Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No. 6, 2025

Historical Subjectivity and Historians’ Subjective Consciousness—Reflections on Constructing an Independent Chinese Historiographical Knowledge System

(Abstract)

Yu Pei

The “subjectivity” of Chinese historiography is the product of historians’ creative scientific inquiry in practice—that is, the outcome of the interaction between subject and object in historical cognition. This process reflects how Chinese historians express “subjective consciousness,” pursue truthful and exemplary historiography, and uncover historical laws and truths. For centuries, Chinese historians have honored their responsibilities and mission, dedicating their knowledge and lives with a spirit of historical self-awareness—one that honors the past and enlightens the future—thereby forging the subjectivity of Chinese historiography. One of the major tasks of contemporary Chinese historiography is to further systematize and theorize Marxist historical thought. Advancing research on the subject-object relationship in historical cognition and emphasizing the subjectivity of Chinese historiography are both necessary requirements and key pathways toward this goal. This calls for a more deliberate assertion and practice of historians’ subjective consciousness, the ongoing consolidation and promotion of historiographical subjectivity, and robust theoretical support for accelerating the construction of an independent knowledge system in Chinese historiography.