A new interpretation of histories of fallen states—Yuan Haowen’s stele inscriptions viewed in historiography and emotions history

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Yuan Haowen composed a significant number of stele inscriptions around the time of the fall of the Jurchen Jin Dynasty, expressing self-aware outrage in the style of the history of a fallen state. From the perspective of Chinese historiography and emotions history, the narratives in his stele inscriptions demonstrated the complex entanglement of national consciousness, cultural stance, and political identification experienced by Han scholar-officials and intellectuals during the transition between the Jin and Yuan dynasties, both ruled by northern peoples, reflecting how they formed a sense of identity and belonging as scholars of the Central Plains, centered on the unity of writing on the Central Plains, which transcended race, dynasties, and regions. This not only established an intellectual foundation for their life choices in a turbulent era, but also shaped the national image for the resurgence of a unified dynasty, allowing histories on the decline of states to enter a new phase of development as the historical consciousness of Chinese culture.