Mr. Yang Shuda's Study On The History Of Han Dynasty

Yang Shuda is a famous master of Chinese traditional culture in modern Chinese history.In the 1920s to 1930s,he was famous in linguistics,philology and other fields.But it is undeniable that he has made great achievements in the field of historiography.In particular,in the study of the history of the Han Dynasty,he was called "Han Sheng" by Mr.Chen Yinke.Based on the tradition of the Pu Xue(simple and plain learning),he mainly focused on approving the truth of ancient books.But he lived in the era of the Republic of China(1 912----1949),during which Chinese culture and western culture collided with each other fiercely.Therefore,not only the rigorousness,but also the unique ideas and methods can be seen in his style of study.However,in recent years,research on his linguistic and philological works continue to emerge in an endless stream,while few people pay attention to his historical works.His historical achievements are not fully excavated,which is disproportionate to his historical status.On the basis of his research on the history of the two Han dynasties,this thesis would explore preliminarily his research achievements and methods of scholarly research.This thesis dabbles in all of Yang Shuda's works on the history of the two Han Dynasties,and gives a detailed explanation to his study of the history of the two Han Dynasties.The first briefly introduces Mr.Yang's life and his academic background.His research on history was influenced by the historical research of Qianjia,the academic tradition of Huxiang and the thought of "new learning" in Qing Dynasty.The thesis emphasizes on the introduction to the Yang Shuda's historical achievements of the two Han Dynasties and the methods of scholarly research.Mr.Yang's historical achievements of the Han Dynasty include the proofreading and correction of historical annals,such as History of Han and History of the Eastern Han Dynasty,and literature works of scholars in the two Han Dynasties,such as Huai Nan Zi and Yan Tie Lun,and the study of the social history of the Han Dynasty.Although there is no systematic theory in his historical thought,it contains the traditional ideas of the Qing Dynasty's scholars of Pu Xue which come down in one continuous line and the thoughts that surpass his predecessors'.With respect to his methods of historical research,Mr.Yang has mentioned many times that his research methods are inherited from Duan Wang's School of study.Like them,Mr.Yang has also used methods such as textual exegesis,institutional textual research,and the old notes of predecessors in the study of history,but at the same time,the progress of the times also brought along innovations to his methods.For example,he is good at analyzing the ancient literature works through grammar and rhetoric.Like many scholars' academic research,Mr.Yang's research on the history of the Han Dynasty inevitably showed some shortcomings,but this is also the result of the limitations of the times.After all,the academic research should be constantly revised and expanded.Only in this way can the academic community keep a steady stream of motivation and progress.