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2 - The Cultural Destiny

Nationalism and World History in Republican China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 February 2021

Xin Fan
Affiliation:
State University of New York, Fredonia
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Summary

The early Republican period in Chinese history witnessed the emergence of a new generation of academic professionals. These new professional historians criticized the centrality of ancient historical time in Chinese historical studies. In contrast, they embraced objectivity as a goal of historical practice and regarded intellectual autonomy as integral to the discipline. With the shift in focus of historical studies, in the 1920s, some new academic professionals carved out a niche for themselves by developing world history into a specific teaching field. By the early 1930s, world historians such as Lei Haizong dedicated themselves to placing China’s past and future within a world-historical context. This chapter contends that the pursuit of intellectual autonomy was, however, interrupted by the war with Japan. At this moment of crisis, world historians exemplified by Lei Haizong became increasingly nationalistic. These historians glorified the unique nature of Chinese culture to promote national identity at a moment of crisis. As a result, a binary opposition between China and the world gradually emerged in Chinese historiography.

Type
Chapter
Information
World History and National Identity in China
The Twentieth Century
, pp. 50 - 85
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

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  • The Cultural Destiny
  • Xin Fan
  • Book: World History and National Identity in China
  • Online publication: 19 February 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108903653.003
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  • The Cultural Destiny
  • Xin Fan
  • Book: World History and National Identity in China
  • Online publication: 19 February 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108903653.003
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • The Cultural Destiny
  • Xin Fan
  • Book: World History and National Identity in China
  • Online publication: 19 February 2021
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108903653.003
Available formats
×