History of childhood enables historians to pay more attention to children in regard to their status and development. Photo: FILE
 

Children are the future of a country and the hope of a nation. Exploring the living conditions of children in history has important practical significance for promoting social progress.

The history of childhood is a new trend of study in the West. Yu Jinyao, a research fellow at the Institute of World History at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that the study of the history of children began with the development of Western social history and cultural history after the 1960s. The history of childhood is an indispensable area of research within social history and family history. The study of family history focuses not only on family structure and size, but also on family values, relationships and emotions, which involve the relationship between parents and children and the attitude of adults towards children. In addition, as a discipline of the humanities, the history of childhood fully reflects the humanistic focus of historians. In the past, history focused on historic figures with great influence. The history of childhood enables historians to pay more attention to ordinary people, especially children in regard to their status and development.

Children are a vital group in the spectrum of social development. Xin Xu, an associate professor at the School of History and Culture at Sichuan University, said that at present, the study of the history of Chinese childhood is roughly divided into two categories: One is the study of history theory, which mainly outlines the chronology of the history of childhood, and tries to use the traditional historical paradigm. The other is empirical, studying children’s education and medical health through rich and extensive historical materials. Since the 21st century, scholars of children’s history have adopted a global vision to conduct comparative cross-country research. They consciously regard children as one of the main subjects of human history. Children are not just passive objects to be educated; they voice their opinions in their own ways.

Chai Ying, the executive chief editor of the history department at the International Center for Social Sciences at Renmin University of China, said that the history of childhood in the West and research on children in the fields of psychology, pedagogy, anthropology and sociology together promote the overall development of the field. Since the reform and opening up, the research interests of Chinese historians have gradually shifted from political history and economic history to social and cultural history. Researchers have gradually focused on the child group as an important component of social structure. Scholars have begun a pioneering journey into the history of Chinese children in many aspects, such as children’s culture, health, games, welfare, and the relationship between children and political and economic systems.

Yu said that the history of children in the West provides references for the same study in China. However, for Chinese scholars, it is still necessary to continue to work to understand the children group and the society they are affiliated with through comparative analysis.

Xin added that in the future, the history of children should discuss how children in passive positions become a behavioral subject in history and participate in the construction of society. We should not only discuss basic issues such as the age of children, childhood nature and parent-child relationships, but also explore new areas such as child archaeology.

Jin Yingkun, a professor at the School of History at Capital Normal University, said that our task is to construct a discipline of the history of children’s culture in China, conducting systematic and holistic research. At the same time, we must open up more excellent educational texts from history to the public. Excellent educational books of the Han and Tang dynasties can be selected, reorganized and annotated, which will influence the current market still dominated by books of the Ming and Qing dynasties.

edited by YANG LANLAN