Chinese Social History: Forty Years of Research under the Chinese Economic Reform

In the wake of the Chinese economic reform, Chinese scholars have welcomed in the resurgence of historical social research. Looking back over the past 30-odd years of research development, it could be said there existed four general periods: A brainstorm period, an initial “beginning” period, a period of maturation and lastly an expansion period. From looking at the context of its] theoretical development, it is clear that scholars researching Chinese social history were, from the beginning, focused on how exactly to define “society.” This, however, resulted in much debate about the different concepts of social history itself. Though the matter has yet to be settled, the ultimate research objective for the field of historical social research is in its pursuit of truth. In recent years following the dissolution of disciplinary boundaries, the interdisciplinary viewpoint(s) established by social and cultural history have also provided forth a new horizon for the development of Chinese historical social research.