评拉铁摩尔《中国的亚洲内陆边疆》

The review of Lattimore's《Inner Asian Frontiers of china》

在本书评中,作者首先结合拉铁摩尔的个人生平和当代史学思潮,对影响拉氏学说的因素进行了简单归纳。其次,对《中国的亚洲内陆边疆》一书的重要观点进行了总结和评论:一,更宽广的视野与更客观的立场。拉氏打破传统史学的局限,将游牧社会与农耕社会视为共同发展的一对,从而也跃出了汉族中心史观。二,突出边疆地域的重要性。拉氏对"边疆"进行了重新定义,并且对长城地域的广阔、不稳定的社会特性,及其在两种社会的发展进程中的重要作用进行了精辟的分析,从而提出独到的"贮存地"说。尽管书中依然存在着一些局限性,比如视中国农耕社会为均质化等,此书仍不失为海外中国边疆史地研究的杰作之一。

In this review, first I make a conclusion of the factors which have great influences on Lattimore＇s theory, including his life experiences and the trend of historical thoughts in his period. Secondly, I summarize and comment on the main points of view of 〈 Inner Asian Frontiers of China 〉 ： 1, Wider field of vision and more objective position. Lattimore broke out the limitation of traditional history by regarding the nomadic society and agricultural society as a pair which develop together. In this way, he also got rid of the Han-centric approach. 2, Emphasized the importance of frontier areas. Lattimore redefined the word ＂frontier＂, analyzed the extensity and instability as the characteristics of Great Wall District＇s societies, also made brilliant discussion on the function of the Great Wall District in the developing process of two kinds of societies, and finally asserted the special ＂storage area＂ theory. Although there are some limitations in this book, such as homogenizing the Chinese agricultural society, it is still a master piece of Chinese frontier history research written by foreign scholar.