China Social Science Review

No.3, 2022

 

The Hermeneutic Turn in Sinological Research on Early China and Its Possibilities

(Abstract)

 

Cheng Yinong

 

The controversies surrounding research on early China have grown with the passage of time. This is due to a misunderstanding of the value of historical sources and the purpose of historical research, two questions that concern the essence of historiography. Western scholars have misunderstood both of these points, and some of the perceptions thus put forward, although influential, are merely those of one school of thought and are not “transcendent.” The “historical truth” sought by objectivist historiography is difficult to achieve completely with the current research tools. Historiography is essentially a discipline of interpretation as a means and an end. Its aim is to provide an interpretation of history based on the needs of the times, and thus to influence the future. It is therefore important for research on early China to learn from the latest theories of other disciplines, to offer more convincing interpretations, to establish Chinese discourse in researching the field of ancient Chinese history, and to be at the service of the construction of the Three Great Systems of Historiography marked by “Chinese characteristics” and by “Chinese style and Chinese manner.”