Abstract
Abstract In China, Naitō Konan’s “theory on modernity since the Song” (Tang-Song transformation theory) did not elicit widespread academic interest until the twenty-first century. The following article provides a comprehensive analysis of the reception to Naitō’s theory by Chinese historians and the implications for Chinese Song studies. The author discusses the Naitō hypothesis from six different perspectives: the theoretical basis and political background of Naitō’s work, historical development patterns in China and the West, Chinese history as the history of a multiethnic country, international scholarship on the periodization of Chinese history, and the contributions by Chinese scholars. The author concludes that Chinese Tang and Song historians should turn the page and move on from Naitō Konan’s modernity theory (transformation theory).
Highlights
The Japanese scholar Naitō Konan 內藤湖南 [1866-1934] put forward his “Modernity since the Song Dynasty Theory” [Songdai jinshi shuo 宋代近 世說], subsequently referred to as “modernity theory,” in the early twentieth century
As Ge Zhaoguang 葛兆光 referred, “it has become common for Chinese scholars to analyze the Song dynasty on the basis of the modernity or transformation theory.”2 Many Chinese researchers consider the transformation theory to be self-evident and treat it as a convenient framework that can be applied to a variety of historical contexts
In 1917, Fu Sinian 傅斯年 [1896-1950] stated: “There is a consensus that there are three stages in Western history, namely, antiquity [shangshi 上世], the Middle Ages [zhongshi 中世], and modernity [ jinshi].”3 Chinese historians introduced the Western model of periodization to China during the late Qing dynasty [1616-1911] and the early Republican period [19121949], and Japanese scholars employed this model to divide Chinese history into different periods
Summary
To clarify the starting point of the academic discussion, we outline important aspects of the theoretical foundations of the Naitō hypothesis and the origins of its status as a paradigm in Song history. Naitō Konan and Miyazaki Ichisada’s modernity theory (transformation theory) created a new narrative in East Asian history, attempting to surpass the European model of historical development They believed that, after the commencement of the Song dynasty, China had successfully come through its middle ages (Han through Tang dynasties). Whereas the arguments supporting Naitō’s theories were based on his observations of China’s historical development, Miyazaki Ichisada instead chose to approach the question from the perspective of world history He argued that China’s new Song culture was a Chinese and an “East Asia’s Early Modern Age” [dongyang de jinshi 東洋的近世].9. In his explanation of the societal differences between the Tang and Song dynasties, Naitō did not rely on direct analogies between China’s middle ages and modernity and the Western transformation from feudalism to modern capitalism. The basis for the transformation theory is rather weak for these six reasons
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