近代史

modern history (for China, from the Opium Wars until the fall of the Qing Dynasty, i.e. mid-19th to early 20th century)

near / close to / approximately

to substitute / to act on behalf of others / to replace / generation / dynasty / age / period / (historical) era / (geological) eon

surname Shi

history / annals / title of an official historian in ancient China

the not-very-distant past / modern times, excluding recent decades / (in the context of Chinese history) the period from the Opium Wars until the May 4th Movement (mid-19th century to 1919) / capitalist times (pre-1949)