桐城派因时而变的史学思想

The Historical Thought of Tongcheng School Changing with the Times

桐城派“义理、考据、辞章”兼修,在千余名桐城派作家群体中,有史著者380余人,各类史著近二千种。桐城派之所以取得如此显著的史学成就,与其因时而变的史学思想不无关系。桐城派史学思想大体上经历了三个历史时段、四种主流史学观念的演化,即清前期,从遗民史学到认同清廷统治的义理史学观;清中后期,因海疆危机而激发的边疆史地学意识;清末民初,经由西学传播而萌生的史学进化论思想。从遗民史学、义理史学、边疆史地学到进化史观,这种因时而变的史学思想使桐城派能够敏锐地捕捉到时代之变与时代之需,体现了有清一代史学发展的基本脉络与趋向,彰显了中国传统史学因应时代之变的学术生命力。

Tongcheng School combines the study of“argumentation,textual research,and rhetoric”.Of more than a thousand of its writers,there are over 380 historical authors and nearly 2,000 types of historical works.The reason why the Tongcheng School has achieved such remarkable historical achievements is closely related to its changing historical ideas that adapt to the times.The historical thought of Tongcheng School has undergone three historical periods and four mainstream historical concepts,namely:1)In the early Qing Dynasty—from the history of adherents to the argumentation historical view of recognizing the rule of the Qing court;2)in the mid to late Qing Dynasty—the awareness of frontier history and geography stimulated by the maritime crisis;3)during the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of Chin—the theory of historical evolution emerged through the dissemination of Western learning.From the study of the history of the remnant,to the history of the argumentation,to the history and geography of the borderlands,and to the evolutionary view of history,this changing historical thinking enables Tongcheng School to keenly capture the changes and needs of the times,which reflects the basic context and trend of the development of historiography in the Qing Dynasty,and highlights the academic vitality of traditional Chinese historiography in response to the changes of the times.