Marxism and China's excellent traditional culture

Source: Website of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection and the State Supervision Commission

In 1926, Guo Moruo described the dialogue scene between Marx and Confucius in the text "Marx Enters the Temple of Literature" in literary imagination and humorous language. After a long conversation, Marx sighed: "I don't want to have an old comrade like you two thousand years ago, in the far East!" You and I are completely in agreement. Confucius also said: "As long as you can understand, those who believe in you will not oppose me, and those who believe in me will not oppose you." "Marxism is in line with China's excellent traditional culture in terms of content, and has been closely integrated with China's excellent traditional culture since its introduction into China from the process of development.

Since its birth, Marxism has extensively absorbed the essence of the thinking of all mankind and is the common wisdom of all mankind. The formation of world history has ushered in an integrated process in which peoples depend on each other and interact with each other. World history includes both material and spiritual production. Marxism is the product of the development and exchange of human thought, including the excellent traditional Chinese culture.

In modern times, European missionaries have introduced the translation of traditional Chinese cultural classics to the West, which has had a profound impact on the European intellectual circles. As a representative figure of German classical philosophy, from Leibniz to Fichte, Schelling, Hegel, Feuerbach, etc., they have studied Chinese philosophy to varying degrees. Marx's articles on China, such as "The Chinese Revolution and the European Revolution", have absorbed the excellent traditional Chinese culture to analyze the situation of the Chinese revolution at that time. Hegel regarded the dialectic of "bipolar connection" as a universal truth applicable to all nations, and Marx accepted this judgment of Hegel, pointing out that "the probable impact of the Chinese revolution on the civilized world is a clear illustration of this principle", thus beginning his analysis of the relationship between the Chinese revolution and the European revolution. Marx pointed out that as britain opened the Chinese market with cannons, the closed old China would inevitably disintegrate like a mummy touching the air, and china would undergo great social changes. He even predicted the emergence of the Republic of China, comparing the general characteristics of Chinese socialism with the relationship between Chinese philosophy and Hegel's philosophy, "Chinese socialism and European socialism have the same common ground as Chinese philosophy and Hegel's philosophy."

The basic positions, viewpoints and methods of Marxism have many points of convergence with China's excellent traditional culture. For example, there are commonalities in basic positions. Marxism adheres to the people's stand and aims at the free and all-round development of human beings. Ancient Chinese thinkers put forward the idea of people-oriented. Mencius said, "The people are noble, the society is secondary, and the king is light." "For example, there is a fit in the basic point of view. Marxism believes that the world is unified in matter, and there is a materialist ideological tradition in ancient Chinese philosophy, "qi" is considered to be the origin of all things, and the world is unified in "qi". Marxist epistemology has been discussed in ancient Chinese philosophy with the relationship between knowledge and action. Many thinkers pay attention to deeds, advocating that deeds precede knowledge and that deeds lead to knowledge. Xun Zi said, "If you do not ascend a high mountain, you will not know the height of the heavens; if you do not come into the abyss, you will not know the thickness of the earth." "Ancient China had a wealth of dialectical thought, believing that everything must be right, and the opposite is mutually exclusive. Lao Tzu said, "Where misfortune and blessing depend, where blessings and misfortunes lie." "For example, there is a methodological convergence. Taking seeking truth from facts as an example, Ban Gu's Book of Han has "cultivate the ancients well and seek truth from facts", which originally meant to examine the true meaning of ancient classic texts and to refer to the attitudes and methods of governance. Mao Zedong reinterpreted the proposition of seeking truth from facts, "'Facts' are all things that exist objectively, 'is' means the internal relations of objective things, that is, regularity, and 'seeking' means that we study them," and established our party's ideological line and working method of seeking truth from facts.

Since Marxism was introduced to China, it has also been integrated with China's excellent traditional culture in the process of integrating it with China's reality. Mao Zedong pointed out: "From Confucius to Sun Yat-sen, we should sum up and inherit this precious heritage." In his speech at the conference celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping clearly put forward the important proposition of adhering to the integration of the basic principles of Marxism with the excellent traditional culture of China. In the new era, it is necessary to further promote the integration of the basic tenets of Marxism with the excellent traditional Chinese culture from three aspects.

First, excavate the ideological resources that the people yearn for a better life from the excellent traditional Chinese culture. A "moderately well-off" society is an ideal social state pursued by the Chinese nation since ancient times. The Book of Shang proposes the "Five Blessings": "One is shou, two is rich, three is kangning, four is good morality, and the fifth is the end of life." The Book of Rites describes a cosmopolitan society in which "the old have an end, the strong have some use, the young have growth, and the widows, widows, loneliness, and diseases all have something to support." These traditional ideas have enlightening significance for the new era to meet the people's yearning for a better life.

Second, we should cultivate the cultural foundation of the Chinese-style modernization road. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out: "We must pay special attention to excavating the essence of China's five-thousand-year civilization, carry forward the excellent traditional culture, combine the essence with the Marxist position and viewpoint method, and unswervingly take the road of socialism with Chinese characteristics." "The many characteristics of the Chinese-style modernization road contain the genetic code of China's excellent traditional culture. Common prosperity and "not suffering from widowhood but suffering from inequality", harmonious development between man and nature and "unity of nature and man", coordination of material civilization and spiritual civilization and "knowing etiquette in a solid position" all highlight the profound historical and cultural heritage of the Chinese-style modernization road.

Third, it demonstrates the Chinese wisdom of a community with a shared future for mankind. The Community of Shared Future for Mankind advocates dialogue and consultation among all nations and countries, exchanges and mutual learning among civilizations, and builds a world of lasting peace, openness and inclusiveness. This embodies the idea of "harmony" in China's excellent traditional culture, and the ideas of "harmony and all nations" and "harmony and difference" have melted in the blood of the Chinese nation. Fairness and justice is the common goal pursued by the people of all countries in the world, and building a community with a shared future for mankind requires promoting the development of international relations in the direction of more fairness and justice and better safeguarding the rights and interests of developing countries. This shows the Chinese wisdom of "the world is just", emphasizes the virtue of publicity, and only by overcoming selfish desires with justice can the world be peaceful. (Wu Xinyu)