Discussions on the Periodization of Modern Chinese History; Zhongguo jindai shi fenqi wenti taolun ji

Beijing: Sanlian Shudian, 1957. Wraps. Trade softcover, very good. 242 pp, text in Chinese. Light wear and toning. Compilation of essays by multiple historians (e.g., Hu Sheng, Sun Zuoren, Fan Wenlan, etc.) debating the periodization of modern Chinese history. This is a significant scholarly anthology compiled by the editorial board of Lishi Yanjiu (Historical Research), the premier academic history journal of early PRC China, founded in 1954 under the auspices of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The volume collects essays by leading historians of the period debating one of the most contentious methodological questions in early PRC historiography: how to periodize modern Chinese history according to Marxist frameworks. The table of contents reveals the full shape of the debate. It opens with Hu Sheng's foundational essay on the periodization question, followed by a response from Sun Shuren, then a critique of Sun by Huang Yiliang — a classic point-counterpoint structure. Jin Chongjí, Fan Wenlan (with two contributions, including a report delivered to the CPPCC National Committee in July 1956), Dai Yi, Rong Mengyuan, and Li Xin all weigh in with their own positions. A collective contribution from the Modern and Contemporary Chinese History Teaching and Research Section of Tianjin Normal College broadens the debate beyond individual scholars, and Mi Xinxia and Wang Renzhong round out the volume with further responses. The presence of Fan Wenlan — one of the most authoritative Marxist historians of the era — with two separate pieces underscores his centrality to this debate. A valuable primary source for the intellectual and ideological history of Chinese historiography in the mid-1950s. Very good. Item #h45325

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