Reclaiming The Chinese Revolution:Chinese Popular Movement Studies Of Elizabeth J.Perry

The experience of witnessing and participating in social movements in Japan and the United States in 1950s and 1960s aroused Elizabeth J.Perry’s interest in the study of popular movements.Since engaged in Chinese studies in 1970s,she has showing the various aspects of the Chinese popular movement by using the method of ecology,sociology,new cultural history and perspectives of regional and internal.Perry’s study is not only related to her own experience and interest,but also reflects the changes of western historiography thoughts and methods since the 1960s and 1970s,which provides a window for us to learn the growth of the third generation of American Chinese studiers.In the exploration of the rebels and revolutionaries in Huaibei,from 1845 to 1945,by using the method of ecology and combining the short-term event history with the social structure changes in the medium and long-term period,the peasant movement has been repositioned by the perspective of society-county gaming.Perry believed that when the state’s administrative capacity declines,peasant organizations often appear as supplementary forms of state management.Combining the methods of sociology and new cultural history,the study of the Chinese workers’ movement gives the working class a stronger independence,frees the study of the history of labor movement from the study of party history,and shows the traditions of non-violence and the pursuit of human dignity of the workers’ movement.As a revolutionary century the 20th century is,the revolution has shaped the indispensable landscape of China’s modern history.However,since the 1980s,with the rise of "modernization paradigm"and the development of new cultural history,environmental history,physical history and other historical forms,the study of revolutionary has been impacted.At the ebb of the study of revolutionary history,Perry advocated to reclaming the Chinese Revolution,interpretated of the Chinese Revolution with new method.Her studies has seized the branches and mainstream of modern Chinese history.Since entering the field of Chinese studies in the United States in the late 1970s,Perry has been writing a lot of works,and her research has shown a strong personal style.She advocates long-term,coherent research;introduces social science methods to conduct a three-dimensional analysis and investigation of the Chinese people’s movement,opposes the arbitrary division between h:istory and social science research;focuses on the updating of research methods and perspectives.Although there are some shortcomings in Perry’s studies,such as strong theoretical color and affected by her own experience,it is undeniable that Perry’s research on mass movement has indeed provided us with different perspectives in observing the Chinese revolution.