錢穆의 通史硏究論

Ch'ien Mu's Viewpoint of the General History and Change

Ch'ien Mu(錢穆, 1895~1990) has been a very distinctive historian in China since he had written a Kuo-shih ta-kang(國史大綱, Outline of Chinese history) in 1939. The Kuo-shih ta-kang is a Chinese history book which is described from ancient times to the 1930's. When the Kuo-shih ta-kang published in 1940, many scholars were immediately interested in this book. Since then, this book became a best seller in historical science field. Also this book has given a big influence on Chinese people until now. When the Chinese were disturbed in their own self-confidence from the invasion of Western power during the twentieth-century, Ch'ien Mu stood out as a pivotal historian to reconcile Chinese sprites through his historical works, particularly a notable his Kuo-shih ta-kang. I studied Ch'ien Mu's historical theory of the general history with priority given to change(變) in this paper which consists of four sections including a preface and conclusion. However, the main point is comprised of two sections. First, I described why Ch'ien Mu was interested in the general history and its theory at the first section in this paper. I found out he gave a very clear importance to change the study of the general history.Secondly, I discussed the background of Ch'ien Mu's change theory from three different viewpoints. Then, I summarized it's three different viewpoints. The first is that change is a main key to clear the classification of periods in the general history. The other is that change is applicable to grasp a specific character of history. Another viewpoint is that change is applicable to embody a historical spirit in the general history.