The basic experience of the spread of Marxism in China

■ Xu Liwen Shu Jianhua

The hundred-year history of the Communist Party of China is a history of the development of the party from its founding to the world's largest ruling party, a history of the struggle of the Chinese people to resist internal and external oppression and build a new China under the leadership of the party, and a history of the spread of Marxism in China from a foreign ideology to the mainstream ideology of society. In his important speech at the conference celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, General Secretary Xi Jinping stressed: "To learn from history and create the future, we must continue to promote the sinicization of Marxism. Throughout history, Marxism has achieved a three-way turn in the process of spreading in China, accumulated rich experience, and is of great practical significance for the development and dissemination of the theory of socialism with Chinese characteristics in the new era.

The main body of communication: from the spontaneous dissemination of progressive intellectuals to the self-conscious dissemination of the Chinese Communist Party

The early spread of Marxism was mainly carried out through intellectuals such as Li Dazhao, Chen Duxiu, Li Da, and Yang Zai'an, in the form of introducing Marxist thought, forming various Marxist study and research groups, translating and publishing classic works of Marxism, etc. It was a spontaneous spread of progressive intellectuals, and its audience was mostly limited to intellectuals. After the founding of the Communist Party of China, the main task facing the party organizations was how to disseminate their own theories under the siege and suppression of various forces, gather comrades with similar ideals, and unite the broad masses of the people to carry out social revolution.

Since its founding, the Communist Party of China has regarded news and propaganda work as an important part of the party's work, and the dissemination of Marxism has gradually developed into organized and purposeful self-propagation. First of all, we should make full use of the advantages of intellectuals' theoretical propaganda to expand Marxist propaganda. Of the 13 deputies to the "First Congress" of the CPC, 12 had run newspapers and periodicals before and after the founding of the Party, and most of them were progressive and revolutionary newspapers and periodicals. Second, create a working mechanism for news and publicity. The "Program of the Communist Party of China" adopted by the "First Congress" of the Party put forward: "Wherever there are more than five Party members, a committee shall be established. If there are more than ten Party members, a Propaganda Committee member shall be established. "Third, actively create and expand the position of Marxist dissemination. After the establishment of the party organization, it actively founded party newspapers and party periodicals such as "New Youth", "The Communist Party", "Guide", and "Labor Circles", and established the People's Publishing House to publish the works of Marx, Engels and Lenin, as well as various revolutionary books.

The development and growth of the Communist Party of China and the spread of Marxism complement each other, and the spread of Marxism has gradually become the consciousness of Chinese Communists. Through the Party's propaganda and unity work, the ranks of Party members grew rapidly, which in turn laid a solid foundation for the further spread and expansion of Marxism and for the CPC to lead the social revolution. Socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era, and Chinese communists must build a systematic communication system with a strong sense of communication subjects, expand communication channels and targets, form a clear purpose of communication, penetrate deeply among the broad masses of the people, and continuously expand the scope and influence of Marxism.

Communication content: from the dissemination of basic principles and foreign experiences, to the integration and dissemination of basic principles and the sinicization of Marxism and the popularization of the times

The spread of Marxism in early China mainly focused on the basic principles of Marxism, such as Li Dazhao's "My View of Marxism" and Yang Zai'an's "Marxism", all of which expounded Marx's materialist view of history, class struggle theory, theory of surplus value and other ideas, or introduced the experience of Socialist Revolution and Construction in Russia. Later, the Chinese Communists gradually formed the content of the dissemination of Marxism in China. On the one hand, we should base ourselves on China's actual conditions and solve China's problems. From propagating the ideas of Marx and Engels to propagating the political propositions of the Communist Party of China, from introducing the experience of the Russian revolution to exploring the direction and line of the Chinese revolution, from drawing on the Socialist model of the Soviet Union to exploring the form and content of China's socialist construction, the spread of Marxism in China has gradually formed a communication content with focusing on China's specific conditions and solving China's actual problems. On the other hand, the Formation of Marxist Chinese Discourse and Chinese Expression. In the course of the party's struggle, the Chinese Communists have based themselves on principles and are not limited to principles, and have gradually developed and formed a Sinicized Marxist theoretical system such as Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, the important thinking of "three represents", the scientific concept of development, and Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.

Socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era, and with the rise of China and gradually approaching the center of the world stage, the spread of Marxism in China has also ushered in a new stage of development. While spreading Marxism into China, we must also pay attention to its modernization and cosmopolitanization and build Marxism in the 21st century. The dissemination of Marxism in the new era must form a high-quality Marxist propaganda team under the leadership of the party and build a communication system that meets the needs of the times. Especially in the era of online self-media, we must keep up with the pace of the times, build a communication system that meets the characteristics and requirements of informatization and networking, and further promote the dissemination of Marxism in depth and breadth. At the same time, we should connect Sinicization with globalization, based on the dissemination of Sinicization, so that the world can pay attention to Marxism, understand socialism with Chinese characteristics, and expand the influence of Marxism in the world.

Transmission path: from the dissemination of ideological theories to the dissemination of the in-depth integration of ideas and social practice

The content of the spread of marxism in China in the early days was mainly to introduce the ideological theory of Marxism, and presented Marxism to the Chinese people in the form of an ideology and theory. For ideas to be accepted, they must be combined with people's social practice. The Chinese Communists are fully aware that theory can only blossom and bear fruit if it is integrated with the concrete practice of the people of all classes in Chinese society. "Mr. Long Shirt" went into the workers' and peasants' group, founded popular books for workers and peasants, held cram schools, publicized to the working class "opposing the oppression of workers by capitalists", and appealed to the broad masses of peasants to "beat up local tycoons and divide the land". The dissemination of Marxist theory is combined with the revolutionary needs of various social classes, and propaganda is carried out in words that can be understood by various social groups, which embodies abstract theories and produces extremely strong cohesion and appeal, which has become the driving force of the workers' and peasants' revolution. The combination of intellectuals and workers and peasants, and the combination of Marxist theory and social practice, has made the spread of Marxism have a profound social mass foundation.

If a nation wants to walk in the forefront of the times, it cannot do without theoretical thinking for a moment and without ideological guidance for a moment. Historical experience tells us that the dissemination of Marxist theory must move toward practice and be combined with the social status, social environment, and social demands of different groups in order to truly influence and guide people. Looking back at the CPC's century-long course of struggle, it is precisely because we have found Marxism and persisted in integrating Marxism with China's reality that the Chinese Communists can unite and lead the Chinese people to create a great cause that has opened up the world, changed the world, turned the earth upside down, and shook the earth. A century of practice has profoundly proved that Marxism is a powerful ideological weapon for us to understand the world, grasp the law, pursue the truth, and transform the world. Socialism with Chinese characteristics has entered a new era, and the dissemination of Marxism should be committed to promoting the dissemination of the three dimensions of academic, political, and popular, opening up the three fields of academic ideology and theory, political ideology, and social and cultural life, and enabling scientific theories to better answer the questions of the strategic overall situation of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation and the great changes in the world that have not occurred in a hundred years.

Xu Liwen: Lecturer at the School of Marxism, Guangdong University of Technology, Shu Jianhua: Associate Professor of the Party School of the CPC Guangdong Provincial Committee