View of history that sees the rise and fall of dynasties as passing the mandate of heaven. In this view, a new dynasty is founded by a moral uprighteous founder. The dynasty then established itself. Over time, the dynasty becomes morally corrupt and dissolute. The immorality of the dynasty is reflected in natural disasters and foreign invasions. Eventually, the dynasty because so weak as to allow its replacement by a new dynasty.
Most Chinese history that is published in the People's Republic of China is based on a Marxist interpretation of history. The Marxist view of history is that history is governed by universal laws and that according to these laws, a society moves through a series of stages with the transition between stages being driven by class struggle. These stages are
The official historical view within the People's Republic of China associates each of these stages with a particular era in Chinese history as well as making some subdivisions.
This view of Chinese history sees Chinese society in the 20th century as a traditional society seeking to become modern.
John Fairbanks
Convergence theory is a broad term which includes a viewpoint popular among non-Marxist Chinese intellectuals of the mid 20th century. This includes Hu Shih and Ray Huang's involution theory. This view was that the past 150 years was a period in which Chinese and Western civilization were in the process of convergence into a world civilization.
This view is heavily influenced by modernization theory, but is also strongly influenced by indigineous sources such as the notion of "shih-jie da-tong" or the Great Unity. It has tended to be less popular among more recent historians. Among Western historians, it conflicts with the postmodern impulse which is skeptical of great narratives. Among Chinese historians, convergence theory is in conflict with Chinese nationalism which includes a strong element of China as being unique.
Post-modern interpretations of Chinese history tend to reject the grand narratives of other interpretations of history. Instead of seeking a grand pattern of history, post-modern interpretations tend to focus on a small subset of Chinese history.
In attention rather than focusing on the political elites of China, post-modern historians look also at the daily lives of ordinary people.
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