The Shifting Focus from Dynasty to Nation in Asian Historiography

The creation and analysis of a country’s history has long been tied up with wider trends within national awareness and political consciousness. These eBook chapters and articles, specially commissioned for the Bloomsbury History: Theory and Method resource, highlight the longstanding tradition of historiography across East Asia and the impact it has had on their development historically.

Miniature Atlas Map of Eastern Asia, 1600 (Wikimedia Commons)

World History, Nationally: How Has the National Appropriated the Transnational in East Asian Historiography?

As Jie-Hyun Lim highlights, “the problem of truth represents political problems that culminate in national history”. Historiography has always been a discipline that reflects the interrelationship of global events, local grievances and individual lives. With a particular focus on East Asia, this book chapter explores the dichotomy between national narratives and overarching political philosophies, questioning whether historical research can realistically reconcile their influence. This challenge is especially apparent in the early twentieth century push for Pan-Asianism and the way that it was utilised by Japan to push against Korean national self-determination and independence.

➜ Explore further by reading Jie-Hyun Lim's chapter

Manuscript handscroll of Du Yu’s Critical study of Spring and Autumn Annals and Zuo Zhuan (Wikimedia Commons)

Spring and Autumn Annals (Chunqiu) and the Zuo Commentary (Zuo Zhuan)

In this Classic Text in Context Yuri Pines explores the relationship between the Spring and Autumn Annals and the Zuo Commentary and how the questions surrounding their authorship give us insight into their role in developing concepts of ‘history’. Both texts have been a source of inspiration for generations of Chinese historiographers and highlight how past events can be used to obliquely comment on contemporary challenges.

The Spring and Autumn Annals cover a 241 year period from 722 to 481 BCE and typically are linked to Confucius. They provide a brief summary of events each year but there is no firm motivation for the creation of the record. Offering us insight into the past, they may have originally been for communication with ancestors rather than attempting to capture the past for people in the future to use. The Zuo Zhuan also has a foundation of authorial question marks, having previously been accused of a being a forgery. It is now accepted that it was not fabricated to support the Han dynasty but may still have been reorganised to complement the older text of the Spring and Autumn Annals.

➜ Explore further by reading Yuri Pines' article

Sima Qian

Sima Qian (c.145-c.86 BCE) was a foundational figure within Chinese historiography studies and provides a bridge between the discipline’s origins in astrology and court records. He drew on his knowledge of the Spring and Autumn Annals, keeping a similar impersonal tone but widening the scope to the known world. Due to Sima’s role as the Court Astrologer and later Archivist, he had to consider the expectations of the contemporary political backdrop of the court and tended to include minimal personal insights. Nevertheless, he suffered severe consequences when he supported General Li Ling’s decision to surrender to the Xiongnu nomads. Rather than being viewed as a pragmatic reflection of events, his writing was seen as a direct challenge to the emperor and therefore he was offered a choice between castration and the death penalty. Sima chose the former to enable him to continue his work and ensure that his writing had the chance to be re-interpreted by future generations. As Grant Hardy highlights in his Key Thinker article, Sima’s sacrifice gave birth to a continuous historiographical tradition within China alongside a profound effect on Chinese cultural consciousness.

➜ Read Grant Hardy's article on Sima Qian

Fukuzawa Yukichi

Fukuzawa Yukichi (1835 -1901) was an early advocate for reform in Japan, including ideas about government and social structures during Japan’s Meiji period. He was part of the first diplomatic mission to the United States from the Tokugawa shogunate and used his subsequent travels to inform his future writing.

As Albert M. Craig reflects in his introduction to this book on the Essays of Fukuzama Yukichi, Fukuzawa drew on both Chinese and Western approaches to history, including the Spring and Autumn Annals. He felt that Japan needed to be deliberate in its approach to successfully transition from Tokugawa rule towards a new post-Restoration government and centralise power. By linking his interpretation with previous narratives of Western history and leaning on his background as an educator Fukuzawa argued that future change was inevitable for Japan’s society in moving towards a representative government.

➜ Read Albert M. Craig's chapter

Liang Qichao

Liang Qichao (1873-1929) redefined the role of modern Chinese historiography within the twentieth century and expanded the subject of historical research. He worked as the Director of the Imperial Library of Peking and called for a greater link between history and national awareness. Following the overthrow of the Qing dynasty, Liang wanted to support the development of a strong Chinese nation and community identity. He felt that previous historiography has prioritised dynasty over state and therefore looked to the past for answers which was limiting in a modern world. Instead, drawing on an exile in Japan that lasted fourteen years, he felt that Chinese people would benefit from studying world history in order to understand China and be able to focus on the present and the future. As Guo Wu highlights in this Key Thinker article, Liang blended the roles of thinker, journalist and politician to present a highly modern interpretation of the discipline of historiography.

➜ Read Guo Wu's article on Liang Qichao

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