'World History' means the rest of the World: ‘World History’ as a major in Chinese Colleges, 1950s-2000s

Abstract

What does “world history” mean to Chinese college students of history major? How does the concept of “world history” be constructed and defined through “world history” textbooks in Chinese college classrooms? Since the 1950s, “world history” has been established as one of the two majors (the other is Chinese history) for all undergraduate students in the history departments of Chinese colleges. A term and a major presumably created and legitimated in contrast to “Chinese history”, “world history” has long been a controversial field and major not only for Chinese college teachers but also for Chinese college students of history major. This paper examines the “world history” textbooks widely used in Chinese colleges for history majors from the 1950s to the contemporary. It attempts to explore whether and how the idea of “world history” has been changed from the Mao’s era to today’s China; and how the first generation of modern China’s “world historians” understood “world” and a “world history” in their own terms.