Hegel, the 19th-century German classical philosopher, did offer a unique evaluation of Chinese history in his philosophy of history. He believes that there is no "real history" in China, and the "real" here is judged on the basis of his view of historical progress. In Hegel's philosophy of history, history is a process of continuous development and improvement, and human society gradually moves from a lower social form to a higher stage through internal contradictions and dialectical movements.
Hegel is known to be one of the most active philosophical representatives of idealism in Germany in the 19th century.
1. One of the representatives of German classical philosophy, Hegel's doctrine has been controversial for a long time in later generations, and he has a wide influence on the world of thought, and almost any school of thought has affirmed or criticized his doctrine. It is a pivotal position in the philosophical world of historical philosophical thought!
According to Hegel, although China's history is long and there have been successive dynastic changes, these changes have not been reflected in an essential progress or change. In his view, the forms, political structures, and social relations of the various dynasties did not fundamentally change in nature, but were more like cycles in the same pattern, lacking the dynamic process of social development from feudalism to capitalism and other higher forms of social development that Europe experienced. He likened Chinese history to a casino, where dynasties only took turns to sit in the bank, and the rules of the game remained the same, expressing his belief that Chinese history lacked the kind of spiritual or idea-driven substantive change and development (geist). This view reflects the Western-centric perspective of Hegel's time, but also reflects the limitations of his understanding of Eastern society. It should be noted that Hegel's views were limited by the information available at the time, and did not fully reflect the complexity and intrinsic dynamics of Chinese history. With the development of historical research, especially for a deeper understanding of Chinese history and social changes, Hegel's view is no longer widely accepted by scholars.
Modern scholars generally believe that Chinese history contains rich socio-economic, cultural, and ideological changes and developments.
The following is a systematic summary of Hegel's understanding of Chinese history.
In Hegel's philosophy of history, history is the process of self-development and realization of the Absolute Geist, which reveals its inner logic through a series of concrete states and social formations. He believes that although Chinese society has a long history and profound cultural accumulation, it has not shown the kind of development and progress based on the concept of freedom that he believes. Specifically:
1.Political system:Hegel believed that the imperial power in ancient China was a stagnant form, and the change of dynasties was only a change in the ruling family, rather than a fundamental change in the political system, and lacked the impetus to change to a higher stage such as feudalism and a modern state.
2.Social Structure:Hegel pointed out that China's patriarchal system and the scholarly class solidified the social structure, making it difficult for individuals to break out of their established social status and make breakthroughs, in contrast to class mobility and individualism in Western history.
3.Ethics and morality:Hegel criticized China's moral concept for attaching too much importance to external norms and etiquette and ignoring the pursuit of individual free will and the inner spiritual world, which is also contrary to the principle of rational freedom that he advocated.
4.Technology & Innovation:In Hegel's view, although there are major scientific and technological achievements such as the four major inventions in Chinese history, these technologies have not been transformed into the driving force for the overall progress of society, but have fallen into a cycle of pragmatism and conservatism.
Reflections and Refutations in Modern Academia.
However, with the progress of modern historiographical research methods and the continuous in-depth excavation of Chinese historical materials, scholars have generally criticized and revised Hegel's views
1. Historical Continuity and ChangeModern historians emphasize that Chinese history is not a simple cycle of repetition, but full of internal innovations and changes, such as the ideological prosperity of a hundred schools of thought in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, the strengthening of centralized power and frontier expansion in the Han and Tang dynasties, the rise of science in the Song and Ming dynasties, and the development of commodity economy in the Ming and Qing dynasties.
2. Chinese History from Multiple Perspectives:From the perspective of globalization, scholars have begun to examine Chinese history from multiple dimensions, including regional differences, gender relations, and ethnic integration, revealing the complexity and richness of Chinese history.
Third, the path of social development with Chinese characteristics:The understanding of historical progress should not be limited to the Western European model, and China has had a unique development context since ancient times, such as the unique social order nurtured by agrarian civilization, the social governance model under the influence of Confucianism, and the social changes embodied in previous reform movements.
In short, Hegel's evaluation of Chinese history as "without real history" has obvious epochal limitations and cultural biases. Chinese history is a full of vitality, creativity and constantly self-renewing history, its internal dynamics and development laws are worthy of our more objective and pluralistic methods to explore and interpret, after all, China's 5,000-year history cannot be generalized with one or two sentences of inappropriate evaluation!