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Chapter 6 Discipline and Narrative: Chinese History Textbooks in the Early Twentieth Century* Peter Zarrow The history of China is a most glorious history. Since the Yellow Emperor, all the things we rely on—from articles of daily use to the highest forms of culture—have progressed with time. Since the Qin and the Han dynasties created unity on a vast scale, the basis of the state has become ever more stable, displaying China’s prominence in East Asia. Although there have been periods of discord and disunity, and occasions when outside forces have oppressed the country, restoration always soon followed. And precisely because the frontiers were absorbed into the unity of China, foreign groups were assimilated. Does not the constant development of the frontiers show how the beneficence bequeathed us from our ancestors exemplifies the glory of our history? It is a matter of regret that foreign insults have mounted over the last several decades, and records of China’s national humiliation are numerous. However, that which is not forgotten from the past, may teach us for the future. Only if the all people living in China love and respect our past history and do their utmost to maintain its honor, will the nation be formed out of adversity, as we have seen numerous times in the past. Readers of history know that their responsibility lies here. —Conclusion to New Style History Textbook, 19201 * I am grateful for suggestions for improvement of earlier versions of this chapter as presented at workshops of the Formation and Development of Academic Disciplines in China project of the Australian National University, as well as the 2009 annual meeting of the Association of Asian Studies; in particular Brian Moloughney, Tze-ki Hon, Arif Dirlik, and Leigh Kathryn Jenco. This chapter gives the Chinese characters for terms and for the names of writers discussed, but not for the numerous premodern historical references. Research for this chapter was aided by grants from the National Science Council (Taiwan) (NSC 93-2411-H-001-059; NSC 94-2411-H-001-047; and NSC 94-2411-H-001-026). 170 · Peter Zarrow What, in the end, is the point of studying history? People generally think that history is written to provide moral lessons or mirrors to see our behavior. They think that we will be moved to vigilance by examining the causes and effects of the good and evil in the past and that we will strive for good and avoid evil. But they don’t realize that this is merely an extra benefit from studying history and has nothing to do with its true value. If the purpose of histories merely lay in encouraging good and abjuring evil, their function would be no different from that of morality books or respectable fiction. The purpose of histories lies in enabling people to trace their origins and to predict the future. This is where its value lies as well. For example, geographers who want to know how plains and deserts were formed, or how mountains and valleys were formed, must use historical methods to find the answers. Or those who want to know about modern Chinese society in order to find out why society is not at peace also must carry out their investigations with the help of history. The practical use of history lies in giving us an understanding of origins of all the phenomena of the present day; once we understand those origins, then we are in a position to analyze and resolve future problems. “Written history” is thus an academic field necessary for life itself. —General preface to Chinese History for Middle Schools, 19362 If we grant that two of the characteristics of modern historiography include treating the nation as the main historical subject and narrating a story in the form of more or less linear, progressive time, then history textbooks were the chief means of disseminating modern historical approaches. This is not to say that only nations served as historical agents or subjects: individuals, dynasties, regions (the “West”), localities, civilizations , religions, and institutions could all be treated as historical subjects. But the majority of historical work focused on the nation. Nor is it to say that time was uniformly linear: there could also be stagnation, reversals, and cycles, but the majority of historical work was presented in a linear framework. Thus traditional historical forms such as chronicles, moral fables, “mirrors for kings,” and mythical stories were replaced by careful narrativization.3 By narrativization here, I mean...

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