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Salient Features of Chinese Historical Thinking

Academia Sinica, Taipei, Taiwan, chun_chieh_huang{at}hotmail.com

In this article I argue that history occupies pivotal position in the world-view and philosophy of life in the Chinese tradition. Chinese civilisation is deeply imbued with historical consciousness and its people are homo historiens in every sense. Historical thinking in traditional China is infused with a moral meaning. The notion of dao, that is, heavenly principle and human norm, stands at the centre of this consciousness. In view of its practical operation, Chinese historical thinking is on one hand concrete, and on the other, analogical; it enables communication with the past and extrapolation of meanings from history. In this way, historical experience in China becomes a library where contemporary readers may engage in creative dialogues with the past.

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