【Academic Archives】
Shen Zhiyuan (1902-1965), Marxist scholar. Formerly known as Huichun, he was a native of Qianqing Town, Xiaoshan, Zhejiang (present-day Xiaoshan District, Hangzhou). He joined the Communist Party of China in 1925. At the end of 1926, he was sent by the party organization to study Marxism in the Soviet Union and participated in the translation work in the Comintern. At the end of 1931, he returned to China and taught at Shanghai Jinan University, Beiping University, Northwest United University and other universities. After suffering from typhoid fever in 1933, he lost contact with the party organization. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, he served as deputy editor-in-chief of Life Bookstore. He joined the China Democratic League in 1944 and was a member of the First National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and a member of the drafting group of the CppcC Common Program. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he served as the director of the Compilation Bureau of the General Administration of Publications, a member of the Cultural and Educational Committee of the Government Council, a member of the East China Military and Political Committee, and the director of the Counselor's Office of the East China Military and Political Committee. He was elected as a deputy to the First National People's Congress and a member of the Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. He was a member of the Standing Committee of the Central Committee of the China Democratic League and the chairman of the Shanghai Municipal Committee of the Democratic League. He is the author of "Outline of New Economics", "History of Modern Economic Theory", "Introduction to New Democracy", "Basic Problems of Modern Philosophy", and translated "Dialectical Materialism and Historical Materialism".
Shen Zhiyuan was a pioneer in the early study of Marxist political economy and philosophy in China, and an outstanding disseminator in the process of sinicizing Marxist political economy in the 20th century.
In 1958, Mr. Shen (Hengshan) Jun Ru came to Shanghai and met Shen Zhiyuan and Xu Zhucheng. According to Xu Zhucheng's recollection, during that meeting, the old man sincerely said to Shen Zhiyuan: "When I first learned Marxism-Leninism, I learned it from your books, and you are my teacher. Don't be discouraged, you should cheer up in the test, you will still be my teacher in the future. ”
Embarked on the road of theoretical exploration of the sinification of Marxist political economy
As a child, Shen Zhiyuan received a private school education, and in 1913 he went to Hangzhou to study at Zhejiang Provincial No. 1 Middle School. The May Fourth Movement ushered in China's New Democratic Revolution, but Shen Zhiyuan, who was walking in the ranks of students, was "advised to withdraw from school" by the school. That year, Shen Zhiyuan was 17 years old.
Soon after, he was admitted to the Affiliated High School of Shanghai Jiao Tong University. After graduation, he went to Shaoxing as a junior high school English teacher. Two years later, he was transferred to Songjiang Jingxian Girls' High School to teach, and the provost was Hou Shaoqiu, an early member of the Communist Party of China. After several turns, he returned to his alma mater, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Affiliated High School, deputy director of the Academic Affairs Office, and the provost was Chen Wangdao. During this period, Shen Zhiyuan was influenced by progressive publications such as "New Youth", "Enlightenment", and "Guide", participated in the "May Thirtieth" Movement, and in the first half of 1925, he was introduced by Hou Shaoqiu and joined the Communist Party of China.
In December 1926, shen zhiyuan was sent by the CCP organization to study Marxism at Sun Yat-sen University in Moscow. In June 1929, he was admitted to the Institute of Chinese Studies of the Moscow Academy of Communist Sciences with honors. During this period, he worked as a compiler of the Chinese Book and Periodical Compilation Department of the Eastern Department of the Communist International, and participated in the translation of the Chinese edition of the sixth volume of the Selected Works of Lenin, and listened to Stalin's report on the question of the Chinese revolution on the spot.
As Shen Jiru, a researcher at the Institute of World Economics and Politics of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said: "In the face of China's national conditions of weakness and poverty, countless people with lofty ideals have thrown themselves into the great patriotic movement to save the country and save the people. Shen Zhiyuan, who pursued the truth, naturally threw himself into this great patriotic movement and tried to find a theory to save China. ”
In December 1931, after five years of study and work in the Soviet Union, Shen Zhiyuan returned to his homeland and successively served as a member of the Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Committee, a member of the Central Cultural Commission and a member of the Social Scientists Alliance.
After a typhoid fever, in the summer of 1933, Shen Zhiyuan lost contact with the party organization.
Even so, in the days that followed, he never gave up Marxist theory as a weapon for pursuing truth, interpreting truth, and disseminating truth, nor did he stop writing and translating economics and philosophical books and articles with Marxism as the guiding ideology. Among Shen Zhiyuan's total works and translations, Marxist economics and philosophical works account for almost half of them. Therefore, some scholars say that "he is a 'full-habitat' Marxist scholar."
In 1932, Shen Zhiyuan's first book, Hegel and dialectics, was published by the Shanghai Pen Gengtang Bookstore. The author expounds from many angles that dialectics is the epistemology and methodology of the proletariat's understanding of the world and the transformation of the world, the logic of revolution, and emphasizes the unity of theory and practice. This is precisely the academic guiding ideology of Shen Zhiyuan's study of Marxist philosophy. In the preface, he says: "Modern philosophy is nothing but dialectical materialism and materialistic dialectics. This is the whole Marxist bottom cosmology. ”
In December 1936, the Commercial Press published Shen Zhiyuan's translation of academician Midin of the Soviet Union, Dialectical Materialism and Historical Materialism (Volume I) (Volume II, published in July 1938). The Soviet Union made many attempts to write a textbook that systematized the philosophical ideas of Marx and Engels, but without success, and finally, the textbook of Academician Midin was designated by Stalin as the Marxist philosophy textbook of the Soviet Party School. Shen Zhiyuan translated the book into Chinese, which made an important contribution to the spread of the Marxist philosophical system in China. During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, Luo Ruiqing, a Chinese proletarian revolutionary and military scientist, once wrote: "After reading several philosophical books, according to my personal experience, I first recommended Shen Zhiyuan's translation of "Dialectical Materialism and Historical Materialism" which is relatively easy to read and understand. ("On the Education of Serving Cadres in the Army", published in the Eighth Route Army Military and Political Magazine, February 2, 1939.) The whole book is 720,000 words, which is divided into the first volume "Dialectical Materialism" and the second volume "Historical Materialism". In the following 20 years, according to incomplete statistics, the first volume was republished 18 times and the next volume was republished 13 times. In order to avoid censorship by the Kuomintang authorities, when the book was published, the translator's name sometimes appeared Shen Zhiyuan, and sometimes the pen name "Wang Jianqiu" appeared.
The Reading Life of Mao Zedong (Central Literature Publishing House, 2003 edition, first edition in 1986), edited by Gong Yuzhi, Feng Xianzhi, and Shi Zhongquan, introduces five philosophical books that Chairman Mao loved to read and annotated the most during his time in Yan'an, two of which are "Dialectical Materialism Course" translated by Li Da et al. and Shen Zhiyuan's translation of Dialectical Materialism and Historical Materialism (volume I), "which are directly related in text and content to the Theory of Practice and contradictions." Dialectical Materialism and Historical Materialism (Volume I) extracts and repeats this sentence: 'To know matter is to know the form of motion of matter.' This indicates that he took note of this point of view, which was later written into the Theory of Contradictions. (See page 70 of the book, see also Collected Commentaries on Mao Zedong's Philosophy, Central Literature Publishing House, 1988, p. 166))
Outline of New Economics – "A Cold Mountain Flower in the Wilderness"
In the 1930s, an unprecedented global economic crisis swept across the capitalist world. Some economists in the West tried to save capitalism by transplanting the Soviet planning methods into the capitalist system without changing the capitalist system. There are also scholars in China who echo this view. In 1933, Shen Zhiyuan's Outline of Planning Economics was born from time to time. In the book, in response to the reformist point of view, Shen Zhiyuan clearly pointed out that "only under the socialist system can the planned economy be realized", and systematically discussed the preconditions for the implementation of the planned economy.
Science is necessarily linked to its popularization, otherwise science will lose its basis of function. The same is true of economics.
After the mid-1920s, domestic scholars translated and published a number of works introducing Marxist economics, but most of the content was not accurate and complete, the text was obscure, and some even did not have punctuation marks. The famous modern historian Li Pingxin (pen name Shao Hanqi) once wrote: "As far as I know of the political economy co-authored by Labidos and Ostovy Cheynov, there are three translations — but there is still a shortage of practical economic books for beginners." Although Kawakami's outline of economics (translated by Chen Bao) is very flexible and compact, and the explanation is quite clear, the smell of the new pedantic lecture notes is still too strong, and there is almost no discussion of actual economic matters and the latest economic organization. The various Kalpital drawdowns, while useful for beginners, are rarely sufficiently condensed, and the new world economic situation certainly does not matter. As for Bogotánov's outline of economic science (there are also two translations), it is simply very problematic and is not suitable for beginners to read. ”
Therefore, in order to "provide a book that is beneficial to the learners of economics in general" (Li Pingxin), in May 1934, the Beiping Economic Society published Shen Zhiyuan's "Outline of New Economics". In this monograph, Shen Zhiyuan used the vernacular to integrate Marx's "Capital" and Lenin's "Imperialism is the Highest Stage of Capitalism", introduced the Marxist political economy system to Chinese readers more completely and accurately, and demonstrated the historical law of the emergence, development and inevitable replacement of socialism by socialism. It was an easy-to-learn, easy-to-understand university textbook that helped many progressive youth embark on the revolutionary road. According to incomplete statistics, Shen Zhiyuan constantly revised the book, and reprinted it 18 times from 1934 to 1954. Luo Zhufeng, former chairman of the Shanghai Municipal Federation of Social Societies, once wrote: "I bought this book and read it carefully, thinking that the enlightenment role in economics was equivalent to Aischi's "Popular Philosophy" in philosophy, but it was more systematic and more profound. ”
Li Pingxin said that the "Outline of New Economics" is a "popular teaching material", and Luo Zhufeng said that this book has played an important "enlightenment role" because the people it has influenced are not limited to the economics circles, but are among the literary and artistic workers, natural scientists, soldiers, young students, and so on. Therefore, the degree of its depth and simplicity can be imagined.
Academician Tan Jiazhen, a famous biologist and geneticist, once wrote: "I know Shen Zhiyuan as early as his famous monographs and translations of "Outline of New Economics", "Hegel and Dialectics", "Dialectical Materialism and Historical Materialism", etc. These books have had a great influence among intellectuals of our generation. (Qunyan, No. 12, 2002)
Cheng Bugao is a left-wing filmmaker, and he directed the first left-wing film "Wild Currents" of the star company. Shen Ning, the former screenwriter of the Shanghai Film Studio, recalled the scene when he visited Cheng Bugao in his early years, and once wrote: "At that time, he held a copy of Shen Zhiyuan's "Outline of New Economics" in his hand every day. When I walked into his office, he saw me, and the shelf was still relatively large. And I said to him, 'I've seen many of the films you've directed.' He listened, looked at me, and asked me what I was here for? I said I was here to write the script. ”
Not only Cheng Bugao, but also Liu Wuyuan, the former editor-in-chief of the "Journal of Literature", also held a copy of the "Outline of New Economics" and loved it, "In 1944, in Yong'an, Shancheng, I nibbled on two big books: one was the "Outline of New Philosophy", whose author was forgotten; the other was "Outline of New Economics", and the author was Shen Zhiyuan. Say 'nibble', because I am not very literate, such a theoretical work, it is very difficult to read, almost like eating meat bones that are not very rotten. Therefore, it is really difficult to say how much a big book has been 'nibbled' on. Many nouns and concepts are remembered, such as: commodity production, surplus value, exchange value, use value, abstract labor, concrete labor, law of value... Wait, I still haven't forgotten. After nibbling on the "Outline of New Economics", I admired the author Shen Zhiyuan. His name is deeply imprinted in my mind."
Eight years later, Liu Wuyuan transferred from the army and came to work at the East China People's Publishing House in Shanghai. In 1953, the East China Bureau opened a Marxist-Leninist Night University in the place where the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences is now, "The leaders of the publishing house knew that I had not received a systematic education in Marxist-Leninist theory, so they let me go to night university and read political economy." Unexpectedly, the person who gave us a lecture was Mr. Shen Zhiyuan, whom I had long loved."
"Of course, we need a new economics book with popular content combined with reality and on the new and old economic organizations", li Pingxin did not hesitate to praise Shen's "New Economic Outline", and "New Economic Outline", "I think it is quite able to meet this demand". The historian even went so far as to use the analogy of "a cold mountain flower in the wilderness" to describe such an economics textbook and its surroundings at the beginning of its birth.
Member of the drafting group for the Common Programme
In 1936, Shen Zhiyuan participated in the establishment of the "National Salvation Congress" in Shanghai. In August of the same year, Shen Zhiyuan was invited by Li Da, who was the head of the Department of Economics at peking university (now Peking University) law school, to serve as a professor in the department. After the Lugou Bridge Incident, Shen Zhiyuan transferred to the Law Business School of Northwest University to teach. After the Kuomintang Ministry of Education dismissed Shen Zhiyuan, Cao Jinghua, and eight other progressive professors at the end of 1938, Shen Zhiyuan went to Chongqing to serve as deputy editor-in-chief of the Life Bookstore sponsored by Zou Taofen, and edited the Large Theoretical Quarterly Magazine "Theory and Reality" of the Life Bookstore.
In October 1940, after the "Anhui Southern Incident", Shen Zhiyuan and a group of progressive people in the cultural circles were evacuated to Hong Kong through Zhou Enlai's arrangement. While in Hong Kong, he participated in the editorial work of the weekly magazine "Mass Life" after the resumption of publication, and together with Zou Taofen, Mao Dun, Jin Zhonghua and nine others published "Our Attitude and Proposition on State Affairs" on the new fourth issue of "Mass Life", denouncing the Kuomintang government's destruction of the anti-Japanese progressive forces and putting forward the nine-point stand of resisting Japan.
After pearl harbor in late 1941, the Japanese attacked Hong Kong. Under Zhou Enlai's arrangement, Shen Zhiyuan and progressives in Hong Kong returned to Chongqing with the help of the Dongjiang guerrillas and continued to write. In September 1944, through the introduction of Shen Junru and Ma Zhemin, Shen Zhiyuan joined the NLD as a member of the National Salvation Congress.
In July 1946, shen Zhiyuan traveled from Shanghai to Hong Kong. In addition to working for the NLD and editing Theory and Reality, he also served as head and professor of economics at Dade College. In January 1948, the Third Plenary Session of the First Central Committee of the China Democratic League was held in Hong Kong, and the "Declaration of the Third Plenary Session" and other documents were adopted, marking that the Democratic League abandoned the "middle line", accepted the NEW DEMOCRATIC revolutionary program of the CPC, and opposed the dictatorship of Chiang Kai-shek. Shen Zhiyuan became Shen Junru's right-hand man. According to Qian Jiaju's recollection, the Declaration of the Third Plenary Session of the Central Committee was drafted by Shen Zhiyuan.
On the eve of the founding of New China, Shen Zhiyuan returned to Beiping from Hong Kong, became a member of the First National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, and became a member of the drafting group of the Common Program, and it was Premier Zhou Enlai who served as the leader of the group. The Common Programme served as a provisional constitution until the constitution of our country was formulated.
It is our duty to disseminate Marxism
Engaged in political activities for many years, Shen Zhiyuan has never lost his true character as a scholar.
In the memory of the publisher Shang Ding, Shen Zhiyuan's appearance has always been warm, "he is approachable, talks and laughs, and does not have the shelf of a university." When a few people gather, he is very happy and will sing a Piece of Beijing Opera to help him. And his articles are smooth and vivid, clearly organized, logical, handsome and elegant, one grid and one word, meticulous. As an editor, reading such a manuscript is refreshing and pleasing to the eye, which is tantamount to a professional enjoyment."
In the early days of liberation, Shen Zhiyuan worked in Beijing as the director of the Compilation Bureau of the General Administration of Publications. In the midst of his busy schedule, he still wrote a special article for "New Democratic Economy" for the "Lecture" column of "Prospect", which was serialized for 14 issues. Manuscripts are sent from Beijing and are never delayed.
Later, during his tenure as president of the Prospect Society, Shen Zhiyuan did not ask the Prospect Society for a single point of remuneration, and also took the initiative to reduce his remuneration by half in the book "Dialectical Materialism and Historical Materialism" published by the Prospect Society.
In 1955, the Chinese Academy of Sciences established four faculties, and Shen Zhiyuan was elected as a member of the Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences, becoming the only economist in Shanghai to be elected as a member of the Faculty.
In 1956, in order to meet the climax of economic construction and march toward science, the central government decided to establish the "Shanghai Institute of Economics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences" (at that time, the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences had not yet been established) in Shanghai, the most economically developed region of East China, and appointed Shen Zhiyuan as the preparatory director of the institute (April 1957 to March 1958). Shen Zhiyuan did a lot of work for the establishment of the institute and the creation of the Academic Monthly.
I think that year, the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences Institute of Economics Socialist Political Economy Research Office gathered big coffee. Yuan Enzhen, former director of the Institute of Economics of the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, specifically described Shen Zhiyuan as "more famous", "He was the first person in China to introduce Marxist political economy, and in the 1930s he wrote a "New Economic Outline", which was well-known in the Liberated Areas and the 'Chiang Kai-shek District', and was quite famous throughout China." At that time, the study and research model in the research room was that the master took the apprentice, and Yuan Enzhen's master was Shen Zhiyuan.
On January 26, 1965, Shen Zhiyuan died suddenly of myocardial infarction, leaving behind several posthumous manuscripts such as "On the Relative Stability of Socialist Society", of which "Introduction to the Essence of State Monopoly Capitalism" became the last work that wrote 130,000 words and was not completed, which was the first monograph in China's economic circles to systematically discuss state monopoly capitalism.
The famous economist Zhu Shaowen once wrote: "Comrade Zhiyuan grew up under the care and nurturing of the party, and is not only a philosopher of the people, but also one of the pioneers of Marxist economics in China. He linked theory with practice and actively disseminated the scientific truth of Marxism for the liberation of the nation and the prosperity and strength of the motherland. He was a good Enlightenment. His life has left a deep imprint on our economic community. (Economic Research, No. 1, 1986)
Looking back on the master's life, as Hu Sheng, a famous scholar and former president of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said in his speech at the symposium commemorating the 20th anniversary of Shen Zhiyuan's death: "Comrade Shen Zhiyuan is an economist who has made many contributions to the spread of Marxism. At an important turning point in the Chinese revolution in the 1930s, he actively engaged in the writing and translation of Marxist political economy and philosophy, expounded the basic theories of Marxism, and helped many people grasp the basic principles and methods of Marxism. No matter what the environment, his belief in Marxism is unswerving, firmly believing that Marxism is the truth of science, and taking it as his duty to disseminate this truth. Looking back at the history of the development of Marxism in China, we cannot forget the many revolutionary intellectuals, including Shen Zhiyuan, who devoted themselves to spreading Marxism. ”
Author: Liu Di
Editor: Liu Di