史料批判与史料扩展——《剑桥中国史》《哈佛中国史》的唐史取材与运用

Criticism and Expansion of Historical Materials—Material Selection and Application Methods of The Cambridge History of China:Sui and Tang China and History of Imperial China:The Tang Dynasty

《剑桥中国隋唐史》和《哈佛中国史·世界性的帝国:唐朝》是西方学界唐史研究的两部代表性通论著作。《剑桥中国隋唐史》主要处理传统官修史籍,运用“史料批判”的方法。表现在认清儒家思想在史籍修纂中的渗透作用,进而从具体的史实入手,采取不同的价值标准重新衡量;将其放入当时的历史语境观察,揭示出不同的面相。《哈佛中国史》体现了“史料扩展”的取向。“史料扩展”近年来发展出三种方法:考辨真伪,提取史实;弃置辨伪,讨论观念;重建语境,探究寓意。《哈佛中国史》的写作主要运用了前两种方法。

The Cambridge History of China:Sui and Tang China and History of Imperial China:The Tang Dynasty are two representative general works on Tang history in Western academic circles.The Cambridge History of China mainly deals with the traditional official revision of historical records,using the method of“historical material criticism”.That is manifested in its recognition of the penetrating role of Confucianism in the compilation of historical records.The book starts from the specific historical facts and adopts different value standards to re-measure them,putting them into the historical context at that time and revealing different facets.History of Imperial China embodies the orientation of“historical material expansion”.The“historical material expansion”has seen three methods in recent years:extracting historical facts by examining authenticity;discussing concepts instead of identifying falsehoods;and exploring the moral by reconstructing the context.The first two methods are mainly used in the writing of History of Imperial China.