Abstract：The bourgeoisie are one of the essential study objects of modern Chinese history that have been examined since more than a hundred years ago. After the founding of People’s Republic of China， the research entered into a new stage. Before the reform and opening up， the research was mainly to explain and demonstrate the emergence of the new democratic revolution. It has started a new research period since 1949. In this change of research focus， Zhang Kaiyuan played a conspicuous leading role. Three new research concepts have been put forward and practiced successively： first， to study the class foundation of the 1911 Revolution， including the empirical research of the situation of the bourgeoisie during the Revolution and the comparative research between China and foreign countries； second， to open up the research of merchant groups， including chambers of commerce， guilds， countryman groups， gentry merchants and other different categories of merchant groups； third， to promote the research on the interaction among these merchant groups， including the interconnectedness between different business groups， and that between business groups and other social groups. Zhang Kaiyuan’s research approach demonstrates his academic ingenuity of keeping pace with the times and leading the path， which still plays an important part in academic advancement and leadership today.
虞和平. 章开沅对中国近代资产阶级研究的推进[J]. 华中师范大学学报（人文社会科学版）, 2022, 61(3): 1-10.
Yu Heping. Zhang Kaiyuan’s Contribution to the Research on the Modern Bourgeoisie. journal1, 2022, 61(3): 1-10.
2022, Vol. 61 
