China's May Day commemoration is inseparable from the slogan "Labor is sacred". How should this slogan be understood? "The sacredness of labor" not only led to national liberation, but also pointed out the fundamental path for women's liberation. In the new era, it is still necessary to reiterate the slogan of "the sacredness of labor".
Drafting: Sky Li
China's May Day commemoration is inseparable from the slogan "Labor is sacred". On the first "May Day" Labor Day in Chinese history, "New Youth" launched the thickest special issue in history - "Labor Day Commemorative Number", the cover of which was "Labor Sacred" illustrated by Rodin, Cai Yuanpei inscribed "Labor Sacred" on the title page, and Li Dazhao also referred to Labor Day as "this 'Labor Sacred' Memorial Day" in the opening article "The History of the May Day Movement". On the same day, at the commemorative meeting organized by Peking University, it advocated the creed of "labor sacredness" and followed the bright light of "May Day" to the light. Since then, there have been actions such as distributing bread printed with the words "Labor Sacred" on May Day.
The proposal and influence of the slogan "Labor is sacred".
As a theoretical slogan of historical significance, "the sacredness of labor" once replaced "democracy" and "science" as the dominant discourse. This slogan not only profoundly influenced the ideological circles at that time, making labor quickly become a public topic, but also paved the way for the glorious social ethics of labor in the future. Then, under what background and why was the slogan "sacredness of labor" proposed? Why did it have the effect of directly responding to all calls once it was put forward, so that people of the time, especially the early Marxists, became the successors of this slogan one after another? How should we understand this slogan? Does this slogan still have theoretical and practical significance for the present? It is necessary for us to return to the historical context in which "the sacredness of labor" was proposed.
The social changes on the eve of the May Fourth Movement were brewing a deep revolution, and the ideological circles were also extremely active and confrontational. In the mixed new ideas, the pioneers who introduced the topic of labor respected labor, emphasized labor, and opposed unearned gains. As early as the beginning of the 20th century, when the book "The Essence of Socialism" was translated and introduced, the expression "the sacredness of labor" appeared. It can be said that the concern and admiration for labor had appeared in other ways before Cai Yuanpei, but it did not attract widespread attention. It was not until November 16, 1918 that Cai Yuanpei proposed at a speech held in front of Tiananmen Square in Beijing: "We must understand the value of labor for ourselves. Labor is sacred!" In contrast to the previous uneventful situation, the slogan of "Labor Sacred" formed a stormy wave as soon as it was proposed, which profoundly affected the people at that time and the social and historical process of China.
The trend of "labor sacredness" becoming "fanaticism" directly lies in the emotional context of the European victory. This victory is of no relevance to us at the moment, and the subsequent defeat of the Paris Peace Conference has even made it absurd and humiliating. However, for the people of the time, this victory was not only a just upholding of "justice over power", but also a "long-standing bullying by foreign powers". The reason for this was that 150,000 Chinese laborers went to Europe to help the Allies achieve the final victory, which also became China's way of entering the war. This fact directly subverted the perception of the labor group by the "upper" groups such as the domestic government and academia, and it was in this context that Cai Yuanpei put forward the slogan of "labor sacred", which aroused widespread resonance and quickly spread to the whole society. In this regard, "the sacredness of labor" is a rational reflection on historical events, with a certain emotional expression.
The theoretical connotation and practical value of "the sacredness of labor".
The theoretical creation of "the sacredness of labor" lies in the beneficial exploration of breaking through tradition and class reconstruction. "God" is interpreted in the Shuowen Jie Zi as "the one who leads out all things", and "sheng" can also be used as a description of the level of morality and achievement, represented by the "sage" personality of the carrier of Confucian morality and intelligence. In this sense, "the sacredness of labor" is a celebration of labor as the creator of all things, the holder of superior abilities, and the personality of high morality. On the one hand, this kind of praise subverts the traditional double contempt for laborers in society and politics, and thus starts the historical journey of derogating labor to praising labor in the form of "overcorrection must be overdone", and on the other hand, the difference between "heart and force" is reduced to the common "labor", so that the new distinction of "labor-non-labor" has brought about a structural evolution of the past social class cognition. In this regard, "labor sacredness" is a theoretical integration of traditional society, and a useful attempt to promote social transformation.
The influence of "labor sacredness" on society mainly lies in the traction of internal ethics and external actions. "Labor sacredness" takes advocating as the core and praises as the purpose, as a value orientation with social guiding significance, making laborers a role and personality worthy of admiration, and pushing labor activities to the sacred status of meaning. On the one hand, it denounces "getting something for nothing" and puts self-reliant laborers on the moral high ground, thus shaping the identity of labor, and on the other hand, it links labor with "ideal life", "life obligations" and "all pleasures", thus shaping the value identity of labor. Therefore, in the process of dissemination, the "sacredness of labor" gradually expanded from theoretical discussion to behavior choice, and gradually gave birth to a practical dimension, which opened up the collective awakening of labor. In this regard, "labor sacredness" is the spontaneous and conscious construction of labor ethics, which provides a basis for the shaping of the subject.
The transformation of the "sacredness of labor" to Marxism
What cannot be ignored is that as the official opening of the Marxist theory of labor widely spread in China, the "sacredness of labor" The slogan, in its original connotation, was non-Marxist and showed many theoretical defects: at that time, the identity of the worker was actually carried as a personality, so the praise of the worker was not looking for the subject of historical action, but focused on the moral admiration obtained by the identity of the individual worker; the understanding of labor activities mainly stayed at the consumption of labor and had little meaning of production, so the object of admiration could only be the subject rather than the activity itself; the admiration of labor was not for the sake of promoting the development of social history but was of sacred significance, so it had an obvious idealistic tendency。 Therefore, although Li Dazhao, Chen Duxiu, Mao Zedong, Li Da and other early Marxists directly accepted Cai Yuanpei's slogan of "the sacredness of labor", in fact, it was through the theoretical transformation of Marxism that the "sacredness of labor" consciously or unconsciously completed its connotation transition from non-Marxism to Marxism and idealism to scientism.
During this period, the "sacredness of labor" met China's need for the spread of Marxism, and the scientific transformation of Marxism injected the soul into the "sacredness of labor". "The Sacredness of Labor" brought the issue of labor into people's field of vision, thus laying the foundation for the spread of Marxism and the introduction of scientific views of Chinese Marxists on the creation of value through labor, the creation of man and the human world. The "labor paradox" formed by this slogan compared with the actual situation of laborers also completes its theory under the guidance of Marxist labor theory, and leads to the pursuit of labor emancipation and the solution of real labor problems. Therefore, the Marxist turn of "labor sacred" meets the practical needs of analyzing the exploited situation in China, and thus provides a theoretical tool for analyzing the entire semi-colonial and semi-feudal Chinese society. In this regard, the "sacredness of labor" is the path to national liberation and catalyzes the revolutionary force of social transformation.
It is worth noting that Chen Duxiu emphasized in the "Labor Day Commemorative Issue" in "The Problem of Hunan Female Workers in Shanghai Hosen Yarn Factory" that "it is not only the problem of female workers in Hunan, nor only the problem of male and female workers in Shanghai, but the labor problem of the whole of China", thus putting the issue of women and labor in one place. In fact, the emancipation of labor and the emancipation of women themselves have an innegligible consistency, which is an important theoretical answer to the question of women given by Marxism. The identity of "labor" itself is beyond gender, but its transcendence itself provides equal possibilities, and the admiration of laborers and labor activities also provides a realistic channel for the promotion of women's status. Therefore, in a certain historical period, the "sacredness of labor" not only led to national liberation, but also pointed out the fundamental path of women's liberation.
In short, although the "sacredness of labor" in the original sense once played a certain role, it has been abandoned by history as a whole, while the "sacredness of labor" that has completed the transition has continued its influence in the long river of history. As Li Dazhao once pointed out, because "everyone has the ability of labor, and everyone can do the work of labor." The connotation of advocating "the sacredness of labor" has the universal significance of all mankind. On the one hand, it also guides the common path of emancipation of all people as laborers, and the tension between sacred advocacy and reality is transformed into the driving force for the realization of labor emancipation, and the "model worker movement" and other practical practices are born.
The need to reiterate the slogan of "labor sacred" in the new era
In the new era, it is still necessary to reiterate the slogan of "the sacredness of labor". Firstly, as a tribute to laborers, "labor sacredness" can reawaken identity and identity under the background of workers' discourse, so as to provide guidance for laborers' self-writing; secondly, as an advocacy of labor activities, the ethical expression of "labor sacredness" contains "labor is the most glorious, the most noble, the greatest, and the happiest", which can bridge the value emptiness behind "lying flat", so as to gather strength for the practice of modernization; finally, as a traction for labor emancipation, "labor is sacred." It can empower the promotion and abandonment of "alienation" from within, so as to clarify the path for improving the actual working situation. Of course, when applying the concept of historicity, we must promote the leap of its connotation in the new era, such as highlighting the core characteristics of "innovation" and "creation", so as to provide the main basis for adapting to the needs of the current era and developing new quality productive forces.
2024
China Women's Daily, China Women's Movement
Source/China Women's Daily (ID: fnb198410) Author/Jiang Ruxue (Author's Affiliation: School of Marxism, Peking University) Editor-in-charge/Chen Xiaobing/Yifan Producer/Zhifei
