Reflecting on Historical China and Contemporary China: Ge Zhaoguang Awarded Tang Prize in Sinology [Exclusive Interview]

Central News Agency Report

(CNA Reporter Liao Wen-chi, Shanghai, 17th) The 7th Tang Prize in Sinology has been awarded to Ge Zhaoguang, a Chinese historian and professor at Fudan University. Ge initially focused on the intellectual history of ancient China, revolutionizing research perspectives by using folk materials. In recent years, he has led academic discourse by re-examining the relationship between 'historical China' and 'contemporary China,' and by reinterpreting China through documents from neighboring countries.

Now 76 years old, Ge reflects on over 40 years of academic career, during which his research interests, questions, and focus have undergone four major shifts. He states that his work has always been shaped by the broader historical context and aims to respond to the challenges of the times.

In the 1980s, when Ge began his research, he focused on Chan Buddhism and Daoism. At the time, cultural criticism of Chinese society was popular, and since Chan and Daoism were not mainstream ideologies in ancient China, studying them offered a way to challenge dominant narratives from the margins.

In the 1990s, China stood at a crossroads between marketization and planned economy, liberalism and socialism. During this period, Ge turned to the historical context of Chinese thought, dedicating nearly a decade to the study of intellectual history.

Entering the 21st century, Ge and a group of scholars realized that explaining China solely through internal sources was insufficient. He thus proposed the concept of 'viewing China from the periphery,' reinterpreting China through Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese documents, and questioning fundamental ideas such as 'What is China?' He asked: 'Is China a self-evident entity? Has it always been the same nation since ancient times?'

Over the past decade, Ge has published several major works, including 'Living in China: Reconstructing the Historical Discourse on “China”', 'What Is China? Territory, Ethnicity, Culture, and History', 'The Inside and Outside of Historical China: Clarifying the Concepts of “China” and “Periphery”', and 'Imagining Foreign Lands: Notes on Joseon Korean Hanwen Yanxing Documents'.

His re-examination of 'historical China' and 'contemporary China' stands as one of his most significant academic contributions. He explains his motivation as seeking the 'forces that drive history' and the 'historical genes' that influence the present. In other words, 'What has changed and influenced China? What cultural and historical genes have shaped China?'

His work aims to provide pathways for people inside and outside China to understand the nation. 'Without understanding history, one cannot fully comprehend contemporary China,' he emphasizes.

In the past decade, Ge has felt that viewing China only from Asia is still insufficient, so he now advocates for a 'global history from China.' He continuously expands the background, perspectives, and sources for understanding China. In this process, he has also recognized the importance of engaging with the international academic community.

Ge identifies two particularly significant achievements in his research. First, in the study of Chinese intellectual history, he emphasized using unconventional sources such as images, folk documents, almanacs, maps, and moral guides read by ordinary people—materials that were previously underutilized.

He points out that past research focused heavily on elite and canonical texts. In contrast, his focus on common people’s everyday documents shifted the study of intellectual history from 'looking upward' to 'looking downward.' 'These materials allow us to reflect not only the ideas of the elite but also the common sense of ordinary people in Chinese intellectual history,' he says.

The second achievement is his long-standing promotion of 'viewing China from the periphery' over the past 20 years. He has spent extensive time reviewing and organizing materials from Japan, Korea, and Vietnam, uncovering alternative images of China. This approach has sparked a trend in academia to use neighboring countries’ documents and historical records in research.

Ge believes that, in a sense, history is a discipline of 'finding roots' for everyone. 'Where do you come from? Who are you? Which group do you belong to? Where should your identity lie?' However, he also stresses that 'historically, people around the world have been interconnected, and global cultures, materials, ideas, religions, and goods have always circulated across borders.' Therefore, people must cultivate a sense of global citizenship.

Ge concludes: 'History may be a discipline of patriotism, but it is also a discipline of cosmopolitanism.' (Editor: Chiu Kuo-chiang) 1150617