Jian Bozan

Jian Bozan (Traditional Chinese：翦伯贊; Simplified Chinese:翦伯赞; Hanyu Pinyin:Jiǎn Bózàn, 1898-December 18th, 1968) was a prominent Chinese Marxist historian.

Biography

Early years and education

According to reports, Jian was a sinicized Uyghur born in Hubei province.cite book | title=The Mongols at China's Edge: History and the Politics of National Unity| url=http://books.google.com/books?id=g3C2B9oXVbQC| last=Bulag| first=Uradyn Erden| date=2002| pages=89| publisher=Rowman & Littlefield] However, other reports identify him as a native Uyghur of Taoyuan County, in Hunan province. [ [http://english.people.com.cn/english/200012/28/eng20001228_59085.html Ethnic Uygurs in Hunan Live in Harmony with Han Chinese ] ] In 1916, he entered school in Beijing, where he studied and conducted research concerning China's economic history. Believing in the ideal of industry as China's savior, he travelled to the University of California in 1924 to research economics. During this time, he closely read Anti-Dühring, The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State, The Communist Manifesto, and other famous Marxist works. He returned to China in 1926. He published his first Marxist interpretation of Chinese history during the 1930s, and joined the Communist Party of China in 1937.cite journal | author=Weigelin-Schwiedrzik, Susanne| title=On Shi and Lun: Toward a Typology of Historiography in the PRC| journal=History and Theory| year=1996| volume=35| issue=4| page=74-95| url=http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0018-2656%28199612%2935%3A4%3C74%3AOSALTA%3E2.0.CO%3B2-Z| pages=74| doi=10.2307/2505445 ] Cite web|url=http://www.guji.cn/openzjml.php?id=19|title=Chinese Ancient Classics Net - Jian Bozan|accessdate=2007-09-10|language=Chinese] As a close ally of the Party, Jian became professor of history at Peking University after the party's rise to power in 1949, and later served as dean of the faculty of history and vice-president of the university.

During the Cultural Revolution

Jian was heavily criticized during the early stages of the Cultural Revolution. During the early 1960s, Jian began to advocate historical accounts that utilized a combination of the methodology of class analysis with that of historicism. For this, Mao Zedong criticized Jian at the end of 1965. Qi Benyu, a prominent Party figure of the time period, also criticized Jian on four counts: opposing the theory of class struggle, denigrating peasant revolutions, praising emperors and kings, and applauding conciliatory policies.cite journal | author=Munro, Robin| title=Settling Accounts with the Cultural Revolution at Beijing University 1977-78| journal=The China Quarterly| year=1980| volume=82| page=308-333| url=http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0305-7410%28198006%290%3A82%3C308%3ASAWTCR%3E2.0.CO%3B2-L| issue=82| pages=308] These criticisms drove Jian to commit suicide. He, along with his wife, took an overdose of sleeping pills and died on December 18th, 1968.cite journal | author=Wang, Youqin| title=The Second Wave of Violent Persecution of Teachers: the Revolution of 1968 | journal=35th International Congress of Asian and North African Studies| year=1997| url=http://humanities.uchicago.edu/faculty/ywang/history/1968teacher.htm]

Abridged list of publications

* "Treatise on Chinese History" (中国史论集)
* "Discussions of Historical Questions" (历史问题论丛)
* "Anthology of Historical Works by Jian Bozan" (翦伯赞历史论文选集)
* "Historical Data and the Study of History" (史料与史学)
* "Recent Capitalist Economy of the World" (最近之世界资本主义经济)
* "A Course in the Philosophy of History" (历史哲学教程)
* "An Outline of Chinese History" (中国史纲)
* "History of the Qin and Han Dynasties" (秦汉史)
* "Timeline of Chinese and Foreign History" (中外历史年表)
* "General Reference on Chinese History" (中国通史参考资料)

ee also

*Wu Han
*Chen Boda

References