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This article is an overview of historical perspectives of the Republican period in China. The author traces historical scholarship of the Republican era to the 1970s. Since then, there has been an expansion of topics and research methods. This diversity is demonstrated in a symposium held in August 2010, organized by the Research Center on Republican China at Nanjing University in collaboration with Harvard University, Cambridge University, Oxford University, Moscow State University, and Tokyo University. This paper seeks to reflect on the foundation of the history of the Republic of China as a basis to propose a “historical perspective of Republican period” and outlines several issues of significance.