Who controls the past controls the future: who controls the present controls the past.
- George Orwell, 1984
Today's content source: Notes from the Peking University History Research Course.
In the last 40 years, historians have reached an academic consensus: history is subjective.
From the 19th century to the 1920s, historiography emphasized positivism, the objectivity of history, and the objectivity of historical materials; historiography was considered as the study of historical materials.
Starting from the 1980s, historians began to reach a consensus that historical materials themselves carry subjectivity. Anything written by humans reflects their subjective intentions. Once an event occurs, even if it is recorded immediately, it has already become history. The recorder’s subjective consciousness affects the historical material itself, with personal judgments, likes, and dislikes influencing the records.
There are concealments, falsifications, and exaggerations.
Similar to Akira Kurosawa's "Rashomon," history is always history, but everyone's narrative is different. There are no true epics or messengers. Historical memory does not stand still; each generation has its own perspective.
We can only explore the "truth" of history as much as possible, but the real truth can never be verified. We can only reconstruct the formation process of "historical memory" and understand why the majority of people are willing to believe this process happened in such a way.
For example, the death of Qin Shi Huang, different historical materials record it differently.
In "Records of the Grand Historian: The Biography of Qin Shi Huang," it is recorded that in the 37th year of Qin Shi Huang's reign, when he was the ruler of the Qin state in 21 BCE, he made six tours across the empire, reaching the Shandong Peninsula where he fell ill. He traveled to the Shaqiu Terrace (in Xingtai, Hebei) and, according to his will, passed the throne to Crown Prince Fusu. However, Zhao Gao had conflicts with Fusu but was close to Hu Hai, so he let Hu Hai ascend the throne, killing Fusu and all ministers loyal to the crown prince, along with his brothers and sisters.
The "Zhao Zheng Book" writes: King Zhao Zheng, whose surname was Ying, was referred to by the nobles of the six states using Zhao instead of Qin. The prime minister, Minister Si, and the imperial historian, Minister Qu Ji, submitted a petition saying, “Now the road is far and the decree is urgent, we fear there may be plots among the high officials, please appoint your son Hu Hai as successor.” The king said, “Agreed.”
Hunan unearthed bamboo slips read, “With the loss of the First Emperor, all under heaven are deeply grieved and sorrowful. I follow the legacy edict, now the temple officials and writings that clearly document the great achievements of governance are complete, the laws and orders to be abolished or established are finished.”
Who then holds the truth of history? This is the war of historical memory.
Two groups have completely different claims. Why did Sima Qian choose to record Hu Hai's usurpation as historical fact? The teacher did not give an answer. This segment of history recorded by Taishi Gong is the result of historical selection, what people at the time wanted to see, and the victorious side in the war of historical memory.
So, what exactly is "history"?
History is the collective memory of human society. Human memory can be passed down. Lions and tigers are no different from those tens of thousands of years ago; but humans have changed greatly compared to those from tens of thousands of years ago. This change does not come from physical differences, but from human culture, which passes on knowledge, technology, and thought created by the previous generation to the next. It carries forward the historical memory of the past.
Among the major ancient civilizations of the world, during the Axial Age (5th century BCE), a batch of cultural classics emerged, along with great thinkers and philosophers. These memories of the past formed into classics, cohering the centripetal force of civilized peoples.
Greece - Aristotle (Herodotus' history)
Palestine - Jesus, Christianity
India - Siddhartha Gautama
China - The Hundred Schools of Thought during the Warring States period (Spring and Autumn Annals, Zuo Zhuan)
History is not entirely objective. What has happened exists objectively and cannot be changed or influenced, independent of human will. Historical facts cannot be altered, but historical memory changes constantly, as mentioned earlier, forming the academic consensus of the 1980s.
History emphasizes both temporal and spatial dimensions.
Literature, history, philosophy, archaeology - Humanities (study of past human societies)
Politics, economics, law, sociology - Social Sciences (study of modern human societies)
What is the significance of studying history?
Continuously updating and reflecting on our understanding of the past to provide coordinates for the development of contemporary society, learning from the past to inform the future.
"History does not equal the past; the past only becomes history after being interpreted and narrated. History is the narration of the past."
- Luo Xin, "The Virtue of Historians" in "A Rebel Who Chooses Not to Act"》