On Imagination Of History

When historians start to talk about the historical imagination, the historians of practice are mostly taking evasive policy. In their views, because the historical imagination will endanger the objectivity of history, authenticity, and even history could run out of the ranks of science. Whether this concept also means that the historical imagination couldn’t has the function of understanding and cognition? Obviously, the history of history show that historical imagination couldn’t withdraw from the research of the history, but historical imagination always plays an important role in the historical research.When we read some kinds of historical works, all historians give full recognition for the historical imagination in the historical research and the teaching of history. But no clear definition of what is historical imagination; domestic and foreign scholars have been classified in the historical imagination, but the criteria for classification and separation of the classification also have similarities and differences, which necessary overall sorting out the categories of historical imagination and their classification; All historians believe that the historical imagination must has certain limits or in chains to dance, but what is certain limits? How to limit its range, we argue about the historical imagination in every kind of historical imagination is necessary to discuss the authenticity of historical imagination or rationality of historical imagination. Therefore, the paper will discuss in the following three chapters.Charpter1:firstly, this paper will discuss the definition of historical imagination, the author is not prepared to give a traditional definition of historical imagination, but by discussing the historical imagination and memory, the historical imagination and reasoning, the historical imagination and imagination of literary’s difference and relationship of them to explain what the historical imagination is. The author give a description of historical imagination, this description is not a concept of historical imagination, but simple a description of historical imagination. The description is that the historians’s research are on the basis of the result of academic, the historians’s own life experience, research experience and life experience of the entire human experience, and empathy to construct a dynamic image of the historical picture, and give a reasonable or logical explanation.Chaepter2:after clarifying what is historical imagination, according to the nature and function of historical imagination, the author try to divided into four parts of historical imagination:1historical imagination of a literary style;2the one using the counterfactuals of historical imagination;3the one connecting the gap between the two events’historical imagination;4the one constructing the historical details of historical imagination. Also the author has cited numerous examples in the paper to enrich these four kinds of historical imagination.Charpter3:the author attempt to discuss the rationality of historical imagination, some of the historical imagination types would be slightly involved in the authenticity of historical imagination. the historical imagination of a literary style and the one connecting the gap between the two events’historical imagination are only have a certain degree of rationality; supposing of the counterfactuals of historical imagination has a certain degree of rationality, but Clinometric of the counterfactuals of historical imagination has a certain degree of authenticity; constructing the historical details of historical imagination used basic material have authenticity, and the entire picture of historical events have a certain degree of rationality.Finally, there will be a brief summary and raise some issues of historical imagination, in order to provide a direction for the further research.