为何美国的中国史研究新潮迭出?——再析中外学术兴趣之异同

本文的重点是讨论西方中国学的传承和新潮,侧重分析西方学者如何研究和解释中国的历史。中国改革开放以来,西方学者的中国史研究著作,不断在中国翻译出版,引起了许多注意。一般而言,中国学者对于西方同行层出不穷的新颖观点,颇感兴趣。作者认为,西方研究中国史的学者之所以擅长推陈出新,主要有两个原因。一是他们虽然研究中国史,但其历史研究的观点和方法,则常常受到中国史以外领域的启发。二是他们在材料的开发上面,其实还常常受惠于中国学者和出版界,比如中国档案的开放和编辑出版的原始史料等等。换言之,全球化的高歌猛进,使得学术交流比以往更为便利,因而造成了国际中国史学界新潮迭出的现象。

Traditions and Innovations in the Study of Chinese History in the US: A Comparative Study of American and Chinese Academic Cultures

This article discusses the tradition and trends of China studies in the West,with a focus on the study of Chinese history by Western scholars.Since the 1980s,Chinese publishers have translated and published many studies of Chinese history by Western China scholars.These translations have generated a large readership in Chinese academics.In particular,Chinese scholars have been impressed by various new interpretations and methods advanced by their Western counterparts.Compared with Chinese scholars,the author observes that the work of China scholars in the West has often been inspired by their colleagues specializing in the fields other than Chinese history.He also believes that due to the robust development of globalization,academic exchanges between Chinese and non-Chinese scholars have reached an unprecedented high level,which helps account for the cascades of new ideas in studying Chinese history.Cases in point are the rise of "New Qing History" and the comparative study of Ming-Qing China and its global connections and context in the 17th and the 18th centuries.