What is the historical tradition?

First, the feelings of historians: one of the essential attributes of historiography is to care about the future and the historical future of human society. China's ancestors had a simple dialectical understanding of the relationship between the past and the future, that is, "looking at the past and looking at the future" (I Ching). This is one of the earliest sources of historical thought in ancient China. Sima Qian wrote Historical Records, which inherited and developed this idea, and put forward the purpose of "telling the past, thinking about people", that is, telling the past is to let future generations read his books and think. The biography of Sima Qian in Hanshu notes: "Let future generations see their aspirations." Deep in the heart of Taishi Gong. What is Sima Qian's ambition? It is the result of "studying the relationship between heaven and man, learning from the changes of ancient and modern times" and "trapping old news in the world, testing it and testing its success or failure". This is precisely the greatness of Sima Qian's "speech of getting married" (for the above quotation of Sima Qian, see Historical Records Taishi Gongxu and Hanshu Sima Qian Biography). Since then, this thought has developed continuously and become a fine tradition of China's historiography. The so-called "knowing more about the past and not forgetting the past" (Tang Gaozu's letters to Xiao Li and others to compile the history of the Six Dynasties, Volume 8 1) has become a reflection of historians' knowledge and a basic task of historiography. In this sense, historiography is the eternal companion of the historical progress of human society.

Second, historical wisdom. Historiography develops with the progress of social history and plays a great role in this progress. Emperor Taizong emphasized the great use of historiography and said, "Great, cover historical records for use!" (Xiujin, Tang Ji Juan 8 1). This may be more focused on politics. Liu Zhiji pointed out from the perspective of "seeing the sage Si Qi, but introspection without seeing the sage" that historiography is "an urgent matter for outsiders and the lifeblood of the country" (Shi Tong, the establishment of historians). Wang Fuzhi's theory on the importance of historiography includes drawing lessons from historical experience, edifying people's thoughts and the principle of being a man (see Reading as a Mirror, Syria IV). Gong Zizhen further put forward: "Without history, people are on the road. To know, we must first make a history. " (For "respecting history", see Volume V of the Complete Works of Gong Ding 'an) His "Tao" emphasizes the rise from concrete historical experience to historical wisdom. In fact, it contains the idea of dialectical relationship between "history" and "Tao": "history" refers to specific historical events, while "Tao" refers to rules and laws. People can understand the laws of social and historical development when they understand rich historical events; To master this law, people must first study and study history. From the perspective of development, the "time", "potential", "reason" and "Tao" repeatedly discussed in China's historiography all have the significance of exploring laws and rules, and all of them are shining with wisdom. From a more specific point of view, whether it is astronomy, geography, production activities and other understanding of nature, or for the country and the people, the rule of law, education, changing customs and other understanding of society. It has accumulated rich historical wisdom. Historical wisdom is relative to modern scientific knowledge, cognitive level and practical ability; However, people should not and cannot cut off the connection between the two, just as people should not and cannot cut off the history. Anyone's cognitive activities and practical activities (as social people) cannot but be inspired by historical wisdom. We can fully believe that the light of historical wisdom will still shine brilliantly in the future society.

Third, people-oriented thought. At the end of the Western Zhou Dynasty, the concept of "destiny" began to shake, and after the Spring and Autumn Period, humanistic thought continued to develop. Historians explore the relationship between man and nature on the one hand, and the relationship between man and the times on the other. It is in the discussion of these two fields that Sima Qian really found or said that he found the position of man in the historical movement. He established the central position of man in the historical development in the compilation of Historical Records, and explained it from three levels: the first level is to record Wang Jixing and write twelve biographies; The second level is to remember "assisting the thigh arm minister" and "standing at thirty"; The third level is to write down people from all walks of life who are "benevolent and charming and famous in the world" and "make a biography of 70". Specifically, Sima Qian wrote the role of human activities in the historical movement from the following aspects: first, describing the historical process with personnel as the development clue; Second, he affirmed the role of man in historical turning points or major events; Thirdly, he pointed out the positive role of human intelligence in the historical process; Fourthly, he emphasized that the proper use of personnel is related to the life and death of the country; Fifth, he attaches importance to the value of ordinary activities in social life and so on. Sima Qian's understanding and description of man's role in the historical process inherited and developed the germination and tradition of humanistic thought in the pre-Qin period, which greatly enriched people's understanding of man's own strength, wisdom and role. In this sense, the book Historical Records is a sign that history has become human history and historiography has become a historian's rational understanding of history, which has opened the tradition of China's historical humanistic thought, thus having a great and far-reaching impact on the development of China's historiography. This is reflected in the long-term accumulation of people-centered comprehensive history books and the inspiration and encouragement of many outstanding historical figures, which has become an outstanding manifestation of the national spirit of the Chinese nation.

Today, with the development of history, people are discussing a new economic form facing mankind, that is, knowledge economy. Although there are different understandings and explanations, there is a basic knowledge, that is, high-tech industry-knowledge (intelligence)-people. The key is talent, people's quality and people's "omniscience". It is in this sense that people emphasize that "the era of knowledge economy is a truly people-oriented era". Some researchers also pointed out that the basic personal knowledge requirements of researchers, decision-makers and managers of high-tech industries in the United Nations system and western countries can be summarized into six aspects. The sixth aspect includes the knowledge of "national history" and "history of science and technology" (see Wu's "Knowledge Economy-21New Social Trends in the Century").