Journal of Historical Studies

THE HISTORICAL SCIENCE SOCIETY OF JAPAN

No.863 February 2010

SPECIAL Issue:
Re-Examining Modern Historiography : Cases from Asia
Preface………………………………………………　the Editorial Board（1）
Articles
The Emergence of Modern Historiography in China :
　Re-examining Liang Qichao’s “New History”
　　　……………………………………………… YOSHIZAWA Seiichiro （2）
The Emergence of “History of Iran”: Historiography
in Qajar Iran………………………………………MORIKAWA Tomoko（12）
The Sino-Siamese Relationship in the Dynastic
Chronicles of the Rattanakosin Era………………… KOIZUMI Junko（22）
Colonial Education and Modern Historiography: A Study of
　History Textbooks in Malay in British Malaya
　　………………………………………………………… SODA Naoki（32）
Comments
Comments on the Articles…………………………… MIYACHI Masato（42）

Current Topics
The Coup d'Etat in Honduras and the Changes in
International Society…………………………………OGURA Hidetaka（47）
Exibition Reviews
One Day, Japanese Troops came, and … : Wartime Rape
and 'Comfort Stations' in China………………………AKIYAMA Yoko（56）
Announcements
　National Budget Cuts and Their Implications for
the Future of Young Scholars: Comments and Requests……………（60）
Recent Publications…………………………………………………… （61）

<Summary>

The Emergence of Modern Historiography in China : Re-examining Liang Qichao's “New History”
YOSHIZAWA Seiichiro

In 1902, Liang Qichao published a series of articles titled “A New History,” which played a seminal role in the formative process of modern historiography in China.
Although Liang Qichao tried to present a picture of “Chinese history” as a continuous process which extends though different historical dynasties, he never succeeded in defining the exact contents of this history. This was not his fault, however. Rather, it was a reflection of the difficult political realities with which China was destined to cope in many years to come, i.e. the difficulties of integrating different ethnicities into a single nation state.
Liang Qichao was aspiring to build a modern state constituted by independent individuals who were united by the concept of public morals. This, in turn, prevented him from developing an ideology of national integration based on the emphasis of “national essence”. It was equally difficult for him to adopt the concept of “national polity,” which was influential in the education of Meiji Japan.
Liang Qichao criticized traditional Chinese historiography which was written from the viewpoint of each dynasty and based upon feudalistic values such as lord-vassal ethos. However, it did not mean that he believed that history should be an “objective science.” Rather, he wanted historiography to play a role as a tool of nation-building, providing the emerging nation with a vivid image about its past.

The Emergence of “History of Iran” : Historiography in Qajar Iran
MORIKAWA Tomoko

History-writing in Persian languages has been quite active throughout the ages. Most of the historical works thus produced dealt with “general history”, which extends from the Creation of the world to the modern times, and is divided into two parts, namely before and after Hijra (622 A.D.) of Prophet Muhammad. History of the pre-Islamic period consists of the “history of the prophets” and “history of the kings”, and the history of Islamic period, in its turn, consists of the histories of respective dynasties. This kind of narrative was continuously adopted and was adhered to by the authors, until the 19th century.
The latter half of the 19th century, however, witnessed a new development in Persian historiography. Two Persian books published in 1860-70's, i.e. Name-ye Khosravan of Jalal al-Din Mirza and Tarikh-e Iran of Etemad al-Saltane, are especially important in this context, for they represent the first attempt on the part of historians to write a history of ‘Iran’ as a continuous and comprehensive entity, as opposed to the traditional “general history”.
It is interesting to note, however, that this new type of historiography was produced under the strong influence of European historiography of the time, such as History of Persia (1815) by Sir J. Malcolm. Besides, the historiography in Qajar Iran, again under the influence of European Orientalism, attached great importance to the ‘ancient history of Iran’ as the symbol of their national history and produced ‘Iranian nationalism’ based on their newly founded ?Iranian history'.

The Sino-Siamese Relationship in the Dynastic Chronicles of the Rattanakosin Era
KOIZUMI Junko

The Dynastic Chronicles of the Rattanakosin Era from the First to Fourth Reigns were written and compiled by Chaophraya Thiphakorawong in 1869. In the early twentieth century, Prince Damrong, a half-brother of King Chulalongkorn, who was later praised as the Father of Siamese History, “revised” the texts and published them in part in two volumes: The Dynastic Chronicles of Rattanakosin Era, the First Reign (1901), and the Second Reign (1917). According to Damrong's account, the latter marked the establishment of new modern history as a “Science of Example” that emphasized causal relations based on evidence. This article examines the characteristics of Damrong's history writing as a “Science of Example” by comparing two versions of the above-mentioned Dynastic Chronicles, focusing, in particular, on how Sino-Siamese relations were represented. It is revealed that Damrong's revisions deleted all the expressions that indicated the Siamese “tributary relationship” with China from Thiphakorawong's texts, while introducing a new element that claimed the restoration of Ayutthaya's glorious traditions. Damrong also published a Thai translation of the related Chinese records as part of the Collected Chronicles, sans the records of the early Rattanakosin period. Such all-encompassing historical activities, including the production of source materials that only supported his history writing, ensured the Prince's enduring influence upon the historical studies of Siam.

Colonial Education and Modern Historiography: A Study of History Textbooks in Malay in British Malaya
SODA Naoki

This article aims to examine the impact of modern historiography on Malay vernacular education in colonial Malaya. For this purpose, it makes a comparative textual analysis of the two school textbooks on Malay history that were used in Malay primary schools and teacher training colleges in British Malaya, namely, Kitab Tawarikh Melayu (A Book of Malay History) by a British scholar-administrator R.O. Winstedt and Sejarah Alam Melayu (History of the Malay World) by a Malay teacher Abdul Hadi Haji Hasan.
Unlike the preceding Malay classical literature (hikayat), both of these textbooks dealt with Malay history through the method of modern historiography, that is, the scientific positivist approach. It is interesting to note that, applying this new method, Winstedt and Abdul Hadi drew up somehow similar pictures concerning the Malay history. They both shared the concept of “space” with its territorial implications, thus understanding Malay territoriality to exist at three levels-the negeri-negeri Melayu (Malay states), Tanah Melayu (the Malay Peninsula or Malaya) and alam Melayu (the Malay world). They also shared the concept of “community”, in accordance with which the Malays were understood as a bangsa (race, people) and were acknowledged their hybridity. As for the concept of “time”, they both divided Malay history into distinctive stages, i.e. from the “primitive” to the “Hindu-Buddhist”, and then to the “Islamic,” relying on notions such as “progress” and “civilization”. Then, these stages were followed by the stage of the coming of the Europeans: the Portuguese, the Dutch and the Britons.
At the same time, however, there is also a notable difference between the two authors, when it comes to question of how to write the Malay history. While Winstedt focused on history of the Malays in the Malay Peninsula (Malaya), Abdul Hadi attempted to broaden the scope of Malay history. Abdul Hadi constructed the history of the Malays not only in the Peninsula but also in the other parts of the Malay world (the Malay archipelago) and paid attention to the coming of the Siamese and the Chinese into the Malay world.
Thus, the introduction of modern historiography into Malay vernacular education promoted the transmission and transformation of the new concept of Malayness, paving the way for the formation of pan-Malay identity.