Three issues essential to our insight into the concept and function of historical consciousness, and the description thereof, form the core of this book: historical truth, historical comment and criticism, and ideology (including the historian's trustworthiness).
Taking as a point of departure the workings of these concepts in Chinese historical thinking, the volume carefully draws comparisons with similar topics in the Western tradition. It thus advocates and shows a truly comparative approach that sets the stage for an intercultural dialogue on this important subject.
The first comprehensive work on the political and cognitive dimensions of Chinese historical consciousness set against its Western counterpart.

Jörn Rüsen, born in 1938, is President of the Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut (Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities), Essen, and Professor at the University of Witten-Herdecke. He has published widely on theory and philosophy of history, historiography, historical memory and historical culture.
Helwig Schmidt-Glintzer, born in 1948, is Director of the Herzog August Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel and Professor at the University of Göttingen. His main research interests are in Chinese intellectual history, the history of religions in China, Chinese literature, and the exchanges between China and the West.
Achim Mittag, born in 1958, is presently affiliated with the Kulturwissenschaftliches Institut, Essen, working on a project of comparative historiography and compiling a sourcebook on Chinese historiography and historical thinking.