in China before the outbreak of the all-out War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression through the multiple aspects of the Gui clan and Chiang Kai-shek's anti-Chiang Kai-shek and the United Japan Anti-Japanese Resistance. Jiang Tao's article discusses the game between the central army headed by Chiang Kai-shek and the local military forces during the Period of the National Government in Nanjing over the right to recruit soldiers, pointing out that behind the game is still military strength that plays a decisive role, but the dependence of all parties on military strength also breeds the evil consequences of private ownership of military power. In terms of the history of the Communist Party of China, Zhao Nuo (Institute of Modern and Contemporary Chinese History, School of Marxism, Peking University) examined the organizational flow of the CPC's foreign affairs work and sorted out a "prehistory of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs"; Li Li (School of History and Culture of Tianjin Normal University) took the organs of the white areas of the Communist Party of China from 1927 to 1935 as the research object and analyzed the internal organizational logic behind the rise and fall of the revolution in the white areas of the Communist Party of China Sun Yang (School of History, Nanjing University) explores the historical writing of the study of the Hong Kong War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression in Hong Kong from 1942 to 1945 between the 1942 and 1945 Hong Kong Ninth Brigade. Yao Jianghong's article (College of History and Culture, Hunan Normal University) explores the trajectory and political motives of the third force of the Democratic League under the situation of confrontation between the Kuomintang and the Communists at the end of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, and points out that it has both a modern side and some characteristics of traditional politics in political participation. Yan Haijian (Department of History, Nanjing Normal University) and Zhang Jing (School of History and Culture, Central China Normal University) reflect the external difficulties and limitations faced by private middle schools in modern China through the reorganization of the board of trustees and principals of private Pudong Middle Schools during the National Government in Nanjing. The article by Zhu Hong and Chen Jingli (School of Letters, Shanghai University) sorts out the problem of private buoy acquisitions in Shanghai port in the 1920s, outlining the power game between Britain, Japan, France and the United States around Shanghai Port between Britain, Japan, France and the United States.
Peng Jian said that these articles provide more reference for understanding the history of the late Chinese Empire, and deepen our understanding of the rise and fall of various forces and concepts in the Republic of China period from all angles. In addition, Huang Lingtan's (School of Marxism, Central South University) on Mao Zedong's historical ideological system and Hou Yi's (China Frontier Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of History) on the historical logic of building a community with a shared future for the sea have both historical vision and practical concern, and have a strong theoretical speculative color. Peng Jian pointed out that when Huang Yanpei proposed the concept of "cycle rate", he had made it clear that "one person, one family, one group, one place and even one country, many units have not been able to jump out of the domination of the historical cycle rate", and the discussion of the cycle rate should include all levels from individuals to countries, and the Chinese Modern History Group has made a concentrated and in-depth discussion under this theme.
Professor Liang Zhi of the Department of History of East China Normal University made a concluding speech on behalf of the third group. He said that there are 20 papers in the world history group, and from the thematic point of view, the characteristics of these conference papers are that the countries involved are very concentrated, the time span is very large, and it fully reflects the focus of current world history research. The 20 articles can be divided into five categories from two perspectives: research content and methodology:
First, new research topics have been excavated. Wang Han and Guo Dantong (Shanghai University College of Literature) made a detailed analysis of the causes of the destruction of the Jewish temple on the island of Chang in ancient Egypt, Zhang Xingang (School of History and Culture of Shandong University) discussed the construction of the territorial order of ancient Greek city-states from the perspectives of spatial order and conceptual order, and Lu Qihong (Department of History, Fudan University) discussed Michel de Certeau's analysis of 17th-century French enchantments on the basis of Freudian psychoanalysis. The School of Government and Management) begins with the modern Western map game to reveal how Europe incorporated historical traditions, political symbolism, national consciousness and patriotism into the narrative framework of the territorial state. The scholars also associated seemingly unrelated texts from the past with characters. Bai Chunxiao (School of History, Anhui Normal University) linked Lincoln's Gettysburg Address to Pericles' State Funeral Speech and discussed how "Athenian elements" were implanted in the development of national ideology in the United States. Zhang Chi (School of Humanities, Zhejiang University) devoted himself to exploring how Montesquieu implicitly reflected and criticized Machiavelli's claims in his major writings.
Second, a re-examination of the political and diplomatic history of Britain and the United States. Most of these studies deal with national governance in a broad sense, which is more in line with the main topic of this conference. Chu Qingdong (School of History and Culture, Central China Normal University) discussed the local social governance of early modern Britain with the magistrate as the starting point. He argues that in the 16th and 17th centuries, in Britain's transition from a traditional agrarian society to a modern industrial society, magistrates became the power centers of local government. Four other young scholars engaged in the study of American history made in-depth observations of national governance in the United States from different perspectives. Jiao Jiao (School of Liberal Arts, Shanghai University) rethinks the "weak state" hypothesis in traditional American historical narratives from the perspective of demographics. Wang Yu (School of History and Culture, Sichuan University) takes the "entry into the cabinet" of the USDA at the end of the 19th century as a case study, showing the complex and profound transformation of the relationship between agricultural production and government in the United States, as well as the change in American concepts of government and agriculture. Wu Bin (Institute of American Studies, Northeast Normal University) explains how the idea of "Americanism" influenced Immigrants to the United States during the Progressive Period, thus showing the great contrast between this lofty ideal of the nation and the reality of a large number of American immigrants. Wenshuo Li (School of Humanities, Shanghai Normal University) discusses the changes in Ohio's manufacturing industry since the 1980s and the economic policies of the state government, and on this basis, explores the larger theme of "re-industrialization" in the United States. Liang Zhi (Department of History, East China Normal University) conducts research on the challenge posed by great power politics, technological progress and collective security to neutrality in the 20th century, thus engaging in dialogue with the "pessimists" and "optimists" in existing research.
Third, the use of global history and transnational history perspectives. Lin Lijuan (Department of History, Peking University) analyzes the circulation process of the Passion of St. George in Central Asia and China in the Middle Ages from the perspective of the history of text circulation and the research method of versionology. Cao Yin (Department of History at Tsinghua University) discusses the imagination of Chinese and Burmese nationalists of the Burma-Yunnan Railway, which was never actually built. Zhu Ming (Department of History, East China Normal University) focuses on the urban change of Florence in the late Middle Ages, thus revealing the global influence on the locality of Europe.
Fourth, the intersection of history and other disciplines. Liu Zhaojing (School of Letters, Shanghai University) combines history and literature to explore the changes in the Chinese image in medieval Europe. The other two essays reflect the fusion of history and communication. Zhang Wei (Institute of World History, Chinese Academy of History) studied the spread of rumors of the "Catholic conspiracy" and its relationship to the political origins of the two parties in Britain, that is, accelerating the division and opposition between the two major political factions of the Whig party and the Tories. Zhai Tao (School of History, Capital Normal University) distinguishes between Propaganda against China and Propaganda on China, and on this basis discusses the propaganda of foreign languages related to China done by the United States in the Third World, and then presents the policies and concepts of the United States toward the non-Western world. These interdisciplinary studies offer a complex face that cannot be presented by a single discipline of history.
The fifth category, Academic Dynamics Research and Review. Wang Tao (School of History, Nanjing University) has made a detailed academic history of the study of German industrial heritage, and extracted the three theoretical logics behind the transformation of the research context - the bottom-up historical research path, the rise of public historiography, and the cultural shift in historical research. Lü Houliang (Institute of World History, Chinese Academy of History) made a detailed analysis of Sam's famous book "Tacitus" and the study of Tacitus in the mid-twentieth century, and thus made a prospect for the future development direction of Latin historiography.
Professor Liang Zhi said that in the discussion of the World History Group, scholars with different time periods and different countries as the research object gathered to communicate and discuss. Although the research themes are obviously different, there is a certain similarity between the problem awareness, the choice of perspective and even the research methods, and the scholars can fully achieve the effect of inspiring each other through this rare exchange opportunity.
At the closing ceremony, Daniel Zhang An, Dean of the School of Letters of Shanghai University, delivered a speech, introducing the historical evolution and research characteristics of the School of Literature of Shanghai University, and expressing gratitude to the participants. Jiao Bing, president of the Historical Research Journal of the Chinese Academy of History, made a concluding speech at the conference, and he introduced the concept of "Historical Research" from four aspects - first of all, from the perspective of historiography, he paid attention to the "great power of the country", the second was to pay attention to the basic, overall, ideological and theoretical articles, the third was to focus on promoting the integration of disciplines, and the fourth was to welcome more papers to use multilingual documents and multilateral archives for research. Jiao Bing said that the Young Historians Forum is one of the three major forums created by the Historical Research Magazine, focusing on young scholars and cultivating new historians. After the forum, the editorial board will select some excellent papers to be published in journals such as "Historical Research", "Historical Review", "Proceedings of the Chinese Academy of History" and other journals under the magazine.
Editor-in-Charge: Han Shaohua
Proofreader: Ding Xiao