The New Force Of Historiography In Taiwan Region After 1949:Research On The Nangang School

The Nangang School,an academic group of Institute of Modern History of "Academia Sinica" headed by Guo Tingyi in Taiwan Region,got its name for the Institute located in Nangang District,Taipei City.The establishment of the Institute of Modern History in 1955 is very symbolic in the development of Chinese historiography.It represents not only an inherent requirement for the formation and development of existing sub-disciplines of Chinese history in Taiwan Region,but also a product of cross-strait ideological confrontation and academic competition during the Cold War era.Since taking the host of the Institute,Guo Tingyi has cultivated research talents by adhering to the concept of focusing on historical materials and integrating Chinese and Western cultures.After systematic and scientific training,the second-generation scholars of the Nangang School have rapidly grown into the main force in the study of modern Chinese history in Taiwan Region,leading the research trend in the following decades.The academic research of the Nangang School is divided into two stages from the 1970s.Their early thematic research focused on the history of the late Qing Dynasty from the Opium War in 1840 to the early 20th century.And the success and failure of China’s modernization movement represents their main task.The research on the constitutional movement has shaken the orthodox school’s authority to explain the revolutionary movement,and promoted the research on modern Chinese history from the "legal historical view" to the "multiple historical view".In the 1970s,Taiwan Region suffered a series of setbacks in international exchanges and the mainland vigorously conducted researches on the history of the Republic of China.The two factors triggered historical circles in Taiwan Region gradually reversing the ethos of "honoring the past and neglecting the present",making the research on the history of the Republic of China a "popular subject".Under this trend,the School has turned their study to the Chinese history in the first half of the twentieth century.They integrated the concept of "modernization" of Jiang Tingfu and Guo Tingyi with the modernization theory of the United States,and adopted the method of regional research to examine China’s modernization.Ultimately,they pushed forward the academic circles in Taiwan Region in the study of economic society and regional history.Facing the Harvard School’s view that"Confucian tradition hinders China’s modernization",the Nangang School upholded "warmth and respect" for Chinese tradition,and refuted it in combination with detailed historical data,proving that "Confucian tradition accelerated modernization" and revising the views of American academic circles partly.In general,the Nangang School academically features adhering to the modernization"paradigm and the "impact-response" theory to the study of modern Chinese history.On the one hand,this interpretation mode and framework has attracted scholars’ attention to the modernization paradigm in historiography circles in Taiwan Region,and impacts the"national revolution theory" that prevailed in the 1960s under the influence of "authoritarian rule";On the other hand,it and the "Marxist Revolutionary History Paradigm" in mainland historiography before 1978 is in opposition.With the changes in real politics and the transformation of the academic research paradigms of both sides,the research on modern Chinese history of mainland and Taiwan Region is gradually showing a trend of positive interaction.The areas in dialogue and communication are also expanding.Another distinctive feature of the Nangang School stands in promoting the social science of historiography.They adopted Western social science theories to study history,providing a concrete example for the"sinicization of social science" emphasized by the social science researchers in Taiwan Region.Therefore,they held the key to transforming Taiwan’s historiography in the 1970s.In the high-pressure environment that required political correctness at that time,the Nangang School still pursued scientific and objective historical research,gaining them a reputation for objective research in the international academic community.