夏曾佑(1863-1924)及《中國古代史》硏究

Xia Zengyou (夏曾佑) was one of the famous scholars hailing from the late Qing and early Republican Period. Compared with his counterparts like Kang Youwei (康有為), Yan Fu (嚴復), Liang Qichao (梁啓超) and Zhang Binglin (章炳麟), studies concerning Xia from the past few decades are obviously far from adequate. This is basically due to a lack of materials relating to Xia's life and his scholarship, hence there has been difficulty in doing research on Xia. Scholars could only produce short articles about Xia.

However, by making use of first-hand sources such as the newly discovered diary, letters and poems written by Xia, the author hopes that a clear picture of his life can be provided. This thesis also intends to analyze his pioneering historical writing, Zhongguo gudai shi (《中國古代史》), which was originally a history text book for senior middle school students but has a great impact on the modern Chinese historiography.

This thesis is divided into eight chapters, not counting the introduction and conclusion. The first chapter traces Xia's academic origins by conducting an in-depth study of the scholarship of Xia's ancestors. The academic achievements of the members of his family as well as his mother's family are introduced. The second and third chapters mainly focus on Xia's political career, while his active participation in the education and journalism sectors are also dealt with.

Xia's well-received historical writing, Zhongguo gudai shi, is analyzed in the fourth to eighth chapters of this thesis. The fourth chapter mentions the background and the process of publication for this outstanding history book. The fifth chapter elaborates Xia's goals, ambitions and the methodology that Xia used when compiling Zhongguo gudai shi. The sixth chapter tries to introduce the historical view as well as the intellectual thinking of Xia as seen in this scholarly writing. The seventh chapter is an attempt to study the content of this book. The book not only emphasizes the importance of religion and the relationship between the Han race and the ethnic minorities, but also includes traditional Chinese historiography and the newly imported interpretations on the study of history. Xia's book received high reputation in his time and has huge influence on the modern Chinese historiography. This point is thoroughly discussed in the eighth chapter. The conclusion gives a brief account on new findings this thesis has obtained.