The Top Ten Developments in Studies on Chinese Humanities in 2019–2020

Chinese humanities scholarship has been robust in recent years and is now going through profound changes. To keep readers abreast of these new developments and trends and to promote humanities scholarship and public awareness, since 2015, the Journal of Literature, History, and Philosophy [Wen shi zhe 文史哲] and Chinese Reading Weekly [Zhonghua dushu bao 中華讀 書報] have jointly chosen the annual “Top Ten Developments in Studies on Chinese Humanities” The selection of 2019 was delayed because of COVID-19, so this year’s selection covers both 2019 and 2020.


Exploration of the Seeds of National Culture and Justification of the Uniqueness of Chinese Civilization Became a Timely Project
The disciplines of history and archaeology have stepped outside the "ivory tower" and received wide attention in the past two years. The archaeological excavation of early remains of Chinese civilization and the historical inquiry into the origin of the ancient Chinese state have not only become a hot topic of academic research but also the focus of attention by all walks of life in China. The continuity and uniqueness of Chinese civilization, as well as the historical necessity of the "Chinese path," have become the focus of many studies. "Without the five thousand years of Chinese civilization, the flourishing path would not exist today." The revival of historical and archaeological studies echoes the era's need to seek answers in the past. Tracing five thousand years of Chinese history, academic endeavors in the humanities, especially history and archeology, will explore the seeds of national culture, reveal the origin and development of Chinese civilization, and justify the prosperity and longevity of Chinese cultural traditions. It is not only an academic task but also a cultural mission to enable the trajectory of Chinese civilization and the choices on the Chinese path to be adequately understood by the world, which will open up a new chapter in the study of ancient history.

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The Relationship between the Ancient and the Modern as Well as between China and the West Were Rebalanced in Commemoration of the Centennial of the May Fourth Movement All three major ideological trends that surged in China during the twentieth century -a Marxist insurrection, total Westernization, and a return to tradition -are directly related to the May Fourth movement (1919). Evaluation of this movement has always elicited divergent opinions and even conflicts. Did an overly radical anti-traditional path in the May Fourth movement cause a crisis of Chinese consciousness, or did the remains of deeply entrenched traditions make the road to China's modernization bumpy? The root of the above-mentioned differences lies in whether the observer's perspective is based on "the difference between China and the West" or "the transition from antiquity to modernity." In 2019, the centennial of the May Fourth movement was marked with widespread commemorations. In addition to interpreting the May Fourth movement from various perspectives, academics have observed that the US-China trade dispute continued to intensify in the twenty-first century, that the humanities are increasingly "localized" in China, and that reviving China has become a dominant theme. The question of "how to deal with tradition" and "how to deal with the West," raised in the May Fourth era have become ever more acute and fundamental. As the Chinese society and culture struggle to achieve modernity, the historical heritage of the May Fourth movement is inevitably related to current and future ideological directions, even choices in the path for development.

A Retrospective on the Past Seventy Years of Academic Progress and the Prospects for a Third Paradigm Shift in the Humanities
The history of humanities in twentieth-century China was determined by two paradigm shifts. The first was the shift from academia in the Republic of China  to academia in the People's Republic of China, and the second was the shift from focusing on issues of class to focusing on issues of modernization. The second shift, accompanied by Chinese economic reform, enabled academic research to prosper, and its development in the twenty-first century is based on its accumulation after this shift. Nonetheless, what has also appeared in academia for the purpose of correcting the partial emphasis on politics in the past is a tendency to avoid realism and almost reconstruct an ivory tower. In engaging with the world and learning from the West, some studies became overly Westernized.
On the seventieth anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, the disciplines of literature, history, and philosophy reflected on history and envisioned the future. Only when academia is rooted in the soil of Chinese society, facing and responding to the problems of the times, will there be sustainable development, which will depend on the third shift that humanities research is experiencing: a directional shift from Westernization to Sinicization. The third shift involves the construction of a system of philosophy and social science with Chinese characteristics, making social sciences more Chinese as well as making Confucianism more scientific. This shift will bring new opportunities and challenges for the humanities in China.

The Prospects for Human Civilization Raised Academic Concerns over the Consensus on Western Social Values
In the history of human civilization, 2020 might be a landmark. Marked by a controversial US presidential election and a growing trend of "America opposing America," Western civilization seems to have reached a moment when a decision must be made. Based on observations in the humanities, though the perceptions of "Trumpism" and "Bidenism" vary, whether the former is regarded as right-wing populism or the latter is regarded as left-wing radicalism, the sharp opposition and rupture between the two ideologically have been thoroughly exposed, which has created a great division in the social consensus of American society, with shock waves emanating and echoing in different corners of the world. Because of the status of the United States in the Western world as a "beacon," the collapse of values reflected in the fifty-ninth US presidential election will inevitably cast a shadow on the prospects for Western civilization. Through this unprecedentedly extensive dispute over core values, where Western civilization and even human civilization are headed has become an urgent and profound issue that the humanities can no longer avoid.

The Nishan World Center for Confucian Studies Was Inaugurated in the Birthplace of Confucius with the Return of the Center for Confucian Studies to Mainland China
Since the eighteenth National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (2012) It will provide powerful support for the ideal of "making our country take initiatives in the Confucian cultural circles in East Asia, maintaining discourse power in the dissemination and research on Confucianism around the world."

Pedagogical Reform or Disciplinary System Shift? The Concept of "New Liberal Arts" Sparked Heated Discussion
The construction of new liberal arts has entered the stage of full implementation with the Declaration on the Construction of New Liberal Arts released in November 2020. But what exactly "new liberal arts" are and what is new about "new liberal arts" are questions that need to be addressed. The majority believes that constructing new liberal arts is about innovating talent training models based on the integration of technology and the humanities, but some observers point out that constructing new liberal arts is about initiating a paradigm shift in the research of liberal arts as well as adjusting the discourse system. In fact, the concept of new liberal arts collectively refers to the disciplines of literature, history, philosophy, politics, economics, and law. It comprises half the subject territory and should not be compared with "new engineering," "new medicine," or "new agriculture." Positioning the "new liberal arts" matters for the development of Chinese academia in liberal arts. In the context of the increasing localization of the humanities in China, the building of a philosophy and social science system using Chinese experience, materials, data, traditions, and paths is a historical responsibility.

As the Concept of an "Involution" Resonated in Academia, a Low-Level Repetitive Cycle in Academic Research Remains to Be Broken
In the second half of 2020, the sociological term "involution" unexpectedly became popular online. It became a term widely used by the general public, especially favored by young people to describe their plight in daily life. The concept of involution was first proposed by the American anthropologist Clifford Geertz. Since then, historians such as Prasenjit Duara and Philip C. C. Huang have applied this concept to the study of economic history in the Ming  and Qing  dynasties to refer to "growth without development." The Chinese internet gives a new meaning to "involution": life characterized by competitiveness involving high internal friction and low innovation.
The popularity of "involution" has drawn the attention of the academic community to a similar phenomenon in current academic research. The increasing investment in research has been paradoxically accompanied by increasingly mediocre academic production. High-intensity pressure induced by employment methods such as "quantitative assessment," "project-based survival," and "promotion or leave" have propelled repetitive articles and even endless plagiarism. This has had negative impacts on the academic environment. Increasing academic integrity and overcoming the impasse of academic "involution" not only requires institutional support from scientific evaluation and assessment but also depends on the location and self-reflection of scholars.

Differences in Prevention and Control Models between China and the West Stimulated Cultural Contemplation as the COVID Pandemic Accelerated "a Tremendous Change Unseen in a Century"
In the face of the COVID pandemic, the most serious public health emergency since the 1918 influenza pandemic, China and the West have demonstrated completely heterogeneous prevention and control models. The Chinese government and society mobilized quickly and took the lead in controlling the pandemic by virtue of strong dispatch capabilities, strict management, and rigorous control mechanisms. Western countries were less willing to mandate effective nonmedical prevention and control, which caused the pandemic to continue spreading. The differences in management models have prompted the academic community to compare the Chinese and Western models from the perspective of institutionalism and its cultural roots.
Theorists argue that China's rapid and successful handling of the pandemic showcases the advantage of China's governance system. This advantage is inseparable from the cultural and psychological roots in Confucianism. Although such Chinese cultural ideas that "everyone in the world is related" and "the community is greater than individuals" have drawbacks, they prove vital when dealing with major public emergencies. In comparison, the pandemic went out of control in the West as a result of liberalism, which prioritizes the value of individual rights. The COVID pandemic has highlighted cultural differences and consequences. Developing a deep dialogue between Chinese and Western cultures from a constructive perspective to jointly cope with the world's "tremendous change unseen in a century" calls for urgent contemplation by scholars in China and overseas.

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The Evaluation of Qin Shi Huang and the Qin System Made Waves Again amid Controversy over the TV Series "Qin Dynasty Epic" In December 2020, CCTV broadcast the historical drama "Qin Dynasty Epic." As the story progressed, the initial high ratings fell, with polarizing opinions. In addition to distortions in historical details, the drama attempted to subvert the general perception of the Qin, in which "severe policies are fiercer than tigers" and "people are bitterly suffering Qin for a long time." The excessive embellishment of Qin Shi Huang's 秦始皇 [r. 246-210 BCE] victory aroused indignation by some viewers. It once again sparked discussion about the merits and demerits of the Qin dynasty [221-206 BCE] and Qin Shi Huang. As the first "unifying" dynasty in Chinese history, the Qin dynasty established the system of counties and emperors, which formed the foundational structure of ancient Chinese states. For thousands of years, the historical significance of the Qin system and its underlying legalism have been a sensitive topic to discuss and explain. Intensive research driven by bamboo slips newly