Historical Studies at National Taiwan University and the Modern Chinese Historiographical Tradition, 1950-1970

The development of the History Department of National Taiwan University (NTU) is not only an important chapter in the history of historical studies in Taiwan, but also closely related to the evolution of modern Chinese historiography. At NTU’s History Department, the period of the 1950s and 1960s was one dominated by established scholars from the Chinese mainland. The present study examines the relationship between NTU’s History Department and the modern Chinese historiogarphical tradition with a careful look at these scholars. It begins with some general observations of the modern Chinese historiographical tradition. It points out a division within the tradition at its conception by illustrating a significant difference between two major founders of the tradition: Liang Qichao (1873-1929) and Fu Ssu-nien (1896-1950). The study proceeds to introduce the educational background and scholarly orientations of twelve long-time NTU history professors from China, and discusses the historiographical approaches of these professors. This study offers a view that four main approaches existed in modern Chinese historiography: those emphasizing, respectively, investigation of historical materials, historical explanation, schemes of overall historical courses, and lessons and meaning of historical developments. Mainland Chinese historians brought the first two approaches into NTU’s History Department. The textual approach was the main stream and the explanatory approach played a secondary role. Yet, in Taiwan, particularly after the 1960s, these two elements came into close contact with other historiographical viewpoints. Consequently, historical research in Taiwan became complicated and conflicted. The situation remains to this day.