Cross-cultural Interaction And Global History Research

Occurrence and development background and academic origin of global history, which emerged in the 1960s, are the prosperous development of the globalization and "New History" represented by yearbook school, the denial on "Grand Narrative" by the post-modernism and the tendency of internationalization in historical study after World War II. It critizes " Euro-centralism" and the methodology of world history which is based on unit of nation or state, advocates from a global perspective reviewing and analyzing the course of world history. With the global history of further research, global history scholars gradually focus its research and academic orientation on the influential human experience which formed in the globalization process. On one hand they pay a attention to culture or civilization exchanges and interaction between nation, country and region. On the other hand they turn to the field including distance trade and migration, environmental changing and species exchange and the spread of disease and so on beyond nation, which is always neglected, forming a new kind of unique angle and methods of global history, namely cross-cultural interaction research.The emergence of cross-cultural interaction is influenced by Cultural Form History which is represent by Spengler and Toynbee, for it is both sublation and transcendence. Meanwhile cross-cultural interaction is also deeply influenced by post-modernism, post-colonial and cultural anthropology. It stresses cultural quality and pays a attention to equality and mutual benefit in the culture interaction. It put each district, each nation's culture in the world as a whole to study. It is concerned with interaction and collision between different regions and cultures, which focuses on the form and content of mutual influence between different cultures. Its main research contents are large-scale migration, empire expanded the war and remote trade across the region, which also including the spread of disease, species, communication, missionary activities, technical communication, slaves trade, etc. It uses comparison, "two-way exchange" and " interactive history" studied and a method combining comparison with "interactive communication" research as common methods. It is both a mode or method of studying global history and a unique perspective of studying global history. Its appearance greatly promoted the development of world history both in reassessing of the important historical events in global history and using them as the core in unique redividing of historical period, and with William H. McNeill's< The Rise of the West:A History of the Human Community>, and Jerry H. Bentley's< Traditions and Encounters:A Global Perspective on the past>, are representative of practicing this typical concept. Meanwhile, it has also caused the reflection and chord of our historians, having a positive meaning for reference in constructing our historical world system.