Page 84 - 《近代史研究》2021第五期

went extra miles to put in place consultative mechanisms for stakeholders from the river basin and modernize the
management of construction sites． Such efforts left behind some profound legacies beyond the benefits of irrigation and
played a delicate role in the modernization of the local society．

The Politics of Flood Control ͇ The Dispute over“Diverting Water from the Yellow Ｒiver into the
Huai Ｒiver”in 1930s …………………………………………………………… Li Fagen̵ 81̶

The Tragedy of Conventionalists͇ MacMurray and the Ｒise and Fall of The Washington System
………………………………………………………………… Ma Jianbiao and Liu Chang̵ 96̶
After the outbreak of World War IđPresident Woodrow Wilson advocated the principle of“open diplomacy”đwhich
later merged with the tradition of international conventions and resulted in a new“Conventionalism”that aimed to replace
the“old international order”． The Harding Government continued to pursue this policy after its succession to the Wilson
Administration． MacMurrayđa disciple of President Wilsonđbecame an important practitioner of “Conventionalism”． In
1921đMacMurray served as the Chief of the Division of Far Eastern Affairs of the State Department． He was one of the
architects of the“Washington Plan”đwhich was indeed an implementation of“Conventionalism”in Asia． The resultant
Washington System upheld the principles of“open diplomacy”and“concert of powers”in an attempt to restrain Japan's
aggressive expansion in East Asia． HoweverđChinese anti-imperialist movementđwith its determination to abolish unequal
treatiesđstrongly shook the Washington System and forced the U． S． government to abandon the principle of “concert of
powers”． As a disciple of “Conventionalism”đMacMurrayđwho had become Minister to China at that timeđcame into
sharp conflict with the Department of State． According to MacMurrayđit was the Department of State who spearheaded the
betrayal of“Conventionalism”and indirectly contributed to the rise of Japanese militarismđwhich ultimately led to the loss
of peace in East Asia． The failure of MacMurray was nothing but a“tragedy”for U． S． modern foreign policy． And the root
cause of his failure was that the United States had always tried to evaluate and transform East Asia according to its own
criteria． The rise and fall of the Washington System was essentially a process in which the U． S． government forcibly
exported its domestic laws and values to East Asiađrevealing the“legal imperialism”tendency of the United States．
Duke Yansheng Mansion and the History of Amending the Ｒegulation on Consecrating Confucius
̵ Chongsheng dianli̶ ………………………………………………………… Li Xianming̵ 116̶

The Formation of Chinese Marxist Historiography and the Debate on Social History
…………………………………………………………………………………… Zhang Yue̵ 130̶
Guo Moruo and others first attempted to apply historical materialism to the holistic research of Chinese history．
Historiography of Historical Materialism in China first took shape when Dushu magazine initiated the debate on Chinese
social history． Study on Ancient Chinese Society authored by Guo Moruo and the debate on Chinese social history initiated by
Dushu magazine followed two different approaches͇ the former centered on the“why”question and the latter attempted to
study social history through exploring the nature of the Chinese society． Guo based his arguments on the unearthed
archaeological findings and tried to ascertain the appropriate boundaries of materialism． In contrastđparticipants in the
Chinese social history debate explored the logic behind history based on their analysis on the nature of the Chinese society．
Both represented the conscientious efforts to examine the the development of Chinese history and the nature of the Chinese
society at different historical stages through the lens of historical materialism． The debate on Chinese social history stemmed
from concerns for concrete issues on the groundđbut it was manifested in the approach of“embedding historical materials
into theories”． Such an approach was incongruent with the academicism tradition in history study which concentrated on
historical materials and advocated “seeking truth”in historiography． It was no wonder that it was not recognized by
mainstream historians for quite a while．

An Investigation of Cai E's Premature Death in Japan ……………………… Zeng Yeying̵ 143̶

Between the Public and the Private͇ Zhu Jiahua and Hehe Primary School
……………………………………………………………………………… Wang Longfei̵ 151̶

English abstracts translated by Jia Yajuan