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The Department of Republican Chinese History, Institute of Modern History, CASS, was established in 1972, (originally called the Republican Chinese History Research Group and renamed in 1978). It was the first formal research unit in China to specialize in Republican history, founding and pioneering the field in China. Its major publications are the multi-volume works The History of Republican China, Dictionary of Republican Chinese Biography, and Record of Major Events in Republican China, which lay out a complete system and framework for the study of Republican history, and lead the field in their scope and depth. At the present time, the Department leads the field in the following areas: the quantity and quality of its research works, the age and academic records of its faculty, the research abilities of its faculty and their influence in domestic and foreign academic circles. It also has clear academic superiority and strengths in the fields of Republican political history, the history of the Guomindang, and specialized studies of Republican history, and is a very important center for research on the history of Republican China. In 1996, the history of Republican Chinese history was designated as one of CASS’ priority disciplines, and this was re-affirmed in 2002.

When it was first established, the Department was composed of three groups, working respectively on The History of Republican China, Dictionary of Republican Chinese Biography, and Record of Major Events in Republican China. At its height, there were 40 persons on its faculty. As their projects progressed and the conditions changed, the three groups merged. Now the Department has a faculty of twelve: five research fellows, four associate research fellows, two assistant research fellows and one research fellow-in-training.

The past directors of the Department were Li Xin (1972-1980), Sun Sibai (1980-1982), Li Zongyi (1982-1988), and Wang Xuezhuang (1990-1996). The present director is Wang Chaoguang (1999-2005), and the vice-director is Wang Qisheng.

The Department’s major finished and unfinished projects include: The History of Republican China, Dictionary of Republican Chinese Biography, Record of Major Events in Republican China, and The History of the Chinese Nationalist Party.

The History of Republican China (12 volumes) is the foundation of the field of Republican Chinese history, and also the most representational research monograph in the field in China at the present time. It is published by Zhonghua Book Co.. The volumes published thus far are:

Vol. 1, No. 1 : The 1911 Revolution and the Nanjing Provisional Government, ed. Li Xing, 1981.

Vol. 2, No. 1: The Yuan Shikai Period, Li Zongyi et al., 1987.

Vol. 2, No. 2: The Period of the Northern Warlords’ Anhui Faction, ed. Peng Ming and Zhou Tiandu, 1987.

Vol. 2, No. 5: The Northern Expedition and the Total Collapse of the Northern Warlords, ed. Yang Tianshi, 1996.

Vol. 3, No. 2: From the Shanghai Resistance to the July Seventh Incident, Zhou Tiandu et al., 2002.

Vol. 3, No. 5: From the Victory of the Resistance War against Japan to the Breakout of the Civil War, Wang Chaoguang, 2000.

Vol. 3, No. 6: The Total Collapse of the Guomingdang Regime and the End of the Republic of China, Zhu Zongzhen and Tao Wenzhao, 2000.

Following volumes will be published in the near future:

Vol. 2, No. 3: The Period of the Northern Warlords’ Hebei Faction.

Vol. 2, No. 4: The Rise of the Nationalist Revolution.

Vol. 3, No. 1: The Preliminary Establishment of the Guomindang’s Rule.

Vol. 3, No. 3: The Breakout of the Resistance War against Japan and the Coming of the Stalemate.

Vol. 3, No. 4: The Continuation of the Stalemate and the Victory in the Resistance War against Japan.

Dictionary of Republican Chinese Biography (12 volumes), edited by Li Xing, Sun Sibai, Zhu Xinquan, Yan Ruping, Zong Zhiwen, Xiong Shanghou and Lou Xian’ge, published by Zhonghua Book Co. and completed in 2004, incorporates brief biographies of almost 1000 important people in the political, economic, military, diplomatic, cultural, educational and social fields in Republican China.

Record of Major Events in Republican China (5 volumes), edited by Han Xinfu and Jiang Kefu, published by China Literature and History Press and completed in 1997, provides a day-by-day record of important matters in the political, economic, military, diplomatic, cultural, educational and social fields in Republican China.

The History of the Chinese Nationalist Party, edited by Yang Tianshi, is divided into two parts. Part 1, covering the period up to 1949 (6 volumes), will be published in 2005. Part 2, covering the period after 1949 (3 volumes), is being written now.

The Department’s main developmental goal is to make the field of Republican history into one of the finest in China, and one of the most prominent in the world. At the same time the Department aims to build itself into a center for research and intellectual innovation, combining representative and original achievements in research, well-known scholars, a reasonable personnel structure, a complete set of basic research facilities, enabling it to employ up-to-date research methods and be a worthy representative of the level of research in Chinese historiography in general and at CASS in particular. The Department aims to work hard to maintain its present leading position in China in the field of Republican history, strengthen exchanges with overseas academic circles, and strive to improve its reputation in China and beyond. The Department wants to develop the field in its own distinctive way, not by trying to develop all areas of Republican history at once, but rather by concentrating its resources on gaining more achievements in areas where it currently dominates, such as Republican political history and the history of the Guomindang, in areas where it is likely to be dominant in the future, such as the history of the Guomindang in Taiwan and the history of parties and associations during the Republican period, and in areas that the academic community considers particularly important, such as Republican social history.

Tel: 65255400--605
Email: mgs-jd@cass.org.cn