On Burckhardt's Renaissance History

Jacob Burckhardt was one of the greatest historians of the nineteenth century, and his most famous works was The civilization of the Renaissance in Italy. Burckhardt's conception of the history and his view of the cultural history were comparatively reflected in it. At the same time, it set a good example for the cultural history. And Burchkhardt was accordingly regarded as "the founder of the cultural history".After aborative reading of The civilization of the Renaissance in Italy, I think Burckhardt's conception of the history had full-bodied Zeitgeist, and the Zeitgeist incorporated as following: new type of concept of modern nation; the individualism which was doughty, dealing with concrete matters relating to work; and the elegant humanism custom. And all these concept was elaborately harmonized into a synthesis, that is, the cultural history. Therefore we can follow Burckhardt's thought: from the political conditions of Italy, the revival of the classical, the discovery of the world and of the man to the humanism in the life of the society.From his book we can appreciate the style and features of Itlian Renaissance. Burckhardt's way of describing history broke a new path of the history of Renaissance. In the following half a century, the study of the history of the Renaissance was primarily carried out on Burckhardtian tradition.But there were also some scarcities in Burckhardt's cultural history, so from 1920s,1930s this tradition was attacked by histotrians of scientific history and medievalists After more than half a century's criticism, the argument gradually quieted down, and Burckhardtian tradition steadied. Critically inherit and develop Burckhardt's conception of the history and his methods should be helpful to the deploitation and development of present historiography.