Zhang Wentao, Danil Lord Smail and the Theory of ‘Deep History’

　　Danil Lord Smail, a professor of history at Harvard University, proposes the theory of ‘deep history’ which aims at providing a new path for the grand historical narrative on the basis of the new knowledge of neuroscience. The theory of ‘deep history’ opposes both the concept of prehistory and the rupture between the nature and the culture of humankind, and insists on the interrelationship between the nature and the culture of humankind. The brain is the biological base of culture and is also deeply shaped by culture in the course of history. D. Smail deserves credit for proposing the theory of ‘deep history’ which brings about the reunion of the different realms of the historical narrative. Nevertheless, he abandons the important heritage of the Enlightenment regarding the acknowledgement of the progress of human intelligence. His proposition of ‘Neurohistory’ is unavoidably crude and cannot be fully effectively applied in the writings of the grand historical narrative.