How to make the "past" have the "future" and come to the Chinese Academy of History to find answers → Major Projects | Projects | Research Institutes

To learn from the past and the present, and to study history wisely. The Chinese Archaeological Museum within the Chinese Academy of History is a national level specialized archaeological museum, mainly consisting of archaeological excavated cultural relics and precious ancient literature in its collection. The exhibition area is over 7000 square meters, with over 6000 exhibits.

Entering the Chinese Archaeological Museum within the Chinese Academy of History, the third floor is displaying some precious ancient books and document archives in the collection of the Chinese Academy of History.

These six volumes of "Mr. Hui'an's Collection of Zhu Wen Official Documents" are a collection of poems and writings by Zhu Xi, a great scholar of the Song Dynasty. They were published in 1265 and have a history of nearly 760 years. They quietly tell people today about his Neo Confucianism and political views. This "Record of Mr. Yangming's Writings" is a woodblock of the 21st year of the Wanli reign of the Ming Dynasty, dating back 430 years. It records that Mr. Wang Yangming not only influenced China, but also spread the idea of "unity of knowledge and action" overseas. This complete map of mountains and seas is a world map drawn over 400 years ago.

Yuan Lize, the head of the Library and Archives of the Chinese Academy of History: This picture was painted by Matteo Ricci, the first Western missionary to come to China in the late 16th century. He brought advanced mapping techniques from the West to China at that time, while consciously absorbing China's mapping experience and concepts. The seven continents and four oceans that we are familiar with today should be said to have marked six continents and three oceans in the map, which is Asia's Asia. To its left is Europe's Europa, and to its south is present-day Africa called Levia, which has changed the previous drawing method centered around Europe. It is a crystallization and powerful witness of the exchange and mutual learning between Chinese and Western civilizations.

From classics, history, books, collections, to local chronicles, genealogies and other major categories, the Chinese Academy of History has a collection of over 4600 rare ancient books, totaling over 52000 volumes, with a large volume, numerous treasures, and strong professionalism. Some important classics have been selected for the National List of Precious Ancient Books.

Yuan Lize, the head of the Library and Archives of the Chinese Academy of History: The collection of literature in the Library and Archives of the Chinese Academy of History has reached a scale of nearly 2 million copies, of which more than 500000 are ancient literature. Our exhibition reflects the historical path of the Chinese nation, which is both walked out and written out.

A batch of major historical research projects have achieved preliminary results

The Chinese Academy of History is responsible for coordinating and guiding national historical research work, formulating research plans for the new era of Chinese history, and organizing the implementation of major academic projects in national history. Next, let's take a look at the exhibition of scientific research achievements at the Chinese Academy of History.

The Exhibition of Scientific Research Achievements of the Chinese Academy of History has selected over 100 outstanding academic achievements from various disciplines, including Chinese history, world history, archaeology, and more.

This is the History of National Unification in the Qing Dynasty. Not long ago, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences released the first batch of major projects and achievements of the National Social Science Fund project after the establishment of the Chinese Academy of History, and "History of National Unification in the Qing Dynasty" is one of them. The two volumes of the book have a total of 1.1 million words. On the basis of fully absorbing the latest achievements in the study of the history of the Qing Dynasty, from different dimensions such as time, space, and system, the book systematically analyzes the process of the Qing Dynasty's inheritance of the idea of "great unity", the realization of national unity, and the consolidation and maintenance of unity, and uses rich historical materials to prove the historical facts of China's governance of Xinjiang, Xizang, Taiwan and other border areas in the Qing Dynasty.

Xing Guangcheng, editor in chief of the "History of National Unification in the Qing Dynasty" and director of the China Border Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said: "For example, you can see from this. In May of the 34th year of the Guangxu reign in 1908, the" Holy Edict Guangxun "stated," Ten people from the 39 ethnic groups of Han, ten people from the Tibetan ethnic group, and four people from the Gurkha ".". This is a very small school where multiple ethnic groups study together. This is a typical example of how various ethnic groups have formed communication, exchange, and integration in the long-term process of living together. This is a very typical example. This provides us with solid theoretical support for a better understanding of the history of communication, exchange, and integration among various ethnic groups, for strengthening the sense of community of the Chinese nation, and for a better understanding of the five characteristics of Chinese civilization.

Since its establishment, the Chinese Academy of History has led the exploration of the origins of Chinese civilization, participated in archaeological projects in China, and completed the first batch of five major projects and major commissioned projects by the National Social Science Foundation. The compilation project of the newly compiled General History of China, organized and implemented in 2020, has been included in the national level major academic project of the 14th Five Year Plan for development. In August of the same year, "The History of the Chinese Nation" was also included in the compilation project and promoted as a whole.

Li Guoqiang, Vice President of the Chinese Academy of History, stated that strengthening the community of the Chinese nation is a major historical proposition in the new era. So through the study of the history of the Chinese nation, we can understand and understand what China is, what the Chinese nation is, and what the Chinese community is. This will further inspire us to be Chinese in the pursuit of history and in the memory of history. Enable us to better grasp the laws of history, grasp the overall trend of history, create a better future, and forge the soul for the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

The General History of China consists of 37 volumes, with over 400 historians from 18 research institutions across the country participating. The exhibition showcases over 30 preliminary drafts of the compilation project for the New Compilation of the General History of China.

Li Guoqiang, Vice President of the Chinese Academy of History: It has been more than 20 years since our previous general history. During this period, a large amount of new archaeological and documentary materials have been discovered. Therefore, it is necessary to observe Chinese history with new historical materials, theories, and methods. The "General History of China" spans a very long time, from prehistoric times to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. This time span is unprecedented in the compilation of general history in the past. At the same time, our "General History of China" also adopts a new approach that combines dynastic history with specialized history, which is unprecedented in the past.

Since its establishment four years ago, the Chinese Academy of History has united and gathered a large number of historical researchers across the country, undertaking a large number of national and provincial academic projects. The National Social Science Foundation of China's Major Historical Issues Research Project, launched in 2020, has approved more than 160 projects. Currently, over 2000 academic monographs, theoretical articles, and academic papers have been published. The review work of the 106 volumes of the "History of the Qing Dynasty" with a total of 32 million words has gone through nearly two years and has also been preliminarily completed.

Li Guoqiang, Vice President of the Chinese Academy of History: In our official history, there are twenty-four histories, so it is precisely the lack of "Qing History". Through the historical restoration and review of the history of the Qing Dynasty, we can better understand the historical process of China from the process of development and evolution, and provide more historical nourishment for our Chinese path to modernization.

The current annotated Twenty Four Histories is expected to be fully edited and published by 2025

At the achievement exhibition, the annotated "Twenty Four Histories of Today's Annotations" by Chinese historians were also exhibited.

The Twenty Four Histories are official histories recorded throughout the dynasties of China. Previously, only the Records of the Grand Historian, the Book of Han, the Book of Later Han, and the Records of the Three Kingdoms had annotations.

Li Guoqiang, Vice President of the Chinese Academy of History: This is the current annotated version of the Book of Han. Originally, the annotations were Yan's annotations, which are also Yan Shigu's annotations. Words like Yan's annotations are particularly difficult to understand and cannot be understood by ordinary people. Jinzhu is the work that Professor Sun Xiao and his team do. What Jinzhu is and what Yanzhu is, they correspond to each other, so it is relatively easy to understand.

The compilation work of the current annotated Twenty Four Histories began in 1994, with researchers from the national historical community conducting scientific proofreading, comprehensive annotation, and supplementing detailed historical materials and the latest research results on the authoritative version of the Twenty Four Histories.

Sun Xiao, a researcher at the Institute of Ancient History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Executive Editor in Chief of the Twenty Four Histories of the Annotated Edition: For example, in Pingyang, Hedong, it is now located in the northwest of Xia County, Shanxi Province, including the southwest of Shanxi Province. This makes it easy for everyone to understand. Due to the significant changes in place names from ancient to modern times, and the absence of any archaeological sites, it is difficult to verify a place name and accurately obtain it. There are probably only a hundred types of information to search for, including local chronicles, field investigations, archaeological data, and literature. Therefore, this is quite challenging. In addition, there are historical allusions. The Han script may have made mistakes in its own text, and there are also annotations by Yan Shigu. Is it possible that the annotations were incorrect. We need to double check.

After nearly 30 years of effort, nearly 300 historians from more than 30 units across the country have completed 18 histories of "The Twenty Four Histories of Today's Annotations", which are published by China Social Science Press. The proofreading work for the remaining 6 histories has been basically completed, and it is expected to be edited and published before 2025.

Sun Xiao, a researcher at the Institute of Ancient History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Executive Editor in Chief of the Twenty Four Histories of the Annotated Edition, said: The original version of this book was probably less than 40 million words. After we finished annotating it, it would be nearly 140 million words, which is equivalent to an increase of more than 100 million words. These 100 million words are the annotated edition. To learn from the past and the present, what are the excellent traditional cultures that can be inherited, and what are the lessons of rise and fall that we can learn from history books.

Popular Historical Readings: Understanding the Past, Learning from the Present, and Educating Political Officials

Learn from the past and learn from the present, and serve as a counselor to educate people. At the achievement exhibition, some popular historical books attracted attention, with "everyone writing small books" bringing more historical research results to ordinary readers.

"The Chinese Story in Ten Cultural Relics" is a popular science reading material that tells the story of Chinese history through national treasure level artifacts by archaeologists and historians. From the discovery of cultural relics, the connotation of cultural relics, and the Chinese philosophy, spirit, and value contained in cultural relics, using popular language to bring cultural relics to life and help readers understand Chinese civilization.

"A Brief History of the World: The Evolution of Human Civilization" is another masterpiece in the "Everyone Writes Little Books" series. The team from the Institute of Historical Theory of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences presents a historical picture of the exchange and mutual learning between Chinese civilization and world civilization since the primitive society, using concise and understandable language and illustrated arrangement.