The history of youth for the nation
— chinese institute of history, chinese academy of social sciences
Young people work hard
Chinese youth newspaper (17/05/01st edition 2026)
To whom? To whom? This is the first question of an age that one generation of historians must confront。
At the chinese institute of history of the chinese academy of social sciences, a group of young people are working tirelessly to follow up on a generation of historians' quest for “what is china”。
From field scouts at henan luoyang's archaeological site to yellow files in the archives; from the front stage of the international historic dialogue to the exhibition site of the china archaeology museum ... In accelerating the process of building china's autonomous knowledge system of history, this group of young historians is giving an honest answer: integrating individual academic pursuits into the national renaissance of greatness, worthy of the academic life of the times, in the service of “the great nation”。
The spirit of the world:
In the summer of 2025, du xuan, a researcher at the world history institute of the chinese institute of history, completed what seemed to be “an impossible mission”: it took her and her colleagues less than 10 months to compile and publish the nearly half a million words of the new history of the second world war. As a contribution to the celebration of the 80th anniversary of the victory, the book aims to build an autonomous chinese knowledge system for the study of the history of world war ii and to give the world a historic voice。
“academic research is often the work of individual scholars, but this time it is organized and concentrated, with a distinct national mission.” dujun is a core member of the coordination group, pushing the drafts during the day, discussing the issues at night, and it is common for proof-reading to be late at night. She was asked, "is it worth it?"
Instead of answering directly, doo-jin told a story. In a post-reading sense, a secondary school history teacher wrote that the book broke the western-centred framework for reading history and helped front-line teachers to establish the correct historical outlook。
“only when individual academic pursuits resonate with the historical process of national renewal, learning has its roots and words have its weight.” du chi said。
How can young historians be trained to take charge of their first studies? The answer of the chinese institute of history is that it is a political spirit that is rooted in thought。
Theory of thought is the “first lesson” of youth history。
In recent years, the chinese institute of history has regularly organized thematic seminars and conferences to educate and sensitize political and party leaders on party loyalties in conjunction with major time points, and to strengthen the situation of young scholars. Young marxist theory classes, marxist classics, “academies at the front of history” youth academic salon one course, one seminar to encourage young scholars to speak and speak at key nodes。
Through their irrefutable history, young scholars have touched the spirit of governance of the ancient historians, and have felt a more profound understanding of the course of governance, guided by marxism, and the cynicism that has recast china's ancient history and confronted major historical themes. “historical research should be based on `the greats of the nation', with a firm foundation for research, activating the culture, responding to the needs of the times, taking on the tasks of the times, contributing wisdom and strength to the continuation of the valour, building cultural power.” zhao onhai, researcher at the ancient history institute of the chinese institute of history, said。
The legacy of cure echoes deep in history and inspires generations of young scholars to travel to fields. At most, young scholars at the institute of archaeology of the chinese institute of history spent almost 300 days a year “boking” at archaeological sites. In the summer of 2023, she travelled to a rich site in the habei district to carry out archaeological excavations. Shortly afterwards, the area was hit by an exceptionally heavy rainstorm, the water surged and the walls of the residential compound collapsed, and she and her team were able to cover the area with rain, pack up the antiquities, and hold it for more than 10 days in the resting villages。
The youth team includes newlywed husbands and newlywed fathers, but everyone is in the house and for everyone. When the rich sites were assessed as the “six major archaeological discoveries” in 2023 and 2025, all of them were rewarded when the relics of the breaking walls were found on the outskirts of the henan luoyang two-mile site. Wang ham won said, “it is worthwhile to choose one thing, to devote youth to the search for civilization.”
In order to increase the number of young scholars from different academic backgrounds who are able to learn more about the country, the chinese institute of history has, over two years, selected more than 20 young scholars in groups to travel to archaeological sites and xinjiang bases for months of practical exercise and to grow up at a difficult pace。
Outside the fields, more young scholars look to the people. Activities such as the “key things” study and the “spring home study” continue to unfold. They went to hunan xinxi, guangdong shenzhen, shaanxi po chicken, anhui ceong county, etc., and wrote the next report of the study, which smelled of dirt. These reports relate to rural renewal, geriatric health care, the protection of revolutionary sites and the age of historians。
"as much dirt as is laid beneath your feet, so much truth will remain in your heart." choi jing, deputy director of the party committee of the chinese institute of history, said that these living materials, from the grass-roots level, gave historical research temperature and power。
Plastic bone: break the fence and let the youth pick the beam
Last year, sun zheng of the ancient history institute of the chinese institute of history received an unexpected promotion notice: he was promoted to the status of a researcher through the “special contribution break” channel, thanks to years of historical research on relations with the border and surroundings, and the prominent contribution of international human diplomacy. In the traditional process, this route is at least three or four more years。
“this completely eliminates the anxiety of young scholars who are only serial-class heroes and who cross the bridge.” sun xin told chongqing zhong zhongqing that he clearly felt that in recent years there had been a profound shift in the orientation of the talent of the chinese institute of history, “all scientific evaluations are guided by actual social results”. This means that young scholars can stand by and be true scholars and university questions in the service of “the great nations”。
Sun's jump is not an example, but a microcosm of an institutional “breakdown”. Over the past five years, two people in this institution have been able to break the “qualifications and dissertations” shack through special contributions, five of them passing age; at the same time, a large number of talented young people under the age of 45 have been selected to key positions such as the institution's team, the head of the institute, the editor-in-chief of the periodicals, so as to truly give “one place to the good”。
In the past two years, the chinese institute of history has selected four “research and innovation teams”, three of which are headed by young people. Team management is free of pre-defined frames, performance targets and a “first-to-first-to-first policy” order service, all oriented towards academic breakthroughs。
When he was a deputy researcher, sun successfully led the “history and scientific innovation team for the west”, which was not conceivable in the context of the previous “classifications” scenario. “teams do not ask for their titles, do not look at their age, but only their abilities and performance.” sun told journalists that such a mechanism of “profiling” has completely broken down barriers to homes, rooms and rooms and has integrated resources within and outside the institution. This team has rapidly grown into a new force in frontier historical research, backed by this new mechanism。
The director of the scientific research and management service of the chinese institute of history, li bin, is encouraged by the growing enthusiasm of the young scholars at the institute and the country's wider public, thanks to these platforms and policies。
While activating the innovative energy of young people in the institution, the chinese institute of history has also directed its vision to the nation by launching the lantai young scholars' programme, which targets young historians throughout the country and supports them in undertaking holistic, strategic, integrated and forward-looking research; and organizing the young historians' forum, which promotes close integration of historical research with the development of the times。
Wang qi, a researcher at the institute of historical theory of china’s institute of history, was selected as a candidate for the “randei young scholars programme” in 2025, and his deep-cultivated summer commercial weekly agricultural society and agro-civilization research was recognized as an area of “difficult and slow output.” “it is difficult for me to resolve to stay the course for the long term without adequate funding and high-end platform.” after the election, stable policy support allowed him to leave his worries behind。
In the past, the humanities were “divisive and rigid” and some scholars were trapped in narrow circles and insufficiently innovative. In order to solve this problem, the chinese institute of history has set up a “six-house” youth working group mechanism. The chinese institute of history has launched a programme of work for the integrated implementation of actions to improve the theoretical learning and qualifications of young people. The regularization of activities such as the “young scholar sharon” “young scholar” “study integration seminars” has created new academic growth points in cross-disciplinary ideological collisions。
Not long ago, young scholars from different fields, including frontier studies, ethnology and history, resonated at an interdisciplinary salon on the theme “governance of borders and the building of the chinese national community”, where an interdisciplinary team was formed to focus on the major themes of border governance and the building of the chinese national community to work together on national strategies for services。
In li bin's view, while the era and the countries of the various disciplines are focused, scholars share a common sense of real-life concerns and problems in the context of the same era. This cross-cutting dialogue, interdisciplinary cooperation, is made possible precisely by the “six houses” synergy mechanisms, the “scientific team for scientific innovation”, which “weaks the limitations of a single perspective, brings resources together, academic insights and a greater focus on the organic integration of ideological heights, theoretical depths and time temperatures”。
Spoken: keep cold-doors insulation and "go round"
Pushing the historic door of the floating mountain map of a thousand miles, a “history boulevard” from the birth of the rama apes, which began some 8 million years ago, with the star-tops on its head, and a “history china casts civilization” on the front of a round copper mirror..
This is the first impression the chinese museum of archaeology made for the audience. Over the past three years, zhao myunghui, deputy director of the department of antiquities and museums of the chinese institute of history, and his team, have planned a series of exhibitions on such important topics as the chinese institute of history and the national historic sciences on the exploration of the sources of chinese civilization。
Let the “silent” relics speak at the heart of the young crowd. In the face of the “museum heat” that has continued to rise in recent years, zhao minghui said that the central focus of the show was to move from “one-way output” to “two-way homogeneity”, “making cultural objects an extension of `human' and giving them fresh body temperature and memory”。
This idea is found everywhere in the china archaeological museum exhibition. One of the "seven-five-five-five-five-five-five-five-five-five-five-five-five-five-five-five-five-five-five-five-five-year-five-five-five-five-five-five-year-five-five-five-year-five-five-five-five-year-five-five-year-five-five-five-five-five-five-five-five-five-year-five-five-five-year-five-five-year-five-year-five-five-five-five-five-five-year-five-five-year-five-five-five-year-five-fly-fly-five-five-five-five-five-fly-five-five-five-five-five-。
“see how far the past is, how far the future is.” zhao minghui said that that was the power that history gave to the present。
From the museum, more young historians are moving to the forefront of the dissemination of history and culture. In recent years, the chinese institute of history, using the key point of “youth perspectives, ages of dialogue and response”, has launched a large number of works with theoretical depths, age heights and realistic temperatures that allow the “cold-door insulation” to continue to be “rounded”。
From the national level to the international arena, the chinese institute of history has also paved the way for young historians in the world of dialogue。
In june 2024, doo-ryun, standing on the stage of the international young historians dialogue, presented an english speech entitled " building a community of civilization and destiny in central latin america " , with scholars from different countries。
In this dialogue on the theme “culture and innovation of the world's civilization”, dujun's speech was loud. She explained in depth the “compatibility” of chinese civilization and the “mixed multi-source” of latin american civilization, showing the civilizational vision and academic commitment of contemporary chinese youth historians。
In november 2024, the chinese institute of classical civilization was officially established in athens, greece, the first institution of classical civilization from an asian country, a large group of young people with aspirations who had travelled far into the ocean to tell the story of chinese civilization。
"what touched me most was the resonance of different nations in the depths of civilization." doo-jun said that this exchange gave her a fresh thought about chinese history, “let's move from `show civilization' to `contribution of wisdom'. It's not just about what we have to say, it's about what we have to say, it's about what our wisdom can solve, and it's about building on the common challenges facing humanity
The second international youth historic dialogue will be held shortly, when more young chinese scholars will be on the world stage to make a chinese voice of mutual understanding of civilizations。
Reporter
Source: chinese youth newspaper (17/05/01st edition, 2026)
