东方外交史研究初探

A Tentative Exploration of the Studies of Oriental Diplomatic History

东方外交史是东方文明史的重要组成部分。在以往推出的众多外交史著作当中,尚无一部完整意义上的东方外交史。不仅如此,外交史的体系与分析模式都程度不同地受到"欧洲中心论"的影响。编写完整的外交史,东方学者必须置身其中,发挥主体作用。本文①提出开展东方外交史研究,以宏观的视角审视历史,尤其对古代与近代东方大国外交给予足够的重视。当前的形势发展不断对学术提出新问题,在更深的层次上对过去的东方外交史作出概括与总结已成为当务之急。战后以来,东方国家在国际舞台上的地位整体提高,国内外学术机构对东方历史与现实研究的热度有增无减,因此我国的历史研究也应该开辟新的领域。

Oriental diplomatic history is an important part of the history of Oriental civilizations.In the large body of works on diplomatic history,there is still no full account of Oriental diplomatic history,and moreover,the analytical model in diplomatic history is influenced to an extent by Euro-centrism.It is not enough to compile a complete diplomatic history based solely upon the statements of the European and the American scholars,so the Asian scholars must play a key role in redressing the balance in the field.This paper proposes the direction for future research on Oriental diplomatic history,examines the history in a broad perspective,and pays due attention to the diplomacy of the major Oriental countries in ancient and modern times.Current developments in East Asia continuously raise new issues about the existing scholarship and therefore it is urgent to make a more thorough assessment of Oriental diplomatic history in the past.Moreover,with the rise in status of Asian countries on the international stage and with the increased interest among academic institutions at home and abroad in researching East Asian history since World War II,Chinese historical research should explore a new ground.