The eighth academic forum on historiography was held under the theme of “National Governance and Social Transition” from October 11 to 12 in Wuhan, Hubei Province. Gao Xiang, secretary-general of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), attended the forum and delivered a speech.

Gao, who is also a member of the Leading Party Members’ Group of CASS and editor-in-chief of the Social Sciences in China Press (SSCP) and director of the Editorial Board of Historical Research journal, said it is necessary to encourage the forming of more schools and promote construction of a discourse system for contemporary Chinese historiography to create fair, dignified dialogue with mainstream Western academic circles.

Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, the socialist road with Chinese characteristics has provided a golden opportunity for developing contemporary Chinese historiography. However, historiography achievements have still yet to meet the Communist Party of China and Chinese people’s expectations and demands.

Gao said that the lack of theoretical thinking and innovation, fragmented nature of historical research, strict barriers to disciplines and impetuous style of study are restricting the development of contemporary Chinese historiography. It has become a requirement of the times and an inevitable tendency of academic development to promote construction of a contemporary Chinese historiography discourse system, added Gao.

Zhu Ying, professor at the Institute of Modern Chinese History at Central China Normal University in Wuhan, Hubei Province, said that deficiencies in the internationalization of academic achievements have hindered contemporary Chinese historiography’s discourse.

As a discipline with a long history and special characteristics in a globalized era, historiography should play a leading role in the construction of a discourse system of social sciences rather than just focusing on economy and culture, Zhu added.

“We can express our own opinions and promote our culture only by constructing a discourse system for contemporary Chinese historiography,” said Tao Feiya, a professor at the Department of History at Shanghai University.

Bao Weimin, a professor at the School of History at Renmin University of China, said that historians should be dedicated to their research and establish an academic system suited to China’s current situation through numerous case studies.

Attending scholars also discussed issues related to ancient Chinese history, modern Chinese history and world history from political, legal, economic, ecological and religious historical perspectives.

Zheng Chenglin, a professor at the Institute of Modern Chinese History at Central China Normal University, explored the national governance during the Republic of China (1912-49) period based on the establishment of the Management Committee of National Debts and Funds of the Nanjing National Government (1927-49). He claimed that the committee was established due to the promotion of the government, civil financial organizations and whole society.

Huang Xianquan, a professor at the School of History and Culture at Southwest University in Chongqing, studied the different ways regional development policy interfered in allocation of production factors and different regional economic operating mechanisms implemented by the US.

Huang said that the postwar US regional economic policy can be divided into three stages: the period of developing natural resources along the Tennessee Valley, the drainage basin of the Tennessee River and largely within the US state of Tennessee in the 1940s and 1950s; the period of socio-economic reforms in the 1960s and 1970s; and the period of poverty reduction in remote areas in the 1980s and 1990s.

Constructing a discourse system of contemporary Chinese historiography requires discussing major issues of the discipline and understanding historical laws. Gao said historians should consciously focus on significant theoretical and practical issues that urgently need to be solved.

Zhang Ping, a professor at the Institute for Historical Environment and Socio-economic Development in Northwest China at Shaanxi Normal University, said that if a discipline cannot serve reality it will lose its vitality. Both professors Jiang Sheng from the Center for Culture, Science and Technology at Sichuan University and Yang Hua from the School of History at Wuhan University claimed that the forum deepened the understanding of historiography’s function and that China’s past experience of governance has fueled current national governance.

The forum was co-organized by Historical Research under the SSCP, the Institute of Modern Chinese History, the School of History and Culture and the Institute for Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences at Central China Normal University. Nearly 50 experts and scholars from more than 20 universities and research institutes nationwide attended the forum and submitted nearly 40 papers.

The Chinese version appeared in Chinese Social Sciences Today, No. 655, October 13, 2014.
The Chinese link: http://news.cssn.cn/zx/bwyc/201410/t20141013_1359573.shtml

Translated by Chen Meina
Revised by Tom Fearon