Page 122 - Journal of Library Science in China, Vol.47, 2021

ZHANG Bin & YIN Xin / Historical development and contemporary construction 121
of the basic theoretical system of archival science with Chinese characteristics

which was one of the three basic theories of archival science in China. In 1999, ZHANG Bin
published his doctoral thesis, On the Value of Archives, in which he discussed the phenomenon,
nature and movement pattern of the value of archives , systematically elaborating on the theory
[12]
of archival value. The major approach of archival value theory lies with the appraisal of archival
value, and in 2002, ZHANG Bin summarized the theoretical standards of archival value appraisal
into eight aspects: age, provenance, function, dual value, macro function, benefit, relative value
[13]
and proportion control .
(3) Development of the pillar theories of archival science in China
First, the theory of records’ life cycle was further developed in China. It originated from the
theoretical interpretation of records and record centers by European and American scholars on
archives. Records are the logical starting point of archival science, and the theory of records’ life
[14]
cycle is an important symbol of the maturity of modern archival science .
In the 1990s, after the three development phases of “emergence of continuum consciousness-
popularity of continuum terminology-establishment of continuum ideology” , Frank Upward,
[15]
[16]
an Australian archivist, proposed the theory of record continuum , and built the model of record
[17]
continuum on that basis to develop the theory of records’ life cycle . Archivists in China have
developed the theory of records’ life cycle from the stages, special forms and standardization
of record movement, and have made three contributions: 1) revealing the movement process
and patterns from records to archives; 2) expanding the research scope of archival science from
“historical archives” to “modern records”; and 3) transforming the simple and static research
methods into systematic and dynamic ones.
Second, Chinese scholars developed the principle of provenance and proposed the whole file
theory with Chinese characteristics. The principle of provenance originated from the principle
of pertinence, and is recognized as the core theory of archival arrangement by the international
archival community. The principle of provenance distinguishes archival science from other
disciplines, reflects and keeps the essential attributes of archives, and determines the theoretical
basis and methodology of archival management, thus considered to be the most distinctive and
central basic theory of archival science. The establishment of the principle of provenance marks
the true formation of the discipline.
After 1949, Chinese scholars introduced the principle of provenance, inherited and promoted
the whole file theory from the Dutch Manual which centered around the principle of provenance,
and proposed the whole file theory with Chinese characteristics. They also proposed the concept
of national whole file archives and clarified the national ownership of archives. Based on the
reflection on the whole file theory [18] , they enriched the provenance and system of the national
whole file archives. At the end of the 1990s, scholars recognized the stability, necessity and
independence of the traditional whole file theory in the context of electronic records of that time,
and upgraded the whole file archives from the traditional “archival collection unit” to the “basic
[19]
unit of archival organization and movement” .