The General and the Specific: a Discussion of the Integration of Chinese and Foreign History             Yan Buke

   The significance of “integrating Chinese and foreign history” first lies in that the characteristics of things appear through comparison. The deep principles transcending specific characters become important when two or more samples are involved. Theoretically, the basis for “integration of Chinese and foreign history” is a common framework, and the construction of such framework often extends beyond the field of history into the fields of social sciences, and even of sciences. In the practice of the “integration”, there could emerge kinds of distortion and deformation if one sample is used as a mould to prune another. Modern academics once revolutionized Chinese historiography, yet its contents are mainly based on the Western historical experiences, and developed first in the West. It provides many methods being considered as “universal”, but the historical experiences of many other nationalities and regions are not fully taken into account. The vast multitude of Chinese literature and artifacts remain to be rich historical materials, and the incomparable continuity of Chinese history makes some inherent law of human society display more prominently. Chinese history could provide more academic inspiration, creation, and new knowledge for the “common platform” of historical studies, and that put forward higher requirements on the learning of world history and social sciences of Chinese scholars. The task of “integrating Chinese and foreign history” just needs continuous efforts of several generations.