跳出“唐宋变革论”——兼论当前中国古代史研究中存在的一些缺陷

Beyond the“Tang and Song Transformation Theories”:With a Discussion of Some Defects in the Current Research on Ancient Chinese History

虽然近十多年来以“唐宋变革论”为代表的各种“变革论”受到了各种质疑,但是这些质疑基本限于“变革论”的框架之内,并未指出“变革论”的真正的问题。大致而言,研究者需要意识到,“变革论”只是一种具有强烈主观性的历史认知,而不是既定的历史事实,因此讨论“变革论”是否成立并无太大的意义,更应当讨论的是隐藏在“变革论”背后的对人类历史进程的认知,由此才能深化对历史、历史学及其意义的思考。要做到这一点,需要强化对理论的讨论以及其他学科方法的了解,弱化对史料的依赖,由此中国学者才能成为历史研究的“设计师”,而不是“工匠”。

Although various“transformation theories”,as typified by the“Tang and Song transformation theories”,have been questioned in the past decade,the questions are basically limited to the framework of“transformation theories”and do not point out the real problems in the“transformation theories”.In general,researchers should recognize that the“transformation theories”are only strongly subjective historical perceptions rather than established historical facts;therefore,it is not very meaningful to discuss whether these“transformation theories”are valid or not.It is more important to discuss the cognition of human historical process that lies behind these“transformation theories”,so that we can deepen our thinking about history,historiography and their meaning.To this end,we need to strengthen theoretical discussions,understand other disciplines’methods,and weaken our reliance on historical sources,so that Chinese scholars can become“designers”rather than“craftsmen”of historical research.