试论伍德布里奇《历史的目的》在近代中国的传播及其影响

On the Spread and Influence of Woodbridge's The Purpose of History in Modern China

伍德布里奇为近代美国知名的哲学家,与胡适、罗家伦等中国留美学生有过交往,并深深影响了他们的哲学思想。但是,伍德布里奇对中国史学界产生的影响不止于此。他的史学理论著述《历史的目的》在20世纪20年代传入中国,对近代史学理论的建构产生过积极的推动作用。何炳松、陈训慈、缪凤林等学者视该书为西方新史学思潮的重要成果,在不同程度上译介了该书的内容。但是,对该书进行较全面的借鉴和吸收的学者却是李大钊,其《史学要论》等史学理论著述,在伍德布里奇“历史真实”及“历史解释”等观点的基础上形成了解喻思想,并奠定了中国马克思主义史学的理论基础。

Woodbridge was a famous philosopher in modern America.He has had contacts with Chinese students studying in the United States such as Hu Shi and Luo Jialun,and has deeply influenced their philosophical thinking.However,his influence on the Chinese historians was more than that.His historiographic monograph The Purpose of History introduced into China in the 1920 s played a positive role in promoting the construction of modern historical theories.Scholars such as He Bingsong,Chen Xunci and Miao Fenglin regarded this book as an important achievement of the new western historiography and translated or introduced the content of the book to varying degrees.However,Li Dazhao made a more comprehensive reference and absorption of the book.His historical theoretical works such as Essentials on Historiography formed a metaphorical thought on the basis of Woodbridge’s "historical truth" and "historical interpretation" viewpoints,and laid the theoretical foundation for Chinese Marxist historiography.