Christian Lamouroux

Longue durée et profondeurs chronologiques

Résumé Cette brève contribution vise à replacer l’article de David Armitage et Jo Guldi dans un contexte historiographique élargi à l’histoire de la Chine, puisque Fernand Braudel prit garde dès l’origine de lier sa perspective de la longue durée à l’étude renouvelée des aires culturelles. En abordant les champs de l’histoire sociale et économique et, au-delà, des sciences sociales, les spécialistes de la Chine, en Europe comme aux États-Unis, déconstruisirent la trop longue durée de l’histoire chinoise en mettant en lumière son dynamisme, étouffé par ce qui n’était jusque-là qu’une « civilisation ». Ce mouvement a favorisé une heureuse spécialisation qui peut aujourd’hui s’appuyer sur des big data, construites en particulier dans l’entourage immédiat des deux auteurs.

Song Renzong's Court Landscape: Historical Writing and the Creation of a New Political Sphere (1022-1042)

The emergence of a new kind of imperial sovereignty during the Song period is a crucial question for all the historians who acknowledge this moment as the beginning of autocratic rule and the birth of the bureaucratic state in China. Deng Xiaonan’s research on the “Ancestors’ Family Instructions” (zuzong jiafa 祖宗家法) prompted us to work together on the development of this concept in connection with Song ideas of imperial authority and sovereignty.1

Chronological Depths and the Longue Durée

Abstract This short contribution seeks to place David Armitage and Jo Guldi’s article within a broader historiographical context, enlarged to include the history of China. From the outset, Fernand Braudel was careful to link his vision of the longue durée with the new “area studies” exploring international cultures. By studying social and economic history and more generally by using approaches drawn from the social sciences, European and American specialists of China have deconstructed the overly longue durée of Chinese history and shed light on its dynamism, previously repressed and concealed by the notion of a so-called “civilization.” This process facilitated a successful specialization, which can today be supported by the “big data” being compiled in circles close to the two authors.

Le Travail Artisanal En Chine (Xe–XIIe Siècles)

This study deals with collective representations of handcrafts, which were elaborated by the Song (960-1279) literati. Stirred by the strong demand of urban populations, this ideology was constituted combining the literatis interpretations of the classical tradition, the social promotion of talent and technical know-how, and the standardization of specialized knowledge in response to government demands. This process had a long-term social impact, in terms of both the professional identity of workers, and the social perceptions of technical knowledge.

Le Travail Artisanal En Chine (Xe–XIIe Siècles): Entre curiosité lettrée et expertise bureaucratique

This study deals with collective representations of handcrafts, which were elaborated by the Song (960-1279) literati. Stirred by the strong demand of urban populations, this ideology was constituted combining the literatis interpretations of the classical tradition, the social promotion of talent and technical know-how, and the standardization of specialized knowledge in response to government demands. This process had a long-term social impact, in terms of both the professional identity of workers, and the social perceptions of technical knowledge.