Preface of History of Sino-Global Affairs

　　The Earth exists within a space that has time. Once there is time, human observation of the celestial bodies in the universe and everything on Earth inevitably carries the dimension of time. The sense of time deeply affects human cognition. Because of the prime importance of time, the discipline that uses time as its foundation—history—becomes the most fundamental field of study on Earth.

　　History has always been regarded as an essential discipline in the humanities. All of trajectories of human life, including thoughts and actions concerning all things under heaven, are subjects for historians to observe, record, and study. Thus, Sima Qian(司馬遷), the Grand Historian(太史公), aspired for historians to "investigate the relationships between heaven and humanity, understand the transformations from ancient times to the present, and establish their own scholarly perspectives."(究天人之際，通古今之變，成一家之言) This is not an exaggerated statement, but a reflection of Sima Qian’s ambition gained out of his profound understanding about time and its decisive roles in shaping human understanding.

　　Under the global influence of Western modernization in the past two to three hundred years, the field of history has experienced changes in research subjects and styles of discourse due to various historical perspectives, academic trends, and methodologies. After all, historians themselves who live in changing societies would inevitably be influenced by their contemporaries. Over the past decades, scholarly development has gone through different trends, including Western gradualism, imperial and colonial perspectives, the Annales School, socio-economic viewpoints, ideological confrontations before and after World War II, and the focus on globalization and anti-globalization. In the early 21st century, the world has entered an era of Industry 4.0, witnessing the rapid development of the Internet+ and AI. Many disciplines, industries, and even certain political and economic orders may face a moment of reshuffling and reevaluation. Some people might worry whether the ancient discipline of history can also escape the scrutiny of this new order.

　　However, we believe that as long as the dimension of time exists, history will exist. Coexisting with time is the reason why history remains ever-renewing and enduring, and it is its essence.

　　All changes revolve around fundamental principles. The core of history research lies on the objective reconstruction of historical reality based on reliable sources. History of Sino-Global Affairs is a professional academic journal founded by a group of scholars trained in the methodology of history. Committed to the academic integrity of historical studies, we establish this journal as a way to "investigate the relationships between heaven and humanity, and understand the transformations from ancient times to the present." The journal focuses on China's foreign affairs, dedicated to the publication of academic articles on Sino-foreign relations, Chinese diplomacy, history of international relations, studies on bilateral or multilateral relations, and foreign affairs at local level. The journal seeks to create a platform for historians to establish their own scholarly perspectives.

　　The year 2024 marks the beginning of the fifth ten-year period in the in the 60-year cycle characterized by the “Ding” Hexagram(鼎卦): "yin at the fifth line(第五爻), the ears of the cauldron are yellow gold, it is beneficial and correct."(六五，鼎黃耳金鉉，利貞) This symbolizes that the delicacies in the cauldron are well-cooked and can be moved by the cauldron's ears to the banquet, sharing the food with everyone. This year is also the year of Jiachen(甲辰年), the beginning of a new sexagenary cycle. We launch our journal in this special year, hoping to attract the world-class contributions through our humbly initial effort. We warmly welcome submissions from scholars home and abroad and hope to cultivate an academic platform for sharing frontier research and exchanging ideas in the field of China's foreign affairs.

Editorial Staff of History of Sino-Global Affairs
May 4, 2024, Muzha, Taipei