"Centenary of the Founding of the Party, Academic Hundred" Aischi: a people's philosopher close to the masses

　Aischi (March 2, 1910 – March 22, 1966), formerly known as Li Shengxuan, was a Mongolian, distinguished Marxist philosopher, educator, and "loyal fighter of the Party on the theoretical front." Born on March 2, 1910 in Heshun Township, Yunnan Province. In 1925, he was admitted to Yunnan Provincial No. 1 Middle School, and in 1927 and 1930, he went to Japan to study twice. In 1932, he came to Shanghai, participated in revolutionary work, and began to engage in Marxist propaganda activities. He joined the Communist Party of China in October 1935. After Aischi arrived in Yan'an in October 1937, he served as the chief teacher of the Anti-Japanese Military and Political University, the director of the Philosophical Research Office of the Marxist-Leninist College, the secretary general of the Cultural Work Committee of the Central Propaganda Department, the director of the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia Border Region Literary Association, the editor-in-chief of The Chinese Culture Magazine, the director of the Deputy Publication Department of the Liberation Daily, and the deputy editor-in-chief and editor-in-chief of the Liberation Daily. In 1942, he edited the "Methodology of Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Stalin Thought" based on Mao Zedong's suggestions, which was listed as one of the required documents for the Yan'an rectification movement. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, he served as the director and vice president of the Philosophy Department of the Central Party School (Marxist-Leninist College and the Cpc Central High Party School), and was elected as a member of the Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1955. Deputy to the First, Second and Third National People's Congresses. Aischi left behind more than six million words of achievements, including "Popular Philosophy", "Targeted" and Others, "Historical Materialism: History of Social Development", "Outline of Dialectical Materialism Lectures", and "Dialectical Materialism" and "Historical Materialism" edited by the editor-in-chief. Popular Philosophy made an important contribution to the popularization of Marxist philosophy. The book was printed in 32 editions before the founding of the People's Republic of China and reached tens of thousands of readers. Dialectical Materialism Historical Materialism is the first philosophical textbook written by Chinese scholars themselves after the founding of New China, which has had an extremely extensive and far-reaching impact. He has published the Complete Book of Aischi and the Collected Works of Aischi.

　　Aischi (1910-1966) was an outstanding Marxist philosopher and educator in China, and also a "loyal fighter of the party on the theoretical front". He was born on March 2, 1910 in Heshun Township, Yunnan Province. In Aischi, the dual identities of scholar and warrior are unified, making his philosophical research closely related to the fate of the Chinese people, the fate of the Chinese nation, and the fate of the Chinese revolution and construction. Scholars like Esquire were not uncommon among his contemporaries, but there were only a few philosophers like him who consciously wrote for the interests of the fatherland and the masses of the people, fought for revolution and construction, and combined scholars and warriors. Comrade Eschi is a veritable philosopher of the people. This is both a high evaluation of Aischi and a key to helping us understand Aischi's academic thought.

Set a precedent for the popularization of Marxist philosophy

　　Aischi set great ideals in his youth. After being admitted to Yunnan Provincial No. 1 Middle School in 1925, he actively participated in the progressive student movement, devoted himself to the dissemination of progressive ideas, participated in the "Youth Effort Association" of the peripheral organization of the Communist Party of China, wrote articles for "Dianchao", and published articles in progressive newspapers and periodicals such as "People's Daily" and "Municipal Daily". In 1927 and 1930, he went to Japan twice to study. During this period, he developed a strong interest in philosophy, read a large number of works, especially Marxist classics, and was eventually attracted by the truth power of Marxist philosophy, began to accept the Marxist world view, and became a faithful believer in Marxism. In this regard, Aischi said, "I always want to find out from philosophy a scientific truth of cosmic life; but ancient philosophy is very mysterious and cannot be said clearly, and finally after reading the works of Ma and En, I suddenly became enlightened, and I had a clearer understanding and reasonable explanation of the occurrence and development of the whole universe and the world."

　　After the September 18 Incident, Aischi abandoned his studies and returned to China to devote himself to the revolutionary cause. He came to Shanghai in 1932 and began the Shanghai period of his revolutionary activities and philosophical career. It was the first major turning point in his life. In Shanghai, Aischi participated in the revolutionary activities led by the Communist Party of China, actively propagated Marxist philosophy, and wrote a large number of articles, the most far-reaching of which was that at the end of 1934 he began to write a series of 24 popular philosophical articles for "Reading Life". These articles were published in a collection at the end of 1935, which is the Philosophical Speech. Later, due to the ban by the Kuomintang authorities, it was renamed "Popular Philosophy". As soon as "Popular Philosophy" was published, it was warmly welcomed by the majority of readers, and a total of 32 editions were printed before the founding of New China, creating a precedent for the popularization of Marxist philosophy, and Aischi was praised as "the first person to popularize Marxist philosophy".

　　The writing of "Popular Philosophy" is not a whim of Esqui, nor is it out of personal theoretical interest, but has a strong practical pertinence. At that time, Japanese imperialism invaded and occupied the northeast, the national crisis was unprecedentedly serious, and the masses of the people, especially the broad masses of young people, were extremely disappointed in the rule of the Kuomintang, were full of anxiety about the future and destiny of the country and the nation, and were full of confusion about "where China is going." The answer to these questions cannot be limited to simply discussing things, but must rise to the height of world outlook and methodology, guide readers to think for themselves, from spontaneous to conscious, draw scientific conclusions, and make correct choices. Asch points out, "I only hope that this book will be on the streets of the city, in the shops, in the countryside, to give the lost scholars an explanation of the famine of intellect." "It's not a beautifully decorated pastry, it's just a dry-baked flatbread." In fact, it is this "dry-baked big cake" that keenly captures the pulse of the times, builds a bridge between Marxist philosophy and the masses of the people, has had an extremely extensive and far-reaching impact, and opens a guiding light for countless progressive young people who linger in the dark and ponder in pain, helping them to finally embark on the revolutionary road. "Philosophy must grasp the pulse of the times. It was at the time that Esquire's Philosophy of the Masses seized on this point, which is why it won so many readers. If people who are engaged in philosophy cannot grasp the pulse of the times and do not understand this, the so-called connection reality will float on the surface. When Comrade Mao Zedong wrote "On Practice" and "Theory of Contradictions", he was also influenced by "Popular Philosophy". He has repeatedly said that he "benefited a lot" from Esqui's writings.

　　Popular Philosophy made outstanding contributions to the establishment of the Chinese form of Marxist philosophy. In the 1930s, Marxist philosophy was already "in China", but it had not yet achieved "Sinicization", which was especially reflected in the fact that it still had a distinct "foreign" brand, lacked China's own form, and lacked works with wide influence. Popular Philosophy fills this "gap" to some extent. From a formal point of view, "Popular Philosophy" has achieved the popularization of Marxist philosophy, and Li Gongpu said in the preface to the writing: "This book uses the most popular brushwork, the genre of daily speech, and melts into specialized theories, so that the readers of the masses can accept it without great effort." This kind of writing is still the only contribution in the current publishing industry. He points out that some doubt that "popularity is vulgar," but Popular Philosophy is "shallow and deep," and that "the author sometimes explains many of the problems of the new philosophy more clearly than in all other works." Although it is a popular work, there are many places where it has been deepened. Especially in terms of epistemological explanations". This assessment, in today's view, is still very appropriate.

　　Aischi has put a lot of effort into this, "Philosophy of the Masses has really cost me a lot of energy. If I use the same energy to do specialized academic research, I think I can at least double the score." This is so because "popular articles require us to write specifically, lightly, and to blend in with real life." Writing technology is the first meaning, and at the same time, the theory must not be distorted in the slightest, which is a difficulty. This difficulty is even more pronounced in the most general discipline of philosophy." This understanding of Eschi is intrinsically consistent with Lenin's famous thesis that "the highest degree of Marxism = the maximum of popularization" reveals that the popularization of Marxism is by no means an easy task, but has extremely high requirements. Popularization can only be achieved if there is a "maximum" level of Marxist theory; conversely, the popularization of the "maximum limit" means the deepening and development of Marxism.

　　From the content point of view, the book systematically expounds a series of major issues such as what philosophy is, the fundamental problems of philosophy, the partisan nature of philosophy, the basic principles of materialism, the basic laws and basic categories of dialectics, etc. In particular, the exposition of epistemology is particularly wonderful, not only making a brilliant summary of the process of cognition, but also highlighting the contradictory movement of perceptual cognition and rational cognition, and repeatedly demonstrating the status and role of practice. Even when I read it today, these contents still feel very intimate, and there is no sense of strangeness or violation. The reason for this is that its framework structure, layout, and expression method have all undergone "Chinese-style transformation", with a relatively distinct Chinese style with Chinese characteristics, which has profoundly affected the academic system and discourse system of Marxist philosophy in China for many years to come. "This architecture is not a complete copy of foreign works. The philosophical works of Marx, Engels, and Lenin do not have such a ready-made system; they are also many different from Stalin's Dialectical Materialism and Historical Materialism. "This is true of the big system aspects, and it is also true of some specific formulations." For example, in the usual writings, purpose and causality are described together, but this book brings it into a section on possibility and reality as the final conclusion of the book. On the one hand, since possibility and reality are directly related to human activity and the realization of human ends, it is natural to make such a connection; on the other hand, to list human ends and activities in the last section leads the whole philosophical theory directly to the practical question of 'changing the world'. The 'important problem with the new philosophy is to change the world', so the narrative order here is the most appropriate. "In general, "Popular Philosophy" not only created a precedent for the popularization of Marxist philosophy, but also actually promoted the sinicization of Marxist philosophy.

Promote the sinicization of Marxist philosophy

　　In October 1937, Aischi came to Yan'an and began another major turning point in his life. In September 1938, Mao Zedong proposed the establishment of the "New Philosophical Society" in Yan'an, with Ai Siqi and He Sijing presiding over the conference. During his 10 years in Yan'an, Ai Siqi first taught philosophy at Kang Da and Northern Shaanxi Public Schools, and was responsible for the work of the Border Region Literary Association, and later served as a leader in units such as the Marxist-Leninist College, the Central Propaganda Department, and the Liberation Daily. During this period, under the direct leadership of the CPC Central Committee, Aischi did a great deal of theoretical research and propaganda and popularization work, especially through study, research, and propaganda of Mao Zedong's philosophical thought, and vigorously promoted the sinification of Marxist philosophy, and made outstanding contributions to this end.

　　At this time, Aischi won him a high reputation due to the unprecedented success of the publication of "Popular Philosophy". However, Aischi believes that popularization is only the "preliminary" of Chineseization, and "popularization does not equal the realization of Chineseization", and it is necessary to further realize the realization of Chineseization on this basis. In April 1938, In "The Present Situation and Tasks of Philosophy", Aischi clearly proposed that "now we need a movement to sinicize and realize the study of philosophy" and "the sinicization and realization of philosophy!" Now we're going to make such a call." Regarding the movement of sinicization and realization of philosophy, Aischi clearly pointed out: "This is not a movement in the study classroom, nor a movement that abuses formulas, but a movement to draw philosophical nourishment from the experience of the anti-war mobilization of various departments and develop philosophical theories." Only then do we apply this philosophical theory of development, instructing our thoughts and actions that we should constantly enrich and develop our theories according to the experience of each period, rather than treating the fixed philosophical theories as dead formulas that govern everything. It can be seen that the core of the sinification of philosophy is to draw nourishment from practical practice to develop philosophy, and then use the philosophy of development to guide practice in turn. Philosophy here refers to Marxist philosophy, dialectical materialism, "the most important thing is practice, dialectical materialism is the philosophy that is most consistent with practice."

　　In October 1938, in his report to the Sixth Plenary Session of the Sixth Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, Mao Zedong made a classic expression of Marxism in China, "The sinicization of Marxism, so that it carries Chinese characteristics in every manifestation, that is, applying it according to China's specific characteristics, has become an urgent problem for the whole party to understand and urgently need to be solved." This classic treatise also applies to the sinicization of Marxist philosophy. In fact, in the "Theory of Practice" and "Theory of Contradictions", Mao Zedong has already demonstrated the philosophical principles of the universality and particularity of contradictions, laying a philosophical foundation for the sinification of Marxism. Aischi was very keenly grasping the important significance of Mao Zedong's philosophical thought in promoting the sinification of Marxist philosophy, and he pointed out in his 1941 "Commentary on Several Important Philosophical Thoughts Since the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression" that Comrade Mao Zedong's "On Protracted War," "On the New Stage," and "On New Democracy" are "brilliant examples" of the sinification of Marxism, "the greatest historical harvest of the sinification of Marxism and the application of dialectical materialism, and "these works, It is proved that the sinicization of Marxism and the application of dialectical materialism can most correctly solve the problem of The Chinese revolution, and that Marxism and dialectical materialism are completely suited to China's national conditions."

　　From the perspective of philosophical principles, the problem of sinicization of Marxism is a dialectical relationship between "generality" and "particularity". In February 1940, Aischi explained in depth in the article "On the Particularity of China", "The special and the general are inseparable, and in the development of all things in the real world, there is no absolute special, and there is no absolute generality." Ordinary things are often expressed in various special forms, and what is special is often the specialization of something in general." As far as the sinification of Marxism is concerned, from the general to the special point of view, it is generally "applied" to the special, "using the scientific methods laid down by Marx and Engels, dialectical materialism and political economy, to concretely and objectively study the social and economic relations in China, and to determine the specific tasks and strategic tactics of the Chinese proletariat in the struggle of the Chinese national revolution." From the perspective of the special to the general, it is the special "creation" of the general. "Creation" here means "to be able to practice Marxism under certain specific circumstances and to carry out the cause of creating Marxism under the special conditions of a certain country", and to "put some into the general treasure house of Marxism ... New Contributions".

　　It should be noted that the "application" and "creation" here are not two "things" that are independent of each other and juxtaposed with each other, but the grasp of two different perspectives and different dimensions of the same "unity", which is the unity of the general and the special, that is, the unity of the basic principles of Marxism and the specific reality of China, that is, the sinification of Marxism. For the Chinese Communist Party, the sinification of Marxism has never been an abstract and empty philosophical concept, but a powerful weapon to solve practical problems and grasp the lifeblood of the times. This is the key to our understanding of contemporary China and the sinification of Marxism, and it is also where the life, strength, and hope of the sinification of Marxism lie.

Construct a Chinese-style Marxist philosophy textbook system

　　After the founding of New China, Aischi devoted himself to the dissemination and popularization of Marxist philosophy with great enthusiasm. He has been working at the Central Party School, successively serving as director of the Philosophy Teaching and Research Office and vice president of the Central Party School. While undertaking a lot of teaching and leadership work, he also wrote many theoretical and academic articles, which played an important role in helping the vast number of cadres and the masses of the people to accurately understand Marxism. The "Dialectical Materialism historical materialism" edited by him in the 1960s laid the foundation of China's Marxist philosophy textbook system, set an example, and reprinted it in one edition for decades, influencing generations of readers.

　　After the founding of New China, our party attached great importance to the education of Marxist philosophy among party members and cadres and the broad masses of young people, but for a long time, there was a lack of a Marxist philosophy textbook with Chinese characteristics, and for this reason it could only temporarily adopt Soviet textbooks. Soviet textbooks do not reflect the historical experience of China's revolution and construction, nor do they meet the development needs of Chinese practice. To this end, in 1960, the Secretariat of the CPC Central Committee entrusted the Central Propaganda Department and the Ministry of Education to organize forces to compile two textbooks reflecting the historical experience of the CPC, one of which was a textbook on Marxist philosophy. As the editor-in-chief, Aischi has made great efforts and played an important role in the overall structure to the content of each chapter, from the basic viewpoints to the specific materials, from the writing outline to the final draft. Lu Guoying, who served as his secretary, recalled: "Aischi spent a lot of effort on revising each chapter, and the first drafts of many chapters were often changed beyond recognition. I remember very clearly that the first chapter (Introduction) and the economic base and superstructure (chapter XII), especially the chapter on the economic base and superstructure, were the ones that changed the most, and after he made the big changes, he cleared the samples, and he made the big changes, and so on three times. ”

　　Dialectical Materialism Historical Materialism was officially published in November 1961, and since then there has been a Marxist philosophy textbook with Chinese characteristics written Chinese. "As a classic textbook for the sinification of Marxist philosophy, its significance lies in the fact that through arduous exploration and repeated polishing, it has explored a Chinese-style Marxist philosophical expression system, constructed a popular Chinese-style Marxist philosophical system, and laid a solid foundation for future exploration and innovation of Marxist philosophy and the construction of a new form of Marxist philosophy." It also changed the situation in the past when Marxist philosophy was mainly taught using Alexanderlov's Dialectical Materialism of the Soviet Union, Konstantinov's Historical Materialism, and the Principles of Marxist Philosophy edited by the Institute of Philosophy of the USSR Academy of Sciences.

　　In October 1962, Aischi was invited to the Department of Philosophy of Chinese University to give a lecture on "Some Questions On Philosophy Textbooks", expounding the principles of textbook writing. First, the principle of stability. Focus on issues that have been established in classical works or on which the theoretical community has generally agreed; second, the principle of accuracy and comprehensiveness. It is necessary to accurately expound the general principles of Marxist philosophy and to explain the important contributions of Mao Zedong's philosophical thought. Third, the principle of adapting to the object. It is necessary to adapt to the needs of teachers and students. Fourth, the principle of a hundred schools of thought. It is necessary to avoid directly involving controversial issues in the theoretical community as much as possible, and to facilitate teachers and students to fully discuss the problems in the classroom. These principles have been well implemented in "Dialectical Materialism and Historical Materialism", and have become the principles commonly followed in philosophy textbooks after that, and have established the guiding ideology for the construction of a Marxist philosophy textbook system with Chinese characteristics.

　　The biggest feature of "Dialectical Materialism" is its distinct "Sinicization". The work pays attention to the practice of China's revolution and construction, the reality of Chinese history and Chinese culture, and uses rich and vivid historical experience and actual conditions to elucidate the basic principles of Marxist philosophy and the significance of Marxist philosophical principles in China's scientific methodology. Philosophical works such as "On the Correct Handling of Contradictions Among the People" have summarized the new historical experience and enabled the further development of Marxist-Leninist philosophy. All the writings of Comrade Mao Tse-tung have solved a series of problems in the revolution and construction of our country using dialectical materialism and historical materialism." Chinese elements can be seen everywhere in the book, such as seeking truth from facts, no right to speak without investigation, whether there is a mutual existence, "targeted", "playing the piano", "walking on two legs", "spark of stars, can burn the plains", "from the masses, to the masses"... Coupled with the popular and authentic Chinese discourse, even after many years, we can still feel the Chinese style and Chinese style in the process of reading the text, which is China's Marxist philosophy and China in Marxist philosophy. "As a classic textbook for the sinification of Marxist philosophy, its significance lies in the fact that through arduous exploration and repeated polishing, it has explored the Chinese-style Marxist philosophical expression system and constructed a popular Chinese-style Marxist philosophical system, laying a solid foundation for future exploration and innovation of Marxist philosophy and the construction of a new form of Marxist philosophy."

　　For a philosopher, the most important thing is his philosophy. The most important criterion for judging a philosophy is not how unfathomable its philosophical content is and how exquisite and complete it is in form, but how much it can meet the needs of a country, a nation, and an era. Aischi never talks about theory in vain, never becomes an empty philosopher, but always combines his philosophical work with the future and destiny of the country and the nation, thinks about what the people think, worries about the people's worries, breathes with the people in a philosophical way, shares a common destiny, is unswerving, and does research for the people. As General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out, we now need talents like Aischi who can localize Marxism well. We must do a good job in disseminating Marxism, and we must not follow the script and read the scriptures, find chapters and excerpts, but popularize and popularize it. This is the enlightenment that Comrade Aischi has given us. Today, 55 years after his death, in the face of the new journey of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation that is constantly being opened up, and in the face of the new realm of Sinicization of Marxism that is constantly opening up, we can say that Aischi is still "alive", his philosophy is "alive", and the cause he has struggled for all his life is vigorous and vigorous.

　　(The author is deputy director of the Institute of Foreign Literature of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and executive director of the Chinese Dialectical Materialism Research Association)

Source: China Social Science Network - China Social Science Daily Author: Cui Weihang