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Reflections of Personnel Promoted via Exceptional Selection at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (Part 1): Deeply Interpreting Fine Traditional Chinese Culture

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Liu Zifan, male, born in March 1986, is a member of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and holds a Doctorate in History. In June 2024, he was promoted to Research Fellow through an exceptional promotion [1]. He currently serves as the Director of the Department of Sui, Tang, Five Dynasties, and Ten Kingdoms History at the Institute of Ancient History of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), a Master's supervisor at the University of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, and concurrently as the Director of the Dunhuang Studies Research Center at CASS. He is also a council member of the China Tang Dynasty History Society and the China Dunhuang and Turfan Society. His primary research focus lies in Sui and Tang history and Dunhuang studies. He has published three monographs and over 70 articles in top-tier, authoritative, and core journals and newspapers such as Historical Research (Lishi Yanjiu), Ethno-national Studies (Minzu Yanjiu), and Journal of Chinese Historical Studies (Zhongguoshi Yanjiu). Some of these articles have been reprinted in full by the Information Center for Social Sciences of Renmin University of China. He has chaired two projects funded by the National Social Science Fund of China. He was awarded the title of "Young Talent of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences" (2021), selected for the first cohort of the CASS "Peiyuan Plan" for young talents (2023), and recognized as a "Young Top-notch Talent" under the National High-level Talent Special Support Program (2024).

As a young researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, I deeply feel that the present is a prime time to immerse oneself in scholarship and realize one's value. New policies, such as the exceptional promotion of professional titles, have provided young scholars with hope and motivation. As a historian, one must conduct in-depth research into Chinese history and culture and contribute more achievements.

I. Cultivating Foundations and Casting the Soul: Utilizing New Development Platforms

I was appointed to the position of Associate Research Fellow in 2021. Under the requirements for conventional promotion, I would not have been eligible to apply for the title of Research Fellow until 2026. Under the policy for exceptional promotion, I have attained the senior professional title at least two years ahead of schedule. Furthermore, for those promoted exceptionally, their titles and positions do not count against the institute's established quotas for five years, providing a special promotion channel and policy support for young talents.

A professional title is the most important honor for a researcher; it is the manifestation of academic pursuit and achievement. However, for most young scholars, the process of title evaluation is one of "involution" [2] and an agonizing ordeal. Much like the "Rank-based Qualification" (xun zige) of the Tang dynasty or the "Performance Review" (mo kan) of the Song dynasty [3], one must wait in a long queue based on seniority. While this is certainly a fair selection procedure, it easily blunts the sharp edge of rising stars. The exceptional promotion policy is like a stone cast into the calm lake of conventional title evaluation, creating ripples and generating a new rhythm. Whether in academic research or policy research, as long as young scholars achieve outstanding results, they can be promoted exceptionally, which has immediately mobilized everyone's enthusiasm.

The requirements for high-quality outputs in exceptional promotions have greatly stimulated the enthusiasm of young scholars to write high-quality papers. Taking the Institute of Ancient History of CASS as an example, the number of papers published by young scholars in top-tier and authoritative journals has been steadily rising in recent years, with nearly ten papers published in major journals this year alone. A positive academic atmosphere has formed among the youth in the institute, significantly aiding our academic growth.

II. Taking History as a Mirror: Shouldering New Cultural Missions

General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out at the Symposium on Cultural Inheritance and Development that we must profoundly grasp the prominent characteristics of Chinese civilization, and that the "Two Combinations" [4]—combining the basic tenets of Marxism with China’s specific realities and with China’s fine traditional culture—is the inevitable path. Systematically researching Chinese history and culture and exploring how to inherit and develop Chinese civilization are important responsibilities for historians at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in the New Era. In recent years, I have participated in several tasks assigned by the central authorities, deeply summarizing the specific connotations and historical wisdom of China’s fine traditional culture, which received important instructions from the leadership. I have participated in drafting works such as the 纲要 (New Edition) Outline of Chinese General History and the Concise Reader on the History of Chinese Civilization, contributing what I can to the research and explanation of Chinese civilization. In accordance with the arrangements of the Chinese Academy of History, I have also undertaken content reviews for television dramas, documentaries, and exhibitions, fulfilling my social service duties.

As a department head, my colleagues and I have leveraged our collective strengths and disciplinary backgrounds to formulate a research plan for explaining China’s fine traditional culture, centered on the collation of unearthed documents and transmitted classical texts. For example, we have undertaken the organization of over 10,000 epigraphic rubbings [5] held in the old collection of the Institute of Ancient History to excavate the elements of China’s fine traditional culture within them. We are collaborating with the Dunhuang Academy to carry out research projects on the collation of Dunhuang documents, responding to General Secretary Xi Jinping’s call to build a "high ground" for Dunhuang studies. We have launched a reading group for the Great Tang Rituals of the Kaiyuan Era (Da Tang Kaiyuan Li) to explain the Chinese ritual and music culture within institutional systems.

III. Immersing in Tempering: Producing Thoughtful and Original Scholarship

My personal research interests are primarily concentrated on the history of Tang dynasty political institutions, military history, and frontier history. I emphasize the utilization of documents unearthed in Dunhuang and Turfan, as well as steles and epitaphs, to explore new questions and methods in Tang history through rigorous textual criticism. First, regarding Tang history research, I have conducted new inquiries into the political culture of the early Tang, which reflects the fusion of agricultural and nomadic civilizations, echoing the issues of the unity and inclusivity of Chinese civilization. My monograph, Heading West Ten Thousand Li to Anxi: A Study of Excavated Documents and the Tang Dynasty’s Administration of the Northwest, which systematically summarizes the historical process and experience of the Tang administration of the Western Regions, was selected for the "Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Library." Second, regarding data collation, my monograph, Collation and Research of Tang Dynasty Beiting Documents, comprehensively reveals the appearance of the Beiting documents through transcriptions, plates, and research. This is the result of many years of concentrated work and has received attention and funding from the local governments of Changji Prefecture and Jimsar County in Xinjiang.

In the coming years, I plan to attempt a more macroscopic study of Chinese civilization from both internal and external perspectives. The first is research on the "All-under-Heaven" order (Tianxia zhixu) of the Tang dynasty, primarily exploring the Tang frontier order and the system of foreign relations, also involving state-building from the perspective of the relationship between the "Hua" (Chinese) and "Yi" (barbarians) [6]. This involves the frontier issue of how to define "All-under-Heaven" and "China," a new concept upon which consensus has not yet been reached; it requires both empirical research and theoretical innovation. The second is research on the Chancellors (zaixiang) of the Tang dynasty, primarily starting with the textual verification of their titles, powers, and actual operations to observe the characteristics of the centralized system in ancient China and the achievements of Tang dynasty political civilization.

In short, the exceptional promotion to Research Fellow has given me more time and confidence. I hope to produce research results that are more thoughtful and original.

Selected Major Works of Liu Zifan

  1. Heading West Ten Thousand Li to Anxi: A Study of Excavated Documents and the Tang Dynasty’s Administration of the Northwest (Monograph), Social Sciences Academic Press, 2024.
  2. Collation and Research of Tang Dynasty Beiting Documents (Monograph), Zhongxi Book Company, 2024.
  3. The Vast Sea and the Heavenly Mountains: A Study of the Military and Administrative System of the Three Prefectures of Yi, Xi, and Ting in the Tang Dynasty (Monograph), Zhongxi Book Company, 2016.
  4. "A Study of the Evolution of the Military Garrison System in the Tang Dynasty" (Article), Historical Research, No. 8, 2024.
  5. "The Title of 'Heavenly Qaghan' and Tang Dynasty State-Building" (Article), Historical Research, No. 6, 2021.
  6. "Military Strategy Combining Agriculture and Animal Husbandry in the Early Tang" (Article), Ethno-national Studies, No. 6, 2022.
  7. "Reshaping the 'Vast Sea': The Establishment of the Hanhai Army in the Tang Dynasty and the Transformation of the Connotation of 'Hanhai' in Antiquity" (Article), Journal of Chinese Historical Studies, No. 2, 2022.
  8. "'Jiaohe' and 'Xizhou' in the Tang Dynasty" (Article), Journal of Literature, History & Philosophy, No. 3, 2023.
  9. "A Re-examination of the Longxing Temple Stele of Beiting in the Tang: Centered on the Reconstructed Rubbings of the 'Fragmentary Stele of Jinman County of the Tang' Formerly in Li Zheng’s Collection" (Article), Journal of Capital Normal University (Social Sciences Edition), No. 5, 2021.
  10. "Why Hu Merchants Do Not Enter the Barbarian Lands: Tang Dynasty Legislation on Hu Merchant Trade as Seen from the 'Fragments of the Ordinances of the Ministry of Revenue from the Kaiyuan Era'" (Article), China’s Borderland History and Geography Studies, No. 1, 2021.

Source: Chinese Social Sciences Net Web Editor: Huihui