社會史與中國婦女研究

Social History and the Studies of Chinese Women In recent years, the study of Chinese women has become an important new field of Social History. Indeed, this field contributes to the expansion of the area of the "new Social History" which has been developing in the West since the 1960s. The "new Social History" is characterized by the use of new source materials and breakthroughs in methodology and theory which have profound influence upon historical studies of Chinese women. Historians are now using oral-history materials in addition to documents; they have to keep their eyes open for such schools of historical methodology as psycho-history, quantitative history and comparative history; their theoretical frameworks are being reshaped by new paradigms of the social sciences and ideas of feminism. On the other hand, Western ideal types have been reworked to correct for differences between European and Chinese societies, and respect for culture-based subjectivities is called for. In this regard, works by Chinese scholars in mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong are expected to make significant contributions. While both Taiwan and Hong Kong have long been bases of ethnographical studies and academic exchange, China's "open door" policy since the late 1970s has also provided scholars with opportunities for field investigations, interviews, and anthropological participant observations. Recent research products have shown an interdisciplinary trend of studies, a tendency of "approaching Chinese problems from the Chinese points of view," and a strong sense of need to reveal women's actual life experiences and perceptions, and to challenge official data as well as a priori or mechanical grand theories.