Paths Traversed Twice / By Paul A. Cohen . Translated by Liu Nannan

**Each generation of historians must rewrite the history written by the previous generation.** Esteemed historian Paul A. Cohen, whose engagement with Chinese history spans over six decades, has undergone a series of evolutions in his thinking about China and history itself. Throughout his research career, his focus has not been on what Westerners unilaterally deem valuable, natural, or conventional history. Instead, he has been driven by a deep commitment to immersing himself in China, striving to examine and re-understand Chinese history with the utmost depth, as if experiencing it firsthand. The history encountered firsthand and the history reconstructed later are vastly different. The book's title, "Paths Traversed Twice," precisely symbolizes this crucial distinction. Title: Paths Traversed Twice: My Journey as a Historian of China Author: Paul A. Cohen (as interpreted by the content, original author is likely Huang Jinxing based on Section 3) Translator: Liu Nannan ISBN: 9789882372115 Binding: Hardcover Language: Traditional Chinese Pages: 344 Dimensions: 210 x 148 mm **About the Author** Paul A. Cohen (1934– ) is Professor Emeritus of Asian Studies and History at Wellesley College and a Research Associate at Harvard University's Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies. He entered Harvard University in 1955, studying under John K. Fairbank and Benjamin I. Schwartz. His research interests include Qing Dynasty history, Chinese intellectual history, Sino-Western relations, historiography, nationalism, and the conflict between critical history and public memory. His representative works include *China and Christianity: The Development of Missionary Movements and Chinese Xenophobia* (1963), *Between Tradition and Modernity: Wang Tao and Late Qing Reforms* (1974), *Discovering History in China: The Rise of the Sinocentric View in America* (1984), *History in Three Keys: The Boxer Rebellion as Event, Experience, and Myth* (1997), *Speaking to History: Twenty-Century China's Narratives of Yue Wang Goujian* (2009), and *History and Popular Memory: The Power of Stories in Times of Crisis* (2014), among others. **About the Translator** Liu Nannan graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University with a degree in English (2014) and from the Graduate School of Translation (2016). She holds a PhD in Translation Studies from the University of Hong Kong (2020). She has served as an interpreter for the 105th session of the International Labour Conference, obtained the national intermediate-level translator qualification for written translation, and has published numerous academic papers on interpretation. **Endorsements** This memoir by Paul Cohen delves into the core issues that Western scholars of Chinese history have grappled with since the latter half of the 20th century: from the "Sinocentrism" represented by Fairbank to the emphasis on studying Chinese history from a Chinese perspective, and further to exploring the tension between folk historical views and the writing of history, stories, and memories – these are global themes. This is a profoundly inspiring book. As a foreigner who participated in the Fairbank Graduate Seminar at Harvard in 1964–1965, the sincere and enduring friendship between the author and his mentor, Fairbank, described in Chapter Four, also deeply moved me. —Lucien Bianco (Professor Emeritus, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, France) Few historians consider the way they choose to tell the past to be interesting and important in itself. Even rarer are historians who possess a deep understanding of the history of another culture, knowing not only *what* happened but *why*. By illuminating Chinese historical thought with Western analytical imagination—Cohen not only provides a model for Western scholars researching modern and contemporary Chinese history but also offers Chinese historians a new approach to studying their own rich history and indeed, the histories of regions worldwide. His journey of self-discovery brings illumination to the historical profession. —Wang Gungwu (University Professor Emeritus, National University of Singapore)