Throughout the history of 20th-century China, one clear theme runs consistently: the struggle to realize the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation. The Chinese nation faced two major historical tasks: one was to achieve national independence and the liberation of its people; the other was to attain national prosperity and strength and common prosperity for all. These had to be accomplished in two steps: the latter was the vision and goal for which people strove, while the former was its essential prerequisite.
The history of 20th-century China can also be seen as a comprehensive record of the Chinese people’s practice over the course of a hundred years. It witnessed tragic suffering as well as the joy of victory; in the process of achieving victory, there were great successes as well as serious setbacks. All ideas and propositions were tested in this rich tapestry of practice. It speaks more eloquently than any lofty rhetoric about what is correct and what is erroneous, leaving endless inspiration for future generations.
Professor Jin Chongji was born in Shanghai in December 1930 and graduated from the Department of History at Fudan University in 1951. He is one of the first generation of modern Chinese historians trained after the founding of New China and has achieved numerous groundbreaking accomplishments in this field over more than half a century. He has served successively as Vice Chairman and Chairman of the Chinese Historical Society, a professor and doctoral supervisor at Peking University and Fudan University, and was appointed Deputy Director of the Party Literature Research Center of the CPC Central Committee in 1984, a position he held until his retirement in 2004. In June 2008, he was elected a foreign academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, becoming the third historian from China after Guo Moruo and Liu Danian to receive this honor.
Since the reform and opening-up, he has participated multiple times in drafting important Party documents. He served as chief editor of Zhou Enlai: A Biography, Liu Shaoqi: A Biography, Zhu De: A Biography, among others. His other major works include A Draft History of the Revolution of 1911, *Sun Yat-sen and the Revolution of 1911*, The Turning Point: China in 1947, and others.
