时空线索交织下的东方与东方外交史研究

A Study of the East and Eastern Diplomatic History amid the Intertwining Time and Space Clues

受近代西方历史认知方式影响,中国人在叙述近代中国历史时不自觉地选择了“西方中心主义”和东—西二元对立说。随着时间的推移,本为地理方位词的“东方”逐渐演变为地理空间概念。通过对一系列历史事件的塑造,西方史学的东—西二元对立理论为“东方”一词增添了政治、经济、文化等内涵,“东方”也在与“西方”的比较中被割裂、消解甚至解构。以重新书写东方和东方历史为目标的东方外交史研究,强调要在时空维度中考量“东方”,而不是以“西方”作为参照物和评价标准;倡导将“东方”与“西方”平等地视为世界历史的组成部分;重视以比较之法研究东方与西方之间,东方内部间的联系与互动。东方外交史研究是新时期中国史学为破解西方话语体系发出的东方之声。

Influenced by the historical consciousness in the modern West,Chinese people would unconsciously choose the"Western-centrism"and East-West binary opposition when talking about modern Chinese history.Over time,the term"East",originally referring to a geographical direction,has gradually evolved into a geographical space concept.Through the shaping of a series of historical events,the East-West binary opposition theory in Western historyhas incorporated political,economic,cultural,and other connotations into this term,resulting in the separation,dissolution,and even deconstruction of"East"in its comparison with"West".Aimedat rewriting the East and the Eastern history,Eastern diplomatic history research emphasizes the consideration of the"East"in time and space dimensions instead of the use of the"West"as the reference object and evaluation metric.It advocates equally treating the"East"and the"West"as components of world history and attaches importance to studying the connections and interactions between the East and the West as well as within the East through the comparison method.Eastern diplomatic history research represents the voice of the East uttered by the Chinese history circle in the new era to break the Western discourse system.