梁启超《过渡时代论》与当代"过渡期历史观"的构造

对梁启超历史观的评价一般有两种意见,一种观点认为梁启超是中国现代史学的开创者,其主要贡献是把中国历史纳入到世界史的解释框架之内,用线性的因果关系替代了王朝更替的历史观。另一种观点认为梁启超从欧洲归来后完全放弃了他所倡导的“进步史观”,而成为了一个文化保守主义者。实际上,梁启超所采取的是一种过渡期的历史观,这种历史观既强调历史的进步是不可阻挡的一种趋势,又主张解释历史不能仅仅依赖于纯粹科学方法,而尚需运用直觉的手段,同时他又强调文化积淀而不仅仅是物质更新在文明演进中的作用,这样的阐释方法使我们有可能超越西方历史观对我们思维的长期制约,也可避免“现代”与“后现代”两种极端解释取向所造成的偏颇后果。

Liang Qichao's On the Transitional Age and Contemporary Historical View of Transitional Period

There have been two approaches to explain Liang Qichao's historical mind. One considers Liang as a pioneer of the new historiography in China, whose most important contribution was to interpret Chinese history in the context of the world history. Thus, the traditional perspective of dynastic circle of Chinese history was replaced with the causal view of one dimension. The other believes that Liang turned to a cultural conservatism after he was back from Europe, abandoning the idea of "progressive history". In fact Liang Qichao held a transitionally historical view, which emphasized the fact that historical progress was an inevitable trend, and also Liang pointed out that interpretation of history relied on not only scientific means but the human intuition as well. Meantime, Liang insisted that the cultural accumulation was not merely a result of the development of material culture in the civilization. The method of his interpretation can probably help Chinese historians exceed the ideological restriction from Western historical ideas and avoid the extreme results from the interpretations of "modern" and "postmodern.