Author: Li Lili (School of Economics, Chinese Min University)
In the past century or so, along with the changes of the times and the rise and fall of society in China, the role and function of the discipline of foreign economic thought and history in China have undergone major evolution. The century-long changes in the discipline of the history of foreign economic thought reflect the evolution of the relationship with other disciplines of theoretical economics, and are the products of responding to the needs of the times in China and conforming to the development of the discipline.
The germination of the history of foreign economic thought
After the Opium War, under the "impetus" of Western missionaries and the "pull" of Chinese students, China began the process of "learning from the West and gradually learning from the East" in modern economics. The history of foreign economic thought as an "imported product" constitutes an important way and component of foreign economic thought and Western economics to be introduced into China.
Parallel to various works related to the principles of economics, a large number of translations of the history of economic theory have been introduced. At that time, the main foreign textbooks on the history of economic theory were all translated and introduced, and there were multiple translations of the same textbook. The self-compiled and self-written works on the history of economic theory by the Chinese people are also very impressive, among which Liang Qichao's "A Small History of the Evolution of the Theory of Livelihood" (1902) is usually regarded as the first work in China to systematically introduce the history of economic theory. Behind the emergence of these works is the fact that the teaching and research of the history of economic theory is in full swing in China. In the regulations on economic education promulgated by the Qing government at the end of the Qing Dynasty, the course on the history of economic thought was explicitly listed as an economics course. This practice was continued during the Republic of China period. In 1939, the history of economic thought became a compulsory course in universities at the suggestion of the Ministry of Education, and its content was examined as "economic theory". Along with the prosperity of teaching is the flourishing of research.
Under the joint promotion of teaching and research, the discipline of the history of foreign economic thought has been initially established in China, among which Zhao Yizhuan, Wang Yanan and Yuan Xianneng have made important contributions. They have all taught courses related to the history of economic theory for a long time in colleges and universities, published works on the history of economic theory, deeply studied in the field of the history of economic thought, integrated Chinese and Western historiography, and made significant contributions and innovations to the entire discipline of the history of economic thought (that is, the history of economic thought).
In the first half of the 20th century, the history of economic thought also entered the "golden age" in the West, which was taught as a core course of economics, and the systematic study of the history of economic thought constituted an important part of economic research. During this period, the history of foreign economic thought was able to play a constructive role as a carrier and bridge for the introduction of Western economic theories into China, and to realize the initial establishment of disciplines from inception to discipline. This is not only the need for the development of historical ideas and doctrines of economic thought in the environment of "western learning from the east" in modern economics, but also reflects the fact that Chinese intellectuals at that time tried to compare different theories when actively exploring the way to prosperity and strength, in order to broaden their horizons and seek reference. After the establishment of modern universities throughout the country, the department of domestic economics has vigorously introduced the history of economic thought while introducing foreign economic principles and other branches of economics.
Serve the construction of political economy disciplines
After the founding of New China, in order to meet the needs of economic and social development, the development of the discipline of economics has also shown new changes. The discipline of the history of foreign economic thought is then used as a weapon of theoretical struggle and construction, undertaking the dual function of serving the construction of the discipline of political economy and devoting itself to the criticism of "bourgeois vulgar economics".
Soon after the founding of New China, under the guidance of Soviet experts, China began to promote the construction of the discipline of political economy and build a Knowledge System of Marxist Political Economy. This system consists mainly of political economy and the history of economic doctrine. The object of the history of economic theory is the history of the emergence and development of the science of political economy, which aims to broaden the knowledge base and historical horizon of Marxist political economy, expose the modern bourgeois vulgar economic theory, and enhance the understanding of the scientific nature of political economy. In order to serve this discipline positioning, many colleges and universities at that time set up political economy teaching and research rooms, but also set up a teaching and research department for the history of economic theory.
Under the adjustment and guidance of this discipline, all colleges and universities have completely replaced the Western economics curriculum system in the Republic of China period with the socialist economics curriculum system. At that time, Chinese universities usually only taught political economy, Western economics courses were abolished, and related Western economic theories were taught only for critical purposes in courses on the history of economic theory. Since the mid-1950s, universities have successively offered two courses, one is "History of Foreign Economic Theory" and the other is "Contemporary Bourgeois Economic Theory (Introduction and Criticism)". These two courses in the history of economic theory, together with the teaching of "Political Economy" and "Capital Studies", have made important contributions to helping students deeply understand Marxist economic theory and correctly treat bourgeois economics.
The construction of teaching materials is also closely focused on the positioning of this discipline. In the 1950s, the textbook commonly used in China's colleges and universities was the History of Political Economy by Lucembe in the Soviet Union. In the 1960s, under the organization of the Central Propaganda Department and the Ministry of Education, two self-edited textbooks related to the history of economic theory were published. One is the History of Economic Theory (1965), edited by Lu Youzhang and Li Zongzheng, which is the first textbook on the history of economic theory compiled by Chinese scholars since the founding of New China; the other (set) is "Contemporary Bourgeois Economic Theory" organized by Luo Zhiru, Wu Baosan and Gao Hongye, which is generally regarded as the first set of western economic unified textbooks in New China. In addition, in order to serve the study of classical political economy and the critique of early vulgar economics, a number of relevant anthologies edited by experts such as Ji Taoda and Wang Yanan were also published at that time.
It can be seen that during this period, while subjectively cooperating with the teaching and research of Marxist political economy, the discipline of the history of foreign economic thought objectively contributed to the introduction, survival and inheritance of Western economics, although it was ignored as an object of criticism within a very limited scope.
The study of the history of foreign economic thought needs to be strengthened urgently
Against the backdrop of the era of ideological emancipation and the urgent need for the practice of reform and opening up, China has restarted the process of systematically introducing and learning Western economics. At the beginning of this process, the discipline of the history of foreign economic thought continued to play the role of a bridge for the study of Western economics, and similar to foreign countries, it was established and developed as an independent sub-discipline. However, since the late 1980s, with the further development and growth of Western economics as an independent discipline, the mission of the discipline of the history of foreign economic thought has been fulfilled, and it has gradually been marginalized and declined.
In 1979, the establishment of the "(Chinese) Foreign Economic Theory Research Association" can be regarded as a sign of the formal establishment of the discipline of the history of foreign economic thought in China to a certain extent. Co-founded by 17 scholars, including Chen Daisun, Li Zongzheng, Wu Yifeng and Zhu Shaowen, who are mainly engaged in the teaching and research of the history of economic theory, the research association is a national society for the history of foreign economic thought. The institute has vigorously promoted the formation and development of the academic community of the history of economic thought, as well as the popularization and dissemination of Western economics by holding large-scale "lectures on foreign economics" (1979-1981), translating, editing and publishing selected papers on modern foreign economics (1979-1997), holding regular annual meetings of the society and the collection of papers edited by the society.
The change in the positioning of the discipline of the history of foreign economic thought is also reflected in the curriculum of the discipline. Although Western economics is still taught as a second-level discipline related to the history of foreign economic theory, constituting a "contemporary extension" course of the history of economic theory, the textbook on the history of economic theory, represented by the New Edition of the History of Foreign Economic Thought (1990) edited by Tao Dayong, tries to compile the history of traditional economic theory with the content of contemporary Western economics, focusing on the main narrative, highlighting the creative ideas and foreign uses.
However, with the independence and further development of the discipline of economics in the West in the late 1980s and early 1990s, especially after the establishment of the socialist market economic system, the history of foreign economic thought gradually parted ways with it. Western economics began to become the core course of economics majors, divided into micro and macro two dimensions, the beginning, middle and high three levels of teaching, directly using Western scholars to write textbooks, Western economics officially became a second-level discipline of theoretical economics, and set up master's and doctoral programs in universities. This transformation means that Western economics no longer needs to be introduced and developed through the discipline of the history of foreign economic thought. As abroad, the history of economic thought is no longer considered an important part of economics and is further labeled "heretical economics" and gradually marginalized. The discipline of the history of foreign economic thought in China has begun to degenerate into the role of introducing and evaluating Western heretical economics, and has been built more together with economic history as a "two history" discipline.
In summary, it can be seen that in the past century or so, the history of foreign economic thought has been gradually marginalized from the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China period as the carrier of the introduction of various types of Western economic thought and the reference for providing a way to prosperity and strength, to the founding of New China as a weapon for theoretical criticism and struggle and a tool for the construction of political economy disciplines, after the reform and opening up, it has become a "bridgehead" for the construction of Western economic disciplines, and then since the end of the 1990s, it has gradually been marginalized and warmed up with the discipline of economic history. How to continue to play the role of this discipline in the construction and construction of China's economic system in the new era is a major topic that urgently needs attention and in-depth study.
(This paper is a phased result of the scientific research fund of Chinese University (special fund funded by the special fund of the basic scientific research business expenses of central universities) project "Research on the Discipline History and Academic History of the History of Foreign Economic Thought in China" (20XNA042))
Source: China Social Science Network - China Social Science Daily