What Is the Study of History and Philology?——Rereading Fu Sinian's The Objectives of the Work of the Institute of History and Philology
In 1928,Fu Sinian(傅斯年)proclaimed the establishment of the Institute of History and Philology(历史语言研究所)within the Academia Sinica(中央研究院).Even today,it seems to remain unclear why Fu Sinian deemed it necessary to merge such two distinct disciplines as history and philology into one entity and establish this institute,with its"unparalleled significance to the formation and development of modern Chinese humanities scholarship".Through an intensive reading and careful analysis of Fu Sinian's essay entitled The Objectives of the Work of the Institute of History and Philology(《历史语言研究所工作之旨趣》),this article proposes that Fu Sinian was originally intended to establish an academic institution of modern humanities in China with history and philology as its core.The resulting"study of history and philology"is based upon two central principles.Firstly,historical study is a discipline of science,and therefore"historical study is just the study of historical materials".Secondly,the methodology of historical study is philology itself.Thus,the field of historical study ought to expand to cover all possible new sources and utilize new academic tools such as comparative philology(比较语文学)so as to process and study newly-discovered firsthand materials of historical and philological primary sources.The"Study of History and Philology"designed by Fu Sinian followed the mainstream academic thinking behind modern Western humanities,that is,modern humanities must be"historical and philological studies",instead of"philosophical and theological studies".
study of history and philologyFu Sinian(傅斯年)philology"Barbarian Studies"
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