History And Reality: Research On Ray Huang’s Study Of History

Ray Huang，a Chinese-American historian，was famous for his book1587, AYear of No Significance: The Ming Dynasty in Decline. His writings continuedselling, resulting in the formation of the phenomenon of Ray Huang.However,criticism on Huang’s concept of history and his works are somewhatdivergent.Historians have questioned his academic rigorousness, especially about hismacro-history.Based on the analysis of Huang’s concept of history and themethodology of his historical narration, this paper examines the relationship betweenhistory and reality and tries to relocate Huang’s academic position in contemporaryhistorical study.Ray Huang’s life was not only ill-fated, full of ups and downs, his academiccareer was also disputable. Born in Changsha, Hunan province, he had ever beenenlisted into the Kuomintang army during the second world war and the period ofCommunist Rebellion. After the military service, Ray Huang went abroad to pursuehis doctorial study at the University of Michigan. Having received PhD in history, heonce taught at the Southern Illinois University and New Paltz University CollegeState University of New York from1968to1980, and had also served as a visiting associate professor, Columbia University (1967) and Harvard University researchfellow at the East Asian Institute (1970)，participating in Ming Dynasty celebritybiography and Cambridge history of China research work. In1980Ray Huang wasdismissed by New Paltz University College, and specialized in writing, publishing1587, A Year of No Significance: The Ming Dynasty in Decline, China: A MacroHistory and other writings.His academic career started in the year of fate.From then on, he had been beingdiligent and active in writing and achieved much more profound academicattainments.His rigorous scholarship, endless academic passion,deserveadmiration.Admittedly, Huang’s scholarship and qualification was no match to thefew renowned masters in historical study. But his military service and journalistsexperience, and the temporal and spatial shifts he experienced, gave him all the rarethought nourishment, conducing to the uniqueness of his historical concept to acertain degree.After a turbulent era, and witnessed a bloody battle, he turned into the study ofhistory. For Ray Huang, he had a special feeling.This was personal reflection after aheartfelt experience.On the times influenced him and his contemporaries, Huangcommented,"to many thoughts and ask ourselves".In the decades-long career, his investigation and questioning with this historical concern broadened his academichorizon. His research started from Ming studies, continued to the ancient andmodern times, from Chinese history to the western history. He made its historicalresearch horizon gradually relaxed, to Ming studies as a starting point, the series ofancient and modern, Chinese and western.From Ray Huang’s perspectives, be ittraditional Chinese analysis or modern Chinese inquiry with western history asreference, we can see clearly his proposition of Chinese Modernization, namely,Chinese transformation from a traditional society to a modern society.That was howto realize the modernization of china.The theory of modernization was the main line of Ray Huang’s reflection onChinese history in recent hundred years, also the center of his history research. Theword management, eastward transmission of western scholarship, technical historyconcept serves only as tools for the interpretation of the concept modernization.Hisstudies being seemingly trivial and complicated, a problem consciousness under hismethodology made his research have an intrinsic correlation and logic.If the modernization of Ray Huang was the historical body, the macro-historywas the commander of his entire academic soul.In Ray Huang’s description, both in Wanli Fifteen Years and the analysis of the long term revolution in China, we can seethe macro-history, his philosophy of history, dominating all his study.When we followed Ray Huang’s macro-history and thinking logic gradually outof Ray Huang ’s macro-history, it was necessary to analyze the historical researchmethod. Because the macro-history is not only a historical perspective, but also akind of historical research method.To study Ray Huang’s history and methods, wealso could not deviate from this principle.To a certain extent, Ray Huang’s macro-history was embodied in his researchmethod, which becomes constantly mature. The summarization and comparison ofhis methodology also illuminate the profoundness of his macro-history. AlthoughRay Huang shed some new light on the study of macro-history, his method is farfrom perfect.Not only Ray Huang deviates from the accepted paradigm of history studymethod, he also strikes a different note in the way of expression. With a narrativehistory approach, he tried to seek the possibility of a more affinitive expression forreaders out of the mainstream history description.Perhaps his academic accumulationis inadequate, his insight unimpressive, but from his text we can touch the blood and flesh of history, thus we can taste a new historical language flavor. The above said isalso one of the main reasons of his controversy.Time passed with the debate of Huang’s achievements left. Perhaps RayHuang’s history is only a grain of sand, perhaps several years later his macro-history,the word management, history of the term rationality had become yesterdaychrysanthemum, however,his works and proposals as history legacy will stillrhyme.After the clarification of Ray Huang’s idea, it emerges the refection anddiscussion of such academic values as the orientation of historiography, the basis ofhistorical evaluation, the relation between history and the reality and some otherhistorical issues, which can be regarded as Ray Huang’s historiographical values.