"We have to 'unlearn' history if we want to know more about the
past," says Richard L. Davis, head of the Department of History at
Hong Kong's Lingnan University and an expert in the history of the
Five Dynasties (907- 960) and Song Dynasty (960-1279) periods.
"Chinese have a distinct sense of right and wrong towards
history. They identify a historical figure by how they were taught
in textbooks as either hero or villain," said Davis, who translated
Historical Records of the Five Dynasties by Ouyang Xiu from
classical Chinese to English.
He was speaking from his own experience of working with Chinese
scholars and teaching Chinese students. "My identity as a foreigner
grants me a sense of distance and liberty to study Chinese history
from a different perspective," he said.
Professor Davis learnt Chinese and Chinese history when he was
studying a double major in political science and Asian studies at
the State University of New York at Buffalo. His interest in the
Song Dynasty grew after a year of extensive reading when he was
doing an MA at Buffalo.
He was also influenced by James T.C. Liu, his PhD advisor in
Princeton University from 1975 to 1985, who was an authority on the
Song period.
He thought he would only have a limited view if he did not visit
China and exchange views with Chinese scholars, so he left the US
and went to teach in Taiwan in 1996. There he taught at Tung-wu
University and National Chung-cheng University from 1996 to
1998.
When he first started teaching in Taiwan, the students found it
difficult to accept the fact that a foreigner could teach them
Chinese history. But, after he explained his research record and
his knowledge of Chinese history and classical Chinese, their
opinions quickly changed.
In his view, Taiwan students had detailed knowledge but they
lacked a clear understanding of history. For example, they knew
Ouyang Xiu as a literary man, but did not know about his stature in
terms of history and politics.
This is why he asked his students to "unlearn" what they knew
and look at history from a new perspective.
Speaking in fluent Putonghua, he said we should reflect
on history from diverse angles to form our own view. For example,
most Chinese think the Song Dynasty was a weak period, when art was
appreciated and military power despised.
For Davis, however, it is his favorite period in Chinese
history. "Song is a rare period in Chinese history in which
emperors value intellectuals. The system itself makes men excel,"
he said.
He is particularly impressed with the beauty of the classical
writing of the time, particularly Ouyang Xiu.
Ten years after he taught in Taiwan, he is now teaching in Hong
Kong. Last year Lingnan University offered him the position and he
decided to leave Brown University where he had been teaching for 17
years.
He thinks Hong Kong is a convenient base for him to do research
on the Chinese mainland. He likes Hong Kong and plans to stay here
for the next 10 years. His forthcoming book, The Cambridge
History of China, Volume 5, a political history on the last
four Song emperors, will be published this year.
(China Daily February 15, 2007)
