《古今之变》内容提要：

　　今天，中国人的衣食住行已不复古典之貌，但“现代中国”就是中国当下的模样吗？古典中国如何演化为现代中国？中国进入“现代”会遵循一种通用的演化路径，还是会变成一个相当特殊的例外？如果是例外，它又是如何发生的，它是否不可避免？

　　围绕上述疑问与困惑，作者与十七位中外历史学者探讨了晚清以来的“现代”之路，从不同视角、不同立场重新审视“古今之变”，思考中国的过去、当下与未来。

　　这些话题将在很长一段时间里被反复讨论，本书也难以给出令人信服的答案。但在充斥着悖论和扭曲的时代，在沉重历史包袱和美丽新世界的缠绕下，这些饱含关怀与忧思的访谈必将启发人们越过光怪陆离的表象，抵达更真实的历史与现实。

　　作者简介

　　李礼，历史学者，博士，曾任多家媒体主编，《东方历史评论》、《历史学人》执行主编。著有《转向大众：晚清报人的兴起与转变（1872—1912）》、《求变者：回首与重访》等，编著若干。

Summary of the Changes of the Past and the Present:

Today, Chinese people's clothing, food, housing and transportation are no longer classical, but is "modern China" what China is like today? How did Classical China evolve into modern China? Will China's entry into "modernity" follow a general evolutionary path, or will it become a rather special exception? If so, how did it happen and was it inevitable?

Around the above questions and perplexities, the author and 17 Chinese and foreign historians discuss the "modern" road since the late Qing Dynasty, re-examine the "ancient and modern changes" from different perspectives and different positions, and think about China's past, present and future.

These topics will be discussed again and again for a long time, and it is difficult to provide convincing answers in this book. However, in an era full of paradoxes and distortions, under the heavy historical burden and the entanglement of a Brave New World, these interviews full of care and concern will surely inspire people to go beyond the bizarre appearance and arrive at a more authentic history and reality.

About the author

Li Li, a historian with a PhD, has served as editor in chief of several media outlets and executive editor of the Eastern Historical Review and The Historian. He is the author of "Turning to the Masses: The Rise and Transformation of Newspaper Writers in the Late Qing Dynasty (1872-1912)", "Change-seekers: Looking Back and Revisiting" and several other books.