历史分期命名标准刍议

Criterions of Marking off and Naming the Historical Stages

大半个世纪以来,中国历史分期聚讼未决,原因之一是"封建"等核心术语概念有待厘清。本文建议,在给历史段落命名时,应"制名以指实"、"循旧以造新"、"中外义通约"、"形与义切合"。秦以下两千年命名"封建社会",名实错位、形义脱节,亦与外来义相左,而称之"宗法地主专制社会"较为名实相符。

For more than half a century, the problem of marking the historical stages in China has remained unclear. One of the causes should be that the concept for some core terms, such as Feudalism, is left unclear. This thesis means to provide comments and suggestions on the historical stages marking issue, regarding that naming of the historical stages should be based upon such principles as to create a name that fits the signified time, and add some innovations on an old basis. ＂Feudalist society＂, which was set to refer to the particular phase of more than 2 000 years since the Qin Dynasty, is not actually appropriate since the term doesn＇t fit the signified time. To be more valid, this historical time should be better called Patriarchal Landlord Autocratic Society.