A Comparative Study Of Contemporary Chinese And Western Historical Compilation

General History of China·Qin and Han Periods and The Cambridge History of China(Vol.1: The Ch’in and Han Empires,221 B.C.-220 A.D.)were co-authored by Chinese and Western important experts on the study of Qin and Han dynasties in the late 20th century.They are of high value in the process of compiling,the authors,historical thought,text form,and achievements in compilation.General History of China·Qin and Han Periods focuses on the presentation of historical events,and the problem consciousness is weak.Its editing ideas and principles are relatively unified,and there is very unified between the contents of each part,but it also limits the academic personality of the co-authors to a certain extent.In terms of historical thought,the horizontal world status and influence of the Qin and Han dynasties were discussed more.It focus on examining the process of centralization and strengthening of imperial power.Emphasizing the role of productivity and economic factors in the historical process.Focusing on the analysis of the social situation and background behind the formation of ideas.It believes that "national multi-ethnic unification" and "friendly relations between ethnic groups are increasingly developed" are the mainstream and development trend of ethnic relations in Qin and Han dynasties.This book attach importance to the description of the character and conduct of Qin and Han historical figures.On a whole,its historical thought is guided by historical materialism,emphasizing the material basis of socio-economic factors in the history of Qin and Han Dynasties,paying more attention to dialectically observing and evaluating various phenomena in Qin and Han history,making less inferences beyond historical sources,and focusing on the investigation of Qin and Han history from a global perspective.In the book’s genre,the "Xin Zong He Ti" pioneered by Bai Shouyi is used,this genre makes the book rich in content and integrated,but also has the problem of duplicate content.In the narrative style,it emphasizes the accuracy,conciseness and vividness of expression.Relatively speaking,The Cambridge History of China(Vol.1: The Ch’in and Han Empires,221 B.C.-220 A.D.)focuses on summarizing the research achievement of western academic circles on Qin and Han dynasties,and has the strong problem consciousness.The author’s academic characteristics have space to play,but it also makes the consistency of each part of the content poor.In terms of historical thought,it attaches great importance to the longitudinal analysis of Qin and Han’s historical status and socioeconomic analysis.Focusing on the analysis of the stability,adaptability and development ability of Qin and Han political systems.Paying attention to the comprehensive exploration of the spiritual and cultural conditions of the Qin and Han society from the elite to the ordinary people,particular attention is paid to the interpretation of the development of Qin and Han history from the "internal aspect constituted by the process of thought".In terms of ethnic relations,the book focuses on the discussion of inter-ethnic political and military relations,rudely treating the relationship between the Han and other ethnic minorities as the relationship between "China" and "foreign",emphasizing the conflicts and struggles between the two sides.It does not attach much importance to the description of the specific Qin and Han characters,has doubts about the records of related persons in traditional history books,denies the role of moral factors in the process of historical development,and emphasizes the non-human factors of historical changes.On the whole,the book focuses on ideological and cultural research,attaches importance to the role of quantitative materials in historical research,pays attention to historical evidence from a legal perspective,and the study of the characteristics of character groups.The genre of the book is similar monograph form which is Cambridge Series always used.The book pays special attention to the background and motivation of historical data formation,and attaches importance to the textual examination of historical data.Its historical narrative is brief,instead of focusing on analysis and inference,and the form of presentation is more flexible,it pursues vivid,lively and User-friendly narration.Based on the analysis and comparison of the book-writing process,historical thoughts and text form of the two books,this article studied the academic value and practical significance of the two books at last,and further reflected on the strengths and weaknesses of contemporary Chinese and Western history compilation.The ultimate goal is to explore and promote the reference and exchanges between the two sides.