What Kind of Academic History Do We Need? ―Centered on the Studies of Ancient Chinese Literature                                    

Zuo Dongling

In the past two decades, China has gained remarkable achievements in the field of academic history; yet there still exist many defects which need systematic theoretical reflection. To contribute works on academic history that really meet the needs of  academia, the basic principles of “clarifying the purpose” and “distinguishing the origins” proposed in The Learning Cases of Confucians in the Ming Dynasty (Mingru Xue’an) should be obeyed, and the basic connotation of clear “purpose,” fair evaluation, and prediction of academic growth points should be held to. Accordingly, such objectives require researchers with high academic accomplishment as well as rich experience in professional fields.