Young Scholars Forum

China entdecken, China erleben, China begreifen: Junge Wissenschaftler:innen reden von eigenen Erfahrungen

Concept and moderation:
Dr Wang Yi, Team leader of the international department, University of Hamburg

Speaker:
Sebastiaan Rümke, University of Hamburg

It may seem self-evident that Chinese history forms part of the history of the world. Nevertheless, in the writing and teaching of history in Chinese universities, the history of China and the history of the rest of the world are often separated into two different fields. This presentation explains the historical origins of this division by discussing different views of world history among Chinese historians from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century. The talk touches upon Chinese ideas of universal history, in which the Chinese experience of history was used as the mold to understand the history of the whole of humanity. It subsequently looks at the rise of a “national” perception of the past, in which China was understood as one of several civilizations with a historical experience of itself. In conclusion, the talk discusses recent attempts to integrate the study of the Chinese past into the writing of world history. The historical development of the Chinese perception of world history is understood in relation to trends in Chinese politics and society. Consequently, the history of Chinese historical writing offers a window on the general history of modern China.

Sebastiaan Rümke is a doctoral candidate at the University of Hamburg. He holds a BA and MA in history from the VU University of Amsterdam. In addition, he has been a visiting student at the Global History Center of Capital Normal University in Beijing. He currently is staying at Fudan University in Shanghai for his PhD research to the changing Chinese perceptions of world history from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century.

The event will be held in English and takes place on Zoom online platform.