On The Development Of The Historical Idea In The Han Dynasties

The period of Western Han and Eastern Han Dynasties is an important period in the development of autocratic unitarity; particularly, the ideology of "exclusively revering Confucianism" exerts a far-reaching impact on Chinese history, The Han period is also significant to the ancient Chinese historiography, researching on the historiography of this period has crucial implications. In ancient Chinese historiography, history has the value of criticizing and balancing political power; the consciousness of the "right of history" is the most important concept to historians. This paper focuses on the "right of history" and examines the historiography of the period of Han dynasties. The historiography conception of the period transformed from "limiting the power of the ruler by history" to "strengthening the right with history". Historians of the the Early Han Dynasty had a stronger concept of the "right of history". This transformation was a result of both the control of political authority and the distinctive personas in the autocratic unitary society. Disciplinization and institutionalization are the necessary conditions for the independence of the study of history.