ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to make a comprehensive review of the achievements and defects of studies on historical figures in the past 60 years within the author’s capacity. History is created by human beings, and thus historical figures have always been the focus of historical studies. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China in October 1949, a new value appraisal system was established in historical figure researches, in which Marxist historical materialism and dialectical materialism held a dominant position. Under the new value system, the old bigwig-centered historical view of heroism was spurned; subsequently, studies on modern Chinese historical figures underwent unprecedented changes. Since the theoretical issue was the guide for historical figure studies, historians contended on how to conduct theoretical studies on historical figures.
