我与中国秘密社会史研究

My Research on the History of Secret Society in China

中国秘密社会史研究是历史学的一个重要领域,但也是史学研究工作的一个薄弱环节。笔者从事中国秘密社会史研究凡四十余年。涉足该领域有一些偶然因素,但能取得成绩,则得益于多年来对大量档案资料的阅读、整理与分析。科学研究贵在创新。笔者首倡的天地会创立于乾隆二十六年说就是深入挖掘史料后的一种突破,该说现已得到更多史料的证明和学界的广泛认同。史学研究应关注现实,当代中国黑社会问题成为我关于秘密社会史研究的自然延展,相关的研究结论也为政府决策提供了重要参考。中国秘密社会史研究已呈现如下新的趋向和前景:趋向于地区性和专题性;更加关注现实问题;多学科交叉研究愈来愈受到重视。

The history of Chinese secret society is an important subject in History, yet it is a weak area in history study. Forty years ago, I set foot in the study of the history of Chinese secret society merely by chance. Therefore, I may say what I have achieved in this field owes a great deal to the reading, organizing and analyzing the numerous archive data. Innovation is the origin of scientific research. For example, the idea that Tian Di Confraternity being founded in the year Qian Kong 26 is a breakthrough. Such idea, first put forward after my scrutinizing the relevant historical materials, was both testified in front of more and more historical materials and accepted in the research circle on history. History research should based on reality. The underworld problem in contemporary China has become a subject derived from my previous study and the relevant findings have also become important reference for government＇s decision making. The trend and prospect of the research on the history of Chinese Secret Society may be generalized as： regionality and topicality, real oriented problems, interdisciplinary research.