Historians should have open minds and make use of all available means in their study of history in the new century. The development of modern China is characterized by extreme complexity, which renders irrelevant the study of modern Chinese history by means of systematic explanation within a fixed framework and the practice that neatly divides everything into stages. In view of this, the focus of study may be focused on the middle and lower echelons of organizations, groups, figures and events, that is, on what Sima Qian called “practical matt...
