The Sage Handbook of Interpreting Chinese History

Kristin Stapleton, Xin Fan, Els van Dongen

• Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd
• Year: 2026
• Print ISBN: 9781529623222
• eBook ISBN: 9781036202491
• Edition: 1
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Chinese History
• Index: History

The Sage Handbook of Interpreting Chinese History offers an in-depth exploration of the evolution of historical narratives in China over the past century. Bringing together some of the world's leading scholars, this handbook provides both depth and breadth to our understanding of how Chinese leaders, intellectuals, and the public conceive of their place in the world. It examines the dramatic shifts in historical interpretation, documenting both the creative use and disastrous abuse of the Chinese past.

 

China?s growing global influence has led to increased interest in its historical perspectives. Understanding contemporary Chinese conceptions of international politics and intercultural relations requires a deep dive into how history is interpreted and taught in China. This handbook aims to "look under the hood" at the motivations and methods behind historical storytelling, the role of historical knowledge in social and political stability, and the deployment of key terms and images in politics and social life.

 

The handbook is organized into several key sections. The first section provides an overview of key ideas such as the "tributary system" and constitutionalism, alongside critical analyses of intellectual history and Sino-foreign relations. The subsequent sections delve into how history was written and historical narratives disseminated and deployed in four different eras of modern Chinese history: the late-Qing period, the Republican era, the Maoist era, and the Reform era. Each era is examined through the lens of official and popular history, exploring the relationship between history and memory. The final section introduces perspectives on historical narratives from Chinese border regions, as well as Sinophone narratives produced outside the PRC state system, highlighting the diversity of views on Chinese history.

 

The Sage Handbook of Interpreting Chinese History is an essential resource for scholars, practitioners, and students seeking to understand the complexities of historical interpretation in modern China. It provides a comprehensive and nuanced exploration of the field, equipping readers to engage with the theoretical and practical aspects of Chinese historical narratives.

 

Part I: Overviews and Framing Chapters
Part II: History in the Late-Qing Era
Part III: History in the Republican Era
Part IV: History in the Maoist Era
Part V: History in the Reform Era
Part VI: Border Histories

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Acknowledgements
• Series
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Illustration List
• Notes on the Editors and Contributors
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction: Rationale, Guiding Questions, and Organization of the Handbook
• 1 The Daotong, Genealogy and History: On the Sources of Chinese Intellectual History’s Narrative Framework
• 2 Conceptualizing the Foreign Relations of Late Imperial China: The Interpretative Entanglement of Two Worldviews, 1880s–2020s
• 3 The Politics of Constructing the History of China’s Foreign Relations in the PRC
• 4 Visions of History in Chinese Constitutional Law
• 5 Corporeality and Conceptions of History: How Gender Changed the Experience of the Past and Present
• 6 Historical Imaginations of High Qing Emperors in Sinophone Popular Cultures
• 7 Chinese Historical Thinking and Civil Service Examinations in the Late 19th Century
• 8 “Official Periodicals” (Gazetteers, Gazettes and Directories) and Qing History
• 9 Publishing and Communication in Late Qing China
• 10 Memorials and Works of Commemoration in the Late Qing Period
• 11 History in Late-Qing Popular Culture
• 12 The Development of the History Profession and Its Relation to the State
• 13 History Textbooks and Historical Education in Republican China
• 14 The Hope and Fear in Joining the Modern World: Changing Frameworks of Historical Analysis in Late Qing and Republican China
• 15 Displaying History: Constructing National Heritage in Modern China
• 16 Memorials and Commemorative Structures in the Republican Era
• 17 National Humiliation and National Pride: History in Popular Culture During the Republican Period
• 18 Changing Frameworks of Historical Analysis
• 19 Textbooks and History Education in the Maoist Era (1942–1978)
• 20 Ethnography as History: Chinese Ethnologists and the Construction of the Marxist Periodization Scheme of Chinese History
• 21 Radical Pasts, Maoist Futures: History in the Cultural Revolution
• 22 The Politics of Historical Truth: Accusations and Confessions in Case Files
• 23 Chinese Historiography During the Era of Reform and Opening
• 24 Rethinking China’s Past After China’s Rise
• 25 Using the Past to Serve the Present – The Role of History in Post-Mao Chinese Nationalism
• 26 Museums and the Making of Public History in Post-Mao China: Reimagining the Chinese Nation in Overseas Chinese Museums
• 27 Narrating History in Reform Era Chinese Cinema
• 28 From China’s Frontier to Frontier China
• 29 “Rediscovering” 2–28: Knowledge Production, Memorialization, and the Emergence of Taiwanese Nationalism
• 30 Historical Memory in Hong Kong: Agency Under the Shadow of Empires
• 31 History in Xinjiang: The Changing Nature and Resiliency of Historical Practices From the Late Qing to the Present
• 32 Popular Historical Narratives of Overseas Migration
• Index