Historiography

1
Historiography

• Modern East Asia

2
Why Study Asian History?

• East Asia is Single Most Populous Geographic Unit
  of the World
• China 1,289,037 (1)
• Korea
• South 48,289,037 (24)
• North 22,466,481 (47)
• Total 70,755,518 (16)
• Japan 127,214,500

3

• East Asia contains oldest living civilizations
• Economic and Political
• Perspectives on Ourselves
• Different answers to universal questions
• Learn from East Asian Tradition

4
Romanizations

• Pinyin
• Wade-Giles

5
Terminology

• History
• Branch of knowledge that records and analyzes the
  past of literate human events (change) with
  sufficient distance in time to remain objective.
• No change no history

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That Noble Dream Question of Objectivity

• Each new generation writes their own history
• History always written from a particular vantage
  point
• New information comes to light
• New questions emerge priorities change
• Examples Cold War and Today
• To be critical readers students must have strong
  grasp of historiography and ideology driving
  forces of bias!

7

• Historiography
• (-- graphy) Writing of history based on the
  critical examination of sources
• (-- ology) The principles, theory, and history of
  historical writing

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Worldview

• Theories often based on ones Worldview
  Weltanschauung
• Comprehensive conception of the world or reality
  from a specific standpoint
• Humans vis-à-vis
• God/Sacred
• Other humans
• Environment
• Worldview influences or dictates theory and
  conceptual frameworks

9
Western Historiography

• Linear moving in a straight line
• Evolutionary evolving changing
• Progressing -- moving forward getting better
  and better

10
Chinese Historiography

• Cyclical
• Devolutionary
• Ideal Past
• Periodized by Dynastic Cycle

11
Conceptual Frameworks

• Rational Human
• Historicism
• Linear, evolutionary, progressing
• Stages vs. Cycles
• Great Man Theory

12
Rational Human

• Assumes most people set rational goals for
  themselves and seek to achieve them through the
  exercise of reason and logic.
• Attacked by historicist theories, such as Marxism.

13
Historicism

• A theory that history is determined by immutable
  laws and not by human agency

14
Great Man Theory

• Assumes that every so often, a great man will
  arise and alter the course of history.
• Great meaning significant or influential and not
  necessarily good

15
Ideology

• Systematic set of ideas on how reality is or
  should operate and the tools/devices to put them
  in place.
• A form of social or political philosophy in which
  practical elements are as prominent as
  theoretical one.

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Ideologies

• Left Wing/Leftist -gt Liberal
• Marxism
• Subaltern
• Social
• Right Wing/ Rightest -gtConservative
• Nationalist

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Marxism

• Dialectical materialism
• Class conflict
• Stages of History

18
Nationalism

• Loyalty and devotion to a nation-state
  especially a sense of national consciousness
  exalting one nation above all others and placing
  primary emphasis on promotion of its culture and
  interests as opposed to other groups.

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Rise of Nationalism

• Loyalty to nation-state is not a natural state of
  being

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Rise of Nationalism

• Loyalty to nation-state is not a natural state of
  being
• 18th century people or nation become linked with
  the state

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Rise of Nationalism

• Loyalty to nation-state is not a natural state of
  being
• 18th century people or nation become linked with
  the state
• Sense of Common cultural heritage
• Use of vernacular
• Public sphere
• Symbols
• History nation-state object of historical study

22
History in Service of Nationalism

• Glorification of nation-state
• Hero building
• Xenophobia

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The Historians

• Trends and theories of American Historiography of
  East Asia and how it evolved.
• See Paul A. Cohen Discovering History in China.

24

• Amateur Phase
• Professional Phase

25
John King Fairbank

• Chinas Response to the West
• Impact/Response

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Joseph Levenson

• Tradition v. Modernity

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Imperialism

• Asian history understood in terms of its victim
  status to Western Imperialism

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Criticisms

• Ethnocentric
• West used as normative model of history
• Questions of Western history applied to Asian
  history
• Events not related to westernization or
  modernization were marginalized

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Corrective?

• Sinocentrism